Grokking Node.js Design Patterns for Interviews/

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Retry Failed Requests with Custom Policies

Retry Failed Requests with Custom Policies

Build a resilient HTTP client that can retry failed operations using different retry policies—fixed delay, exponential backoff, or no retries—configured at runtime.

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Problem statement

Your team’s backend frequently calls unreliable third-party APIs. Sometimes requests fail due to timeouts, rate limits, or random network errors.

Many API clients hardcode retry logic directly into their request functions, making them rigid and difficult to adapt across services. A common implementation might look like this:

async function fetchData() {
  try {
    return await callExternalAPI();
  } catch (err) {
    console.log('Retrying in 1 second...');
    await delay(1000);
    return await callExternalAPI();
  }
}

This approach doesn’t scale. Different services need different retry policies:

  • Some endpoints want no retries.

  • Others need a  ...