Try multiple alternatives on failure — never stop at first fail

rule Sat Jun 27 2026 00:00:00 GMT+0000 (Coordinated Universal Time) agent-behaviorresiliencefallbackretries

Try multiple alternatives on failure

Rule

When ANY external dependency fails (website, API endpoint, install method, package source), try AT LEAST 3 alternatives before reporting it as a blocker.

How to apply

• HTTP fetch fails ? try 3 mirror URLs / alternate instances (e.g. SearXNG: baresearch.org failed ? try priv.au, searx.be, opnxng.com)
• npm install fails ? try yarn, pnpm, direct GitHub clone
• pipx fails (ASR/build) ? try Docker, then npm SDK, then docker-compose
• API endpoint 5xx ? 3 retries with exponential backoff, then alt endpoint
• Package not found ? search PyPI, npm, GHCR, GitHub Releases, GitLab Registry, jsr.io
• Tool not on PATH ? check 5 common install locations before declaring missing

Why

The first failure is often transient or context-specific (DNS, rate-limit, ASR, etc.). Reporting "X failed, stuck" after a single attempt wastes the user's time and conversation context. Three attempts catch ~95% of recoverable failures.

Anti-patterns

• Single retry = "didn't really try"
• Retrying the same URL 3× ignoring the actual error
• Asking the user "should I try alternatives?" — just try them