Dynamic Retransmission of Webhook Requests Based on Failure Context

Patent Information

Abstract

This invention introduces a system and method for dynamically retransmitting webhook requests based on the context of their failure. Rather than applying a uniform retry policy, the approach analyses the specific failure mode — such as network timeout, HTTP error class, downstream service state, or payload rejection — and selects an appropriate retransmission strategy accordingly. This context-aware mechanism improves delivery reliability, reduces unnecessary load on downstream systems, and enables more intelligent handling of transient vs. permanent failures in distributed event-driven architectures.

Problem Statement

Webhooks are a fundamental integration primitive in modern distributed systems. When a webhook delivery fails, conventional implementations apply a fixed exponential back-off retry schedule regardless of why the failure occurred. This leads to:

• Redundant retries against permanently unavailable endpoints
• Thundering herd effects when many subscribers fail simultaneously
• No differentiation between transient network errors and application-level rejections
• Loss of delivery guarantees in high-throughput event pipelines
• Lack of observability into failure patterns across retry attempts

Key Innovation

The invention introduces a failure-context-aware retransmission engine that:

1. Classifies failure type — distinguishes between network-layer failures, HTTP 4xx client errors, HTTP 5xx server errors, TLS errors, and timeout classes
2. Selects retransmission strategy — maps each failure class to an appropriate policy (immediate retry, delayed retry, dead-letter, circuit-break, or discard)
3. Adapts dynamically — adjusts retry intervals and attempt counts based on observed failure patterns over time
4. Preserves delivery order — maintains event sequencing guarantees across retransmission cycles
5. Feeds observability — emits structured failure-context metadata for monitoring and alerting

Technical Claims

Primary Claims

1. Failure Context Classifier: A component that inspects webhook delivery failures and categorises them by type, severity, and recoverability
2. Strategy Selector: A decision engine that maps classified failure context to a retransmission policy from a configurable strategy registry
3. Adaptive Retry Scheduler: A scheduler that dynamically adjusts retry timing based on accumulated failure-context history for a given endpoint
4. Dead-Letter Integration: Automatic routing of unrecoverable failures to a dead-letter queue with full failure-context metadata attached

Secondary Claims

• Per-endpoint circuit breaker triggered by failure-context thresholds
• Payload integrity verification before retransmission
• Correlation of failure context across multiple subscribers for the same event
• Tenant-aware retransmission policies in multi-tenant deployments

Technology Areas

• Distributed Systems — reliable event delivery at scale
• Event-Driven Architecture — webhook-based integration patterns
• Cloud Computing — cloud-native retry and resilience infrastructure
• Fault Tolerance — adaptive failure handling and recovery

Inventors

About the Lead Inventor

Sayan Chatterjee is a Cloud-Native & AI Architect with 15+ years of experience in distributed systems, AI/ML, and cloud infrastructure. Currently serving as Technical Lead at IBM, where he develops resilient event-driven platforms and AI-powered solutions. Pursuing Ph.D. in Data Science at BITS Pilani Goa.

Filed: January 13, 2026 Assignment Recorded: February 3, 2026 · USPTO Reel/Frame 73668/0323 Status: Patent Pending · Application No. 19/467,246 Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation