Guzzle Retry Middleware

This is a Guzzle v6/7+ middleware library that implements automatic retry of requests when HTTP servers respond with 503 or 429 status codes. It can also be configured to retry requests that timeout.

If a server supplies a Retry-After header, this middleware will delay subsequent requests per the server's instructed wait period.

Unlike the built-in RetryAfter middleware, this middleware provides some default behavior for negotiating retries based on rules in the HTTP Spec. You can drop it right into your request stack without any additional configuration.

Features, at-a-glance:

• Automatically retries HTTP requests when a server responds with a 429 or 503 status (or any HTTP status code; this is configurable)
• Sets a retry delay based on the Retry-After HTTP header, if it is sent, or automatically backs off exponentially if no Retry-After header is sent (also configurable)
• Optionally retries requests that time out (via the connect_timeout or timeout options)
• Set an optional callback when a retry occurs (useful for logging/reporting)
• Specify a maximum number of retry attempts before giving up (default: 10)
• Near-100% test coverage, good inline documentation, and PSR-12 compliant

Install

Via Composer

$ composer require caseyamcl/guzzle_retry_middleware

Usage

Basically:

use GuzzleHttp\Client;
use GuzzleHttp\HandlerStack;
use GuzzleRetry\GuzzleRetryMiddleware;

$stack = HandlerStack::create();
$stack->push(GuzzleRetryMiddleware::factory());

$client = new Client(['handler' => $stack]);

// Make requests galore...

This is the default configuration. If a HTTP server responds with a 429 or 503 status, this middleware with intercept the response and retry it up to 10 times before giving up and doing whatever behavior Guzzle would do by default (by default, throwing a BadResponseException).

If the server provides a RetryAfter header, this middleware will wait the specified time before attempting a request again. If not, then it will back off, waiting longer each time between requests until giving up after 10 attempts.

Options

The following options are available:

Option	Type	Default	Summary
retry_enabled	boolean	true	Is retry enabled (useful for disabling per individual request)
max_retry_attempts	integer	10	Maximum number of retries per request
max_allowable_timeout_secs	integer	null	If set, specifies a hard ceiling in seconds that the client can wait between requests
give_up_after_secs	integer	null	If set, specifies a hard ceiling in seconds that this middleware will allow retries
retry_only_if_retry_after_header	boolean	false	Retry only if RetryAfter header sent
retry_on_status	array	503, 429	The response status codes that will trigger a retry
default_retry_multiplier	float or callable	1.5	Value to multiply the number of requests by if RetryAfter not supplied (see below for details)
on_retry_callback	callable	null	Optional callback to call before a retry occurs
retry_on_timeout	boolean	false	Set to TRUE if you wish to retry requests that throw a ConnectException such as a timeout or 'connection refused'
expose_retry_header	boolean	false	Set to TRUE if you wish to expose the number of retries as a header on the response object
retry_header	string	X-Retry-Counter	The header key to use for the retry counter (if you need it)
retry_after_header	string	Retry-After	The remote server header key to look for information about how long to wait until retrying the request.
retry_after_date_format	string	D, d M Y H:i:s T	Optional customization for servers that return date/times that violate the HTTP spec
should_retry_callback	callable	null	Optional callback to decide whether or not retry the request
retry_on_methods	string	'*' (all methods)	Optional list of HTTP methods for which to run retries for

Each option is discussed in detail below.

Configuring Options

Options can be set in one of three places:

// Per request, in the same array as other Guzzle options
$response = $client->get('/some-url', [
   'max_retry_attempts' => 5,
   'on_retry_callback'  => $notifier
]);

// When you instantiate Guzzle, in the same array as other Guzzle options
$client = new \GuzzleHttp\Client([

    // Standard Guzzle options
    'base_url'        => 'https://example.org',
    'connect_timeout' => 10.0,
    
    // Retry options
    'max_retry_attempts' => 5,
    'on_retry_callback'  => $notifier
]);

// When you instantiate the Retry middleware
$stack = \GuzzleHttp\Stack::create();
$stack->push(GuzzleRetryMiddleware::factory([
    'max_retry_attempts' => 5,
    'on_retry_callback'  => $notifier
]));

If you specify options in two or more places, the configuration is merged as follows:

1. Individual request options take precedence over Guzzle constructor options
2. Guzzle constructor options take precedence over middleware constructor options.

Setting maximum retry attempts

This value should be an integer equal to or greater than 0. Setting 0 or a negative effectively disables this middleware.

Setting this value to 0 is useful when you want to retry attempts by default, but disable retries for a particular request:

// Set the default retry attempts to 5
$client = new \GuzzleHttp\Client(['max_retry_attempts' => 5]);

// Do not retry this request
$client->get('/some/url', ['max_retry_attempts' => 0]);

Setting status codes to retry

By default, this middleware will retry requests when the server responds with a 429 or 503 HTTP status code. But, you can configure this:

$response = $client->get('/some-path', [
    'retry_on_status' => [429, 503, 500]
]);

If the response includes a RetryAfter header, but its status code is not in the list, it will not be processed.

