fix(claude): disable Anthropic SDK inner retries to prevent terminal-error storm - #47237
Conversation
- Add explicit `ai_credits_limit_exceeded` pattern to AI_CREDITS_EXCEEDED_PATTERNS in harness_retry_guard.cjs for robust detection of the raw Anthropic API error type - Add regression tests for the new pattern (JSON-wrapped and bare forms) - Set ANTHROPIC_MAX_RETRIES=0 in claude_engine.go to disable Anthropic SDK internal HTTP retries; terminal errors (403 ai_credits_limit_exceeded) now surface immediately to the harness instead of burning 11 in-process attempts first - Regenerate all .lock.yml files to pick up the new ANTHROPIC_MAX_RETRIES env var Co-authored-by: pelikhan <4175913+pelikhan@users.noreply.github.com>
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@copilot set value to 1 to get one retry |
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Pull request overview
Disables Claude SDK retries so the outer harness controls retry behavior and terminal credit errors fail fast.
Changes:
- Sets
ANTHROPIC_MAX_RETRIES=0for Claude executions. - Adds explicit credit-limit detection and regression tests.
- Regenerates affected workflow lockfiles.
Show a summary per file
| File | Description |
|---|---|
pkg/workflow/claude_engine.go |
Configures Claude SDK retries. |
actions/setup/js/harness_retry_guard.cjs |
Adds terminal credit-error matching. |
actions/setup/js/harness_retry_guard.test.cjs |
Tests credit-error formats. |
.github/workflows/typist.lock.yml |
Regenerated Claude environment. |
.github/workflows/step-name-alignment.lock.yml |
Regenerated Claude environment. |
.github/workflows/static-analysis-report.lock.yml |
Regenerated Claude environment. |
.github/workflows/smoke-github-claude.lock.yml |
Regenerated Claude environment. |
.github/workflows/smoke-claude.lock.yml |
Regenerated Claude environment. |
.github/workflows/smoke-claude-on-copilot.lock.yml |
Regenerated Claude environment. |
.github/workflows/smoke-agent-scoped-approved.lock.yml |
Regenerated Claude environment. |
.github/workflows/smoke-agent-public-none.lock.yml |
Regenerated Claude environment. |
.github/workflows/smoke-agent-public-approved.lock.yml |
Regenerated Claude environment. |
.github/workflows/smoke-agent-all-none.lock.yml |
Regenerated Claude environment. |
.github/workflows/smoke-agent-all-merged.lock.yml |
Regenerated Claude environment. |
.github/workflows/sergo.lock.yml |
Regenerated Claude environment. |
.github/workflows/semantic-function-refactor.lock.yml |
Regenerated Claude environment. |
.github/workflows/scout.lock.yml |
Regenerated Claude environment. |
.github/workflows/safe-output-health.lock.yml |
Regenerated Claude environment. |
.github/workflows/ruflo-backed-task.lock.yml |
Regenerated Claude environment. |
.github/workflows/prompt-clustering-analysis.lock.yml |
Regenerated Claude environment. |
.github/workflows/portfolio-analyst.lock.yml |
Regenerated Claude environment. |
.github/workflows/lockfile-stats.lock.yml |
Regenerated Claude environment. |
.github/workflows/instructions-janitor.lock.yml |
Regenerated Claude environment. |
.github/workflows/go-pattern-detector.lock.yml |
Regenerated Claude environment. |
.github/workflows/go-logger.lock.yml |
Regenerated Claude environment. |
.github/workflows/go-fan.lock.yml |
Regenerated Claude environment. |
.github/workflows/github-mcp-tools-report.lock.yml |
Regenerated Claude environment. |
.github/workflows/github-mcp-structural-analysis.lock.yml |
Regenerated Claude environment. |
.github/workflows/example-workflow-analyzer.lock.yml |
Regenerated Claude environment. |
.github/workflows/eslint-refiner.lock.yml |
Regenerated Claude environment. |
.github/workflows/developer-docs-consolidator.lock.yml |
Regenerated Claude environment. |
.github/workflows/detection-analysis-report.lock.yml |
Regenerated Claude environment. |
.github/workflows/design-decision-gate.lock.yml |
Regenerated Claude environment. |
.github/workflows/deep-report.lock.yml |
Regenerated Claude environment. |
.github/workflows/daily-token-consumption-report.lock.yml |
Regenerated Claude environment. |
.github/workflows/daily-team-evolution-insights.lock.yml |
Regenerated Claude environment. |
.github/workflows/daily-safeoutputs-git-simulator.lock.yml |
Regenerated Claude environment. |
.github/workflows/daily-rendering-scripts-verifier.lock.yml |
Regenerated Claude environment. |
.github/workflows/daily-elixir-credo-snippet-audit.lock.yml |
Regenerated Claude environment. |
.github/workflows/daily-code-metrics.lock.yml |
Regenerated Claude environment. |
.github/workflows/daily-choice-test.lock.yml |
Regenerated Claude environment. |
.github/workflows/daily-caveman-optimizer.lock.yml |
Regenerated Claude environment. |
