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Warn about implicit retries on the FallbackModel docs #3294

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Warn about implicit retries on the FallbackModel docs #3294

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Warn about implicit retries on the FallbackModel docs
dsfaccini Oct 30, 2025
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Merge branch 'main' into patch-1
DouweM Oct 30, 2025
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6 changes: 6 additions & 0 deletions docs/models/overview.md
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Expand Up @@ -86,6 +86,12 @@ You can use [`FallbackModel`][pydantic_ai.models.fallback.FallbackModel] to atte
in sequence until one successfully returns a result. Under the hood, Pydantic AI automatically switches
from one model to the next if the current model returns a 4xx or 5xx status code.

!!! note

The provider SDKs on which Models are based (like OpenAI, Anthropic, etc.) often have built-in retry logic that can delay the `FallbackModel` from activating.

When using `FallbackModel`, it's recommended to disable provider SDK retries to ensure immediate fallback, for example by setting `max_retries=0` on a [custom OpenAI client](openai.md#custom-openai-client).

In the following example, the agent first makes a request to the OpenAI model (which fails due to an invalid API key),
and then falls back to the Anthropic model.

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