Note: I haven't tested this, but I sincerely believe you will see some wonky behavior if you attempt to use this middleware with 3xx responses. I don't suggest it.

Setting default retry delay

If the response includes a valid RetryAfter header, this middleware will delay the next retry attempt the amount of time that the server specifies in that header.

If the response includes a non-valid RetryAfter or does not provide a RetryAfter header, then this middleware will use a default back-off algorithm: multipler * number-of-attempts:

Response with RetryAfter header:

      Client                 Server
      ------                 ------
      GET /resource    -> 
                       <-    429 Response with `Retry-After: 120`
      wait 120s                 
      GET /resource    ->   
                       <-    200 OK

Without RetryAfter, the number of requests is multiplied by the multiplier (default: 1.5):

      Client                 Server
      ------                 ------
      GET /resource    -> 
                       <-    429 Response (no Retry-After header)
      wait 1.5 x 1s                 
      GET /resource    ->   
                       <-    429 Response (no Retry-After header)
      wait 1.5 x 2s                 
      GET /resource    ->   
                       <-    429 Response (no Retry-After header)
      wait 1.5 x 3s                 
      GET /resource    ->   
                       <-    429 Response (no Retry-After header)
      wait 1.5 x 4s                 
      GET /resource    ->   
                       <-    200 OK

You can set a custom default multiplier:

$response = $client->get('/some-path', [
    'default_retry_multiplier' => 2.5
]);

You can also pass in a custom algorithm for setting the default delay timeout if you specify a callable for default_retry_multiplier:

// Custom callback to determine default timeout.  Note: $response may be NULL if a connect timeout occurred.
$response = $client->get('/some-path', [
    'default_retry_multiplier' => function($numRequests, ?ResponseInterface $response): float {
        return (float) rand(1, 5);       
    }
]);

Retrying requests that timeout

You can configure this middleware to retry requests that timeout. Simply set the retry_on_timeout option to true:

// Retry this request if it times out:
$response = $client->get('/some-path', [
    'retry_on_timeout' => true,    // Set the retry middleware to retry when the connection or response times out
    'connect_timeout'  => 20,     // This is a built-in Guzzle option
    'timeout'          => 50      // This is also a built-in Guzzle option
]);

// You can also set these as defaults for every request:
$guzzle = new \GuzzleHttp\Client(['retry_on_timeout' => true, 'connect_timeout' => 20]);
$response = $guzzle->get('https://example.org');

As of version 2.12.0, this works for connection reset responses sent by the server (Curl error 104).

On-Retry callback

You can supply a callback method that will be called before each time a request is retried. This is useful for logging, reporting, or anything else you can think of.

If you specify a callback, it will be called before the middleware calls the usleep() delay function.

The request and options arguments are sent by reference in case you want to modify them in the callback before the request is re-sent.

use Psr\Http\Message\RequestInterface;
use Psr\Http\Message\ResponseInterface;

/**
 * Listen for retry events
 *
 * @param int                    $attemptNumber  How many attempts have been tried for this particular request
 * @param float                  $delay          How long the client will wait before retrying the request
 * @param RequestInterface       $request        Request
 * @param array                  $options        Guzzle request options
 * @param ResponseInterface|null $response       Response (or NULL if response not sent; e.g. connect timeout)
 * @param Throwable|null         $exception      This value will be present if the retry was triggered by onRejected
 *                                               (e.g. in the event of a connection timeout)                                                
 */
$listener = function(
    int $attemptNumber,
    float $delay,
    RequestInterface &$request,
    array &$options,
    ?ResponseInterface $response,
    ?Throwable $exception
) {
    
    echo sprintf(
        "Retrying request to %s.  Server responded with %s.  Will wait %s seconds.  This is attempt #%s. The error was %s",
        $request->getUri()->getPath(),
        $response->getStatusCode(),
        number_format($delay, 2),
        $attemptNumber,
        $exception->getMessage()
    );
}

$client = new \GuzzleHttp\Client([
    'on_retry_callback' => $listener
]);

$response = $client->get('/some/path');

Enabling or disabling per-request

Suppose that you have setup default retry options as follows:

$stack = \GuzzleHttp\Stack::create();
$stack->push(GuzzleRetryMiddleware::factory(['max_retry_attempts' => 5]));
$client = new \GuzzleHttp\Client(['handler' => $stack]);

You can disable retry for individual requests as by setting the retry_enabled parameter in the request options:

// Retry will NOT be attempted for this request..
$client->get('https://example.org', ['retry_enabled' => false]);

// Retry WILL be attempted for this request...
$client->get('https://example.org');

Adding a custom retry header to HTTP responses

Sometimes for debugging purposes, it is useful to know how many times a request was retried when getting a response. For this purpose, this library can add a custom header to responses; simply set the expose_retry_header option to TRUE.

