Retry-After

Used with 429 or 503. Seconds to wait or HTTP-date for retry.

Response

Syntax

Retry-After: <delay-seconds> | <http-date>

Example values

ValueExplanation
120Retry after 2 minutes
Wed, 21 Oct 2025 07:28:00 GMTRetry after date

cURL usage

curl -i https://api.example.com/rate-limited  # 429 response

Common mistakes

Client ignoring; server not sending for 503.

Related headers

Tools

HTTP Header Viewer →