René's URL Explorer Experiment

{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"DiscussionForumPosting","headline":"Add retry logic with jitter for sub_issue_write to handle parallel calls","articleBody":"## Problem\n\nWhen `sub_issue_write` tool is called in parallel (common with AI agents), multiple calls can fail with:\n\n```\n422 An error occurred while adding the sub-issue to the parent issue. Priority has already been taken\n```\n\nThis happens because GitHub's sub-issues API assigns priority sequentially, and parallel calls conflict when they try to claim the same priority slot.\n\n## Proposed Solution\n\nAdd retry logic with random jitter to `sub_issue_write` operations:\n\n1. **Retry up to 3 times** on 422 errors related to priority conflicts\n2. **Add random jitter** (e.g., 50-200ms) before each retry to desynchronize parallel calls\n3. Only retry on specific \"Priority has already been taken\" errors, not all 422s\n\n## Example Implementation\n\n```go\nfunc (s *SubIssueService) Add(ctx context.Context, owner, repo string, issueNum int, subIssueID int64) (*github.Issue, error) {\n    const maxRetries = 3\n    \n    for attempt := 0; attempt \u003c maxRetries; attempt++ {\n        if attempt \u003e 0 {\n            // Random jitter: 50-200ms to desynchronize parallel retries\n            jitter := time.Duration(50+rand.Intn(150)) * time.Millisecond\n            time.Sleep(jitter)\n        }\n        \n        issue, resp, err := s.client.Issues.AddSubIssue(ctx, owner, repo, issueNum, subIssueID)\n        if err == nil {\n            return issue, nil\n        }\n        \n        // Only retry on priority conflict errors\n        if resp != nil \u0026\u0026 resp.StatusCode == 422 \u0026\u0026 strings.Contains(err.Error(), \"Priority has already been taken\") {\n            continue\n        }\n        \n        return nil, err\n    }\n    \n    return nil, fmt.Errorf(\"failed after %d retries: priority conflict\", maxRetries)\n}\n```\n\n## Why This Matters\n\nParallel tool calling is very popular with AI agents. When an agent needs to add multiple sub-issues to an epic, it naturally calls them in parallel for efficiency. Without retry logic, a significant portion of these calls fail, degrading the user experience.\n\n## Acceptance Criteria\n\n- [ ] `sub_issue_write` with `add` method retries up to 3 times on priority conflicts\n- [ ] Random jitter (50-200ms) is added between retries\n- [ ] Other 422 errors are not retried\n- [ ] Unit tests cover retry behavior\n- [ ] Existing functionality is preserved","author":{"url":"https://github.com/SamMorrowDrums","@type":"Person","name":"SamMorrowDrums"},"datePublished":"2026-01-19T21:16:06.000Z","interactionStatistic":{"@type":"InteractionCounter","interactionType":"https://schema.org/CommentAction","userInteractionCount":0},"url":"https://github.com/1842/github-mcp-server/issues/1842"}