diff --git a/.bumpversion.cfg b/.bumpversion.cfg
index 26fed7085..18b9f39b9 100644
--- a/.bumpversion.cfg
+++ b/.bumpversion.cfg
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 [bumpversion]
-current_version = 6.8.0
+current_version = 6.9.0
 commit = True
 tag = False
 parse = (?P<major>\d+)\.(?P<minor>\d+)\.(?P<patch>[A-z0-9-]+)
diff --git a/api/server.py b/api/server.py
index b5d58209b..cdc03e669 100644
--- a/api/server.py
+++ b/api/server.py
@@ -19,7 +19,7 @@
 from db.python.utils import get_logger
 
 # This tag is automatically updated by bump2version
-_VERSION = '6.8.0'
+_VERSION = '6.9.0'
 
 logger = get_logger()
 
diff --git a/deploy/python/version.txt b/deploy/python/version.txt
index e029aa99b..97f578152 100644
--- a/deploy/python/version.txt
+++ b/deploy/python/version.txt
@@ -1 +1 @@
-6.8.0
+6.9.0
diff --git a/metamist/graphql/__init__.py b/metamist/graphql/__init__.py
index 5696293f7..4a88b5383 100644
--- a/metamist/graphql/__init__.py
+++ b/metamist/graphql/__init__.py
@@ -4,18 +4,23 @@
     - construct queries using the `gql` function (which validates graphql syntax)
     - validate queries with metamist schema (by fetching the schema)
 """
+
 import os
+from json.decoder import JSONDecodeError
 from typing import Any, Dict
 
+import backoff
 from gql import Client
 from gql import gql as gql_constructor
 from gql.transport.aiohttp import AIOHTTPTransport
 from gql.transport.aiohttp import log as aiohttp_logger
+from gql.transport.exceptions import TransportServerError
 from gql.transport.requests import RequestsHTTPTransport
 from gql.transport.requests import log as requests_logger
 
 # this does not import itself, it imports the module
 from graphql import DocumentNode  # type: ignore
+from requests.exceptions import HTTPError
 
 from cpg_utils.cloud import get_google_identity_token
 
@@ -137,8 +142,17 @@ def validate(doc: DocumentNode, client=None, use_local_schema=False):
 
 
 # use older style typing to broaden supported Python versions
+@backoff.on_exception(
+    backoff.expo,
+    exception=(HTTPError, JSONDecodeError, TransportServerError),
+    max_time=10,
+    max_tries=3,
+)
 def query(
-    _query: str | DocumentNode, variables: Dict = None, client: Client = None, log_response: bool = False
+    _query: str | DocumentNode,
+    variables: Dict | None = None,
+    client: Client | None = None,
+    log_response: bool = False,
 ) -> Dict[str, Any]:
     """Query the metamist GraphQL API"""
     if variables is None:
@@ -159,8 +173,17 @@ def query(
     return response
 
 
+@backoff.on_exception(
+    backoff.expo,
+    exception=(HTTPError, JSONDecodeError, TransportServerError),
+    max_time=10,
+    max_tries=3,
+)
 async def query_async(
-    _query: str | DocumentNode, variables: Dict = None, client: Client = None, log_response: bool = False
+    _query: str | DocumentNode,
+    variables: Dict | None = None,
+    client: Client | None = None,
+    log_response: bool = False,
 ) -> Dict[str, Any]:
     """Asynchronously query the Metamist GraphQL API"""
     if variables is None:
diff --git a/setup.py b/setup.py
index 7e6ad5d47..bcd885cad 100644
--- a/setup.py
+++ b/setup.py
@@ -19,7 +19,7 @@
 setup(
     name=PKG,
     # This tag is automatically updated by bump2version
-    version='6.8.0',
+    version='6.9.0',
     description='Python API for interacting with the Sample API system',
     long_description=readme,
     long_description_content_type='text/markdown',
@@ -27,6 +27,7 @@
     license='MIT',
     packages=all_packages,
     install_requires=[
+        'backoff>=2.2.1',
         'click',
         'google-auth',
         'google-api-core',  # dependency to google-auth that however is not
diff --git a/web/package.json b/web/package.json
index 1c1527f30..6c247c0eb 100644
--- a/web/package.json
+++ b/web/package.json
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 {
     "name": "metamist",
-    "version": "6.8.0",
+    "version": "6.9.0",
     "private": true,
     "dependencies": {
         "@apollo/client": "^3.7.3",