# NousResearch/hermes-agent · Configurable retries with jittered backoff for empty responses

## Open now

- 1 issue, 3 PRs open on GitHub.
- #74916: Empty responses trigger premature fallback: retry count hardcoded to 3 with no backoff
- PR #74917: fix(agent): configurable empty-response retries + short backoff
- PR #74927: fix(agent): make empty-response retries configurable with jittered backoff (Closes #74916)
- PR #74950: fix(agent): add backoff between empty-response retries (#74916)

These issues and PRs address agent behavior when empty responses are received, focusing on making retry count configurable and adding jittered backoff between retry attempts instead of using a hardcoded limit with no delay.

## TL;DR

- 5 member(s): 1 open issue(s), 0 closed issue(s), 3 open PR(s), 0 merged PR(s), 1 PR(s) closed without merging.
- No fix has been merged to main; one or more PRs were attempted (see below).
- **Recommended:** review the prior/competing PR(s) below. A fix was attempted but not merged; your case may extend or revive that work.

## Maintainer resolution verdict

- Internal-tracker verdict over this cluster's issue members: `unresolved`. This is distinct from the fix status above. Weigh it yourself.

## How this cluster was grouped

- Link evidence (`STRUCTURAL_SPANNING`): every member is connected by structural evidence: shared changed files, or a closing/superseded reference.
- Pairwise link density `0.40`: the share of member pairs that carry a link, counting a structural link in full and a relevance-only link at 0.36. `1.00` means every pair is linked.

## Open related issues

- #74916: Empty responses trigger premature fallback: retry count hardcoded to 3 with no backoff

## Prior & competing PRs

- **#35296: fix(agent): add jittered backoff to empty-response retries**. closed without merge
  - maintainer direction: category `superseded_by_pr`; implication `superseded`; refs `#77608`
- **#74917: fix(agent): configurable empty-response retries + short backoff**. open
  - maintainer direction: category `partial_fix`; implication `needs_llm`; refs `214ae7b77ce642f7369d13bbce3510405f759800`, `b2e34a504b1b`, `#74917`, `#74927`, `#74596`, `#35296`, `#77608`, `#38002`, `#35296`, `#58706`, `#58670`, `#74596`, `#74917`, `#74927`, `#74950`, `#38002`, `#35296`, `#74950`, `#74917`, `#74927`, `#74917`, `#74927`, `#74916`, `#58706`, `#74596`, `#74917`, `#74927`, `#74950`, `#58706`, `#35296`, `#38002`, `#74596`, `#77608`, `#35296`, `#374151`, `#35230`, `#58670`, `#74916`, `#35296`, `#38002`, `#74917`, `#74927`, `#74950`
  - files: `agent/agent_init.py`, `agent/conversation_loop.py`, `agent/empty_response_guard.py`, `cli-config.yaml.example`, `contributors/emails/[redacted:email]`, `hermes_cli/config_defaults.py`, `tests/agent/test_empty_response_guard.py`, `tests/run_agent/test_run_agent.py`, `website/docs/user-guide/configuration.md`, `website/i18n/zh-Hans/docusaurus-plugin-content-docs/current/user-guide/configuration.md`
- **#74927: fix(agent): make empty-response retries configurable with jittered backoff (Closes #74916)**. open
  - maintainer direction: category `partial_fix`; implication `needs_llm`; refs `214ae7b77ce642f7369d13bbce3510405f759800`, `6dcdb37a3f94`, `#74596`, `#35296`, `#35230`, `#77608`, `#38002`, `#35230`, `#35296`, `#58706`, `#58670`, `#74596`, `#74917`, `#74916`, `#74927`, `#74916`, `#74950`, `#74916`, `#74917`, `#74927`, `#38002`, `#35296`, `#74950`, `#35296`, `#74917`, `#74927`, `#58706`, `#74917`, `#74927`, `#74916`, `#74927`, `#74917`, `#58706`, `#35296`, `#77608`, `#38002`, `#74950`, `#74596`, `#374151`, `#35230`, `#58670`, `#74916`, `#35296`, `#38002`, `#74917`, `#74927`, `#74950`
  - files: `agent/agent_init.py`, `agent/conversation_loop.py`, `cli-config.yaml.example`, `hermes_cli/config.py`, `tests/run_agent/test_empty_response_retries.py`, `website/docs/user-guide/configuration.md`
- **#74950: fix(agent): add backoff between empty-response retries (#74916)**. open
  - maintainer direction: category `uncategorized`; implication `needs_llm`
  - files: `agent/conversation_loop.py`

## Fix status

- No merged fix on record.
- Subsystem: `agent`