Anthropic API 529 overloaded_error: what it means and how to handle it

What's happening

overloaded_error with HTTP 529 signals temporary capacity pressure upstream. Your key, payload and quota are all fine.

Fix it

1. Retry with exponential backoff and jitter rather than an immediate loop.
2. Cap total retries so a queue cannot pile up behind a sustained incident.
3. Fall back to a smaller model for non-critical work during the spike.
4. Defer background and batch jobs until the error rate drops.
5. Surface a friendly retry state in your UI instead of a hard failure.

Still stuck?

Persistent 529s over a long window usually coincide with a posted incident — check the status page before escalating.