A retry storm occurs when large numbers of client applications retry failed requests simultaneously, spawning additional traffic that overwhelms already unstable systems.

While much of outage prevention rightly focuses on backend systems—load balancers, API gateways, circuit breakers, and queues—client-side retry policies play a critical but often overlooked role in system resiliency. Preventing retry storms requires treating client-side retry behavior as a core part of system resiliency.

In this article, we’ll explore how retry storms form, how client applications unintentionally amplify traffic, and what development teams can do to implement safer, smarter retry behavior.