Note: This modifies the HTTP response on the client. If you don't want to alter the response retrieved from the server, you can also use callbacks to get the request count.

Example:

// Retry this request if it times out:
$response = $client->get('/some-path', [
    'expose_retry_header' => true  // This adds the 'X-Retry-Counter' if a request was retried
]);

// If a request was retried, the response will include the 'X-Retry-Counter'
$numRetries = (int) $response->getHeaderLine('X-Retry-Counter');

You can also specify a custom header key:

// Retry this request if it times out:
$response = $client->get('/some-path', [
    'expose_retry_header' => true,
    'retry_header'        => 'X-Retry-Count'
]);

// If a request was retried, the response will include the 'X-Retry-Counter'
$numRetries = (int) $response->getHeaderLine('X-Retry-Count');

Modifying the expected header name from Retry-After

You can change the header that the client expects the server to respond with. By default, the client looks for the Retry-After header, but in some edge-cases, servers may choose to respond with a different header.

// Change the name of the expected retry after header to something else:
$response = $client->get('/some-path', [
    'retry_after_header' => 'X-Custom-Retry-After-Seconds'
]);

// Otherwise, the default `Retry-After` header will be used.
$response = $client->get('/some-path');

Setting a custom date format for the Retry-After header

You can change the expected date format expected from the server that the client library expects. By default, this library expects an RFC 2822 header as defined in the HTTP spec. In certain edge-cases, the server may implement some other date format. This library allows for the possibility of that.

Note: Be careful not to use this option with the Unix epoch (u) format. The client will interpret this value as an integer and subsequently timeout
for a very, very long time.

Setting a maximum allowable timeout value

If you want the client to not accept timeout values greater than a certain value, set the max_allowable_timeout_secs option. This will return a static number once the timeout reaches a specified length regardless if it is calculated using the default backoff algorithm or returned from the server via the Retry-After header.

By default, this value is null, which means there is no limit.

// Set the maximum allowable timeout
// If the calculated value exceeds 120 seconds, then just return 120 seconds
$response = $client->get('/some-path', [
    'max_allowable_timeout_secs' => 120
]);

Setting a hard time ceiling for all retries

If you want to set a hard time-limit for all retry requests, set the give_up_after_secs option. If set, this will be checked before the number of retries is, so any requests will fail even if you haven't reached your retry count limit.

// This will fail when either the number of seconds is reached, or the number of retry attempts is reached, whichever
// comes first 
$response = $client->get('/some-path', [
    'max_retry_attempts' => 10 
    'give_up_after_secs' => 10
]);

Setting specific HTTP methods to retry on

By default, this library retries all request methods (GET, POST, PATCH, etc...). If you want to limit the HTTP methods that this library will retry requests for, specify the retry_on_methods option with an array of methods:

//
$response = $client->get('/some-path', [
    'retry_on_methods' => ['GET', 'OPTIONS', 'HEAD']
]);

Custom retry decision logic

Occasionally, servers will fail to provide an appropriate HTTP error code when a response needs to be retried. For example, consider a server that returns a 200 status code, but with a message body instructing you to wait. In cases like this, you can use the should_retry_callback option to implement a callback method that returns true (should retry) or false (should not retry).

Another use for this callback could be based on the request itself. For example, you may only want to retry requests that have a specific header set.

It's important to note that the callback will be called only if all the following circumstances are true:

• The retry_enabled option is true (default: true)
• The number of retries has not exceeded the value set in max_retry_attempts (default: 10)
• The total time elapsed is less than the give_up_after_secs value (default: disabled)

use Psr\Http\Message\RequestInterface;
use Psr\Http\Message\ResponseInterface;


$callback = function (array $options, ?ResponseInterface $response, RequestInterface $request): bool {
    // Only allow retries if x-header header is set
    if(! $request->hasHeader('x-header')) {
        return false; 
    }

    // Response will be NULL in the event of a connection timeout, so your callback function
    // will need to be able to handle that case
    if (! $response) {
        return true;
    }

    // Get the HTTP body as a string
    $body = (string) $response->getBody();
    return str_contains($body, 'error'); // NOTE: The str_contains function is available only in PHP 8+ 
};

$response = $client->get('/some-path', [
    // ..other options..,
   'should_retry_callback' => $callback
]);

Change log

Please see CHANGELOG for more information on what has changed recently.

Testing

$ composer test

Note: Since this library tests timeouts, a few of the tests take a 2-3 seconds to run.

Contributing

Please see CONTRIBUTING for details.

Security

If you discover any security related issues, please email [email protected] instead of using the issue tracker.

Credits

• Casey McLaughlin
• Jachim Coudenys
• Markus Podar
• All contributors

License

The MIT License (MIT). Please see License File for more information.