MaxRetryError: Maximum Retries Exceeded

Why This Happens

urllib3 retries failed connections up to a limit. When all retries are exhausted, it raises MaxRetryError. The underlying cause is usually a ConnectionError, TimeoutError, or SSLError.

The Problem

import requests
response = requests.get('https://nonexistent-api.example.com')

The Fix

import requests
from requests.adapters import HTTPAdapter, Retry

session = requests.Session()
retries = Retry(total=3, backoff_factor=1, status_forcelist=[500, 502, 503])
session.mount('https://', HTTPAdapter(max_retries=retries))

try:
    response = session.get('https://api.example.com', timeout=10)
except requests.exceptions.ConnectionError as e:
    print(f'Failed: {e}')

Step-by-Step Fix

1. 1

   Check the root cause

   Look at 'Caused by' in the error.

2. 2

   Configure retry strategy

   Use Retry with exponential backoff.

3. 3

   Verify the URL

   Check URL, DNS, and server availability.