Retry a failed step

Creating·3 min read·Updated last month

Runs are not always clean. A transcode times out, a model call flakes, a phase throws an error. When it happens, you do not have to restart the whole run. Voysey gives you a way to retry the failed step directly, either automatically or with a single tap.

Screenshot: a failed tool-call card in chat with the retry button

Two levels of retry

  • Automatic: for transient errors (a brief timeout, a runner blip), Voysey retries on its own. You usually never see these. They succeed on the second attempt and the run keeps moving.
  • Manual: when a step fails in a way automatic retry cannot recover from, the failed tool-call card in the chat gets an inline retry button. Tap it and the step re-runs from where it failed.

What survives a retry

Everything upstream of the failed step is preserved. If the treatment finished cleanly but the screenplay phase failed, a retry re-runs just the screenplay. The treatment does not get regenerated. Everything downstream of the failed step is either not yet run or is re-flowed from the retry's new output.

Where retry appears

  • Chat: on any failed tool-call card, inline with the message thread.
  • Delegate panel: on the failed-workflow card when a whole phase does not complete, right next to the phase itself.

Retry vs. re-run a phase vs. cancel

  • Retry a failed step: the step is broken and Voysey stopped. You want to try the same step again.
  • Re-run a phase (see Re-run just one phase): the step finished, but you want a different result. Different guidance, same phase.
  • Cancel (see Stop a run mid-flight): the run is heading somewhere you do not want and you want it to stop.
Retries are cheap

Because the retry only re-runs the failed leaf, and because upstream results are cached, a retry is far cheaper than a restart. If you are on the fence about whether to retry or investigate, the retry costs less than deciding to think about it.

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