BoundaryML/baml · error

Could not find retry policy with name

Error message

Could not find retry policy with name: {}

What it means

BAML looks up a retry policy by name in the compiled IR when resolving a client's retry configuration. If no retry policy with the given name exists in any loaded BAML source file, the lookup fails with this error. This is a name-resolution failure: the policy referenced by the client (or requested by the caller) was never declared in the .baml files.

Solutions

1. Check the retry policy name for typos against the `retry_policy` blocks in your .baml files
2. Define the missing `retry_policy <Name> { ... }` block in your BAML sources
3. If the client references a policy, update its `retry_policy` field to an existing policy name
4. Verify you're loading the correct baml_src directory containing the file with the policy

Example fix

// before
client GPT4 {
  provider openai
  retry_policy ProdRetrey // typo
}

// after
client GPT4 {
  provider openai
  retry_policy ProdRetry
}

retry_policy ProdRetry {
  max_retries 3
}

import { parse } from '@baml-lang/core';
const policyNames = new Set([...src.matchAll(/retry_policy\s+(\w+)/g)].map((m) => m[1]));
if (!policyNames.has('ProdRetry')) throw new Error('retry_policy ProdRetry is not defined in .baml sources');

try {
  const policy = runtime.getRetryPolicy('ProdRetry');
