Fault Tolerant API Clients in TypeScript

Most production failures are partial failures. Design your client code for that reality.

Bound Every Request

Unbounded network calls become invisible bottlenecks. Add explicit timeouts and track cancellation.

async function fetchWithTimeout(url: string, ms = 4000) {
  const controller = new AbortController();
  const timer = setTimeout(() => controller.abort(), ms);

  try {
    return await fetch(url, { signal: controller.signal });
  } finally {
    clearTimeout(timer);
  }
}

Retry Only What Is Safe

Retry idempotent reads and transient failures. Do not blindly retry every status code.

Use Backoff With Jitter

Spread retries over time to avoid turning one outage into a traffic spike.

Plan a Degraded Path

If the ideal response is unavailable, return partial data, cached data, or a clear empty state that keeps the user moving.