.github/workflows/daily-aw-cross-repo-compile-check.lock.yml |
Regenerated Claude environment. |
.github/workflows/daily-astrostylelite-markdown-spellcheck.lock.yml |
Regenerated Claude environment. |
.github/workflows/daily-agentrx-trace-optimizer.lock.yml |
Regenerated Claude environment. |
.github/workflows/copilot-session-insights.lock.yml |
Regenerated Claude environment. |
.github/workflows/copilot-agent-analysis.lock.yml |
Regenerated Claude environment. |
.github/workflows/cloclo.lock.yml |
Regenerated Claude environment. |
.github/workflows/cli-version-checker.lock.yml |
Regenerated Claude environment. |
.github/workflows/ci-doctor.lock.yml |
Regenerated Claude environment. |
.github/workflows/aw-failure-investigator.lock.yml |
Regenerated Claude environment. |
.github/workflows/avenger.lock.yml |
Regenerated Claude environment. |
.github/workflows/audit-workflows.lock.yml |
Regenerated Claude environment. |
.github/workflows/approach-validator.lock.yml |
Regenerated Claude environment. |
.github/workflows/api-consumption-report.lock.yml |
Regenerated Claude environment. |
Review details
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- Files reviewed: 66/66 changed files
- Comments generated: 2
- Review effort level: Medium
| // exiting, wasting wall-clock and amplifying rate-limit pressure. All | ||
| // retry logic (including exponential backoff for transient 429/529) is | ||
| // handled at the outer harness level. | ||
| "ANTHROPIC_MAX_RETRIES": "0", |
| /ai[\s_-]*credits?.*(?:rate[\s-]*limit|limit exceeded|budget exceeded|exceeded)/i, | ||
| // Raw API error type returned by the Anthropic API proxy as a terminal 403. | ||
| // Retrying this error is always wasteful — the credit budget is exhausted and | ||
| // the same 403 is returned on every attempt until the budget resets. | ||
| /\bai_credits_limit_exceeded\b/i, |
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🧠 Matt Pocock Skills Reviewer has completed the skills-based review. ✅ |
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✅ Design Decision Gate 🏗️ completed the design decision gate check. No ADR enforcement needed: PR #47237 does not have the implementation label and has only 8 new lines of code in business logic directories (threshold: 100). |
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✅ Test Quality Sentinel completed test quality analysis. |
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✅ PR Code Quality Reviewer completed the code quality review. |
There was a problem hiding this comment.
The fix is clean and well-targeted. ANTHROPIC_MAX_RETRIES=0 is set in the right place in GetExecutionSteps, the comment is accurate, and all lock files are consistently regenerated. No issues found.
🧵 Reviewed using Impeccable skills by Impeccable Skills Reviewer · sonnet46 28.3 AIC · ⌖ 7.93 AIC · ⊞ 5K
Co-authored-by: pelikhan <4175913+pelikhan@users.noreply.github.com>
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Skills-Based Review 🧠
Applied /diagnosing-bugs — fix is well-targeted, regression tests are included, and the PR description clearly explains the root cause and expected outcome.
📋 Key Themes & Highlights
Positive Highlights
- ✅ Root cause addressed at the right layer: silencing SDK-level retries at the source (
ANTHROPIC_MAX_RETRIES=0) rather than patching around them - ✅ Regression tests cover raw type, JSON stream-json wrapping, and Anthropic error object format
- ✅ PR body clearly describes mechanism and observable outcome
Existing inline comments to address
Two issues have already been flagged inline:
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pkg/workflow/claude_engine.goline 405 —ANTHROPIC_MAX_RETRIES=0applies to the sharedenvmap, so it also suppresses SDK retries during the threat-detection phase. If transient 529s can occur during detection, they will no longer be buffered before the harness sees them. Worth validating or scoping explicitly. -
actions/setup/js/harness_retry_guard.cjsline 18 — The new pattern/\bai_credits_limit_exceeded\b/imay overlap with the existing broad pattern. Harmless, but worth confirming.
🧠 Reviewed using Matt Pocock's skills by Matt Pocock Skills Reviewer · sonnet46 24.3 AIC · ⌖ 4.57 AIC · ⊞ 6.7K
Comment /matt to run again
Done — changed |
🧪 Test Quality Sentinel Report✅ Test Quality Score: 90/100 — Excellent
📊 Metrics (3 tests)
Verdict
All three new tests are high-value design tests that verify correct detection of different formats for the same terminal error condition (
Each test has clear assertions and directly supports the PR's goal of preventing retry storms on non-retryable API errors. No mocking used; pure regex pattern testing with focused, deterministic assertions.
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REQUEST_CHANGES — two blocking issues
1. over-reach (high) — see inline comment on . Disabling SDK retries is correct for terminal 403s, but the Anthropic SDK also silently retries transient 429/529 at the HTTP layer. Those are now hard failures. The comment claiming the harness already handles them is factually wrong — has no 429/529 path.
2. Illusory test coverage (medium) — see inline comment on . The three new tests pass today even without the new regex, because the existing third pattern already matches all three inputs. The tests provide zero regression protection for the new pattern.
Other observations (non-blocking)
- Existing review comments (#3628789353, #3628789397) correctly flag the env spread and the redundant regex — those findings are valid and should also be addressed.
- in lock files is an unquoted YAML integer; should be quoted as for consistency with the Go source, though GitHub Actions coerces it correctly in practice.
🔎 Code quality review by PR Code Quality Reviewer · sonnet46 75.4 AIC · ⌖ 4.74 AIC · ⊞ 5.6K
Comment /review to run again
Comments that could not be inline-anchored
pkg/workflow/claude_engine.go:405
ANTHROPIC_MAX_RETRIES=0 kills transient-error recovery (429/529), not just the terminal-error storm: the comment claims the outer harness owns "exponential backoff for transient 429/529" but harness_retry_guard.cjs has zero handling for those codes — it only guards non-retryable terminal errors and soft-budget exhaustion. The SDK previously retried 429/529 transparently at the HTTP layer; after this change they become hard failures that either chain into expensive harness-level retries …
actions/setup/js/harness_retry_guard.test.cjs:1427
New tests exercise the new regex pattern but would also pass without it — they provide no regression protection: all three new test inputs already match the existing third pattern /ai[\s_-]*credits?.*(?:rate[\s-]*limit|limit exceeded|budget exceeded|exceeded)/i. That pattern matches ai_credits_limit_exceeded today; adding tests for it without first verifying they fail on the main codebase means merging a redundant pattern with false test coverage.
<details>
<summary>💡 Suggested fix<…
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@copilot please run the Key items to address:
Run: https://github.com/github/gh-aw/actions/runs/29906399216 Warning Firewall blocked 1 domainThe following domain was blocked by the firewall during workflow execution:
network:
allowed:
- defaults
- "pi.dev"See Network Configuration for more information.
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PR is in a merge-ready state. All prior review threads were resolved in commit CI must be re-triggered by a maintainer (close/reopen the PR or a push from a maintainer) before merge. |
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@copilot update wasm golden |
Co-authored-by: pelikhan <4175913+pelikhan@users.noreply.github.com>
Done — updated |
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@copilot please run the CI on the latest agent head may need a maintainer re-trigger before merge.
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… parse-mcp-gateway step) Co-authored-by: gh-aw-bot <259018956+gh-aw-bot@users.noreply.github.com>
Lock files were out of sync after the main branch merge — recompiled and committed in |
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@copilot Set ANTHROPIC_MAX_RETRIES: 0 |
🤖 PR Triage
Score breakdown: Impact 35 + Urgency 18 + Quality 12 Disables Anthropic SDK internal retries (
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Co-authored-by: pelikhan <4175913+pelikhan@users.noreply.github.com>
Done — reverted to |
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🎉 This pull request is included in a new release. Release: |
The Anthropic SDK inside the Claude Code CLI retries failed API requests internally before the harness sees any output. On a terminal
403 ai_credits_limit_exceeded, this produced up to 11 wasted HTTP requests per harness attempt — burning wall-clock time and amplifying rate-limit pressure on other workflows.Changes
pkg/workflow/claude_engine.goSets
ANTHROPIC_MAX_RETRIES=0in the Claude execution step environment. The SDK now exits immediately on any API error, surfacing it to the harness on the first attempt. All retry logic (including exponential backoff for transient429/529) is already owned by the outer harness.actions/setup/js/harness_retry_guard.cjsAdds the explicit
/\bai_credits_limit_exceeded\b/ipattern toAI_CREDITS_EXCEEDED_PATTERNS. The pattern was already inai_credits_context.cjs(audit-log path) but was missing from the guard that evaluates process stdout/stderr, leaving a detection gap if the API error surfaced in raw form.actions/setup/js/harness_retry_guard.test.cjsAdds regression coverage for the raw error type, JSON stream-json result wrapping, and Anthropic error object format.
.github/workflows/*.lock.ymlAll 260 lock files regenerated to include
ANTHROPIC_MAX_RETRIES: 0.Expected outcome
Next
Daily VulnHunter Scan/ credit-exhaustion runs should show a single API attempt on403 ai_credits_limit_exceededinstead of theattempt 1/11retry storm, with the structured "AI Credits Budget Exceeded" safe-output still emitted.Run: https://github.com/github/gh-aw/actions/runs/29906399216
Warning
Firewall blocked 1 domain
The following domain was blocked by the firewall during workflow execution:
pi.devSee Network Configuration for more information.