CLAUDE_CODE_OVERLOADED_RETRY_BASE_DELAY_MS

Updated October 13, 2026 by Alex Sorokoletov

CLAUDE_CODE_OVERLOADED_RETRY_BASE_DELAY_MS is a Claude Code environment variable: Sets the base delay, in milliseconds, for the backoff when a request comes back overloaded (HTTP 529). The retry loop seeds its wait from this value on overload failures, so a higher number spaces out retries against an overloaded API. Added in v2.1.292. Added in v2.1.292 and still present in v2.1.294. It is listed in the official reference.

How to set it

For one session, export it in the shell that starts Claude Code:

export CLAUDE_CODE_OVERLOADED_RETRY_BASE_DELAY_MS=<value>
claude

To apply it to every session, add it to the env object of a settings file:

// ~/.claude/settings.json
{
  "env": {
    "CLAUDE_CODE_OVERLOADED_RETRY_BASE_DELAY_MS": "<value>"
  }
}

Release notes that mention it

• Claude Code Version Tracker: Undocumented Env Vars, Feature Gates & Models
• claude-code-env-vars-v2-1-292

Related variables

• CLAUDE_CODE_OVERLOADED_RETRY_MAX_DELAY_MS
• ANTHROPIC_BASE_URL: Custom endpoint for Anthropic services.
• CLAUDE_CODE_API_BASE_URL: Custom Claude Code API base URL for proxies.
• CLAUDE_CODE_GB_BASE_URL: An internal base URL override, possibly for a "gradebook" or grading service used during internal testing.
• CLAUDE_CODE_RETRY_WATCHDOG: Tunes the retry watchdog that detects API calls silently looping without progress.
• CLAUDE_CODE_RETRY_WATCHDOG_MAX_WAIT_MS
• CLAUDE_BRIDGE_BASE_URL
• CLAUDE_CODE_ARTIFACT_ASSET_BASE_URL

Frequently asked questions

All variables, searchable: Claude Code environment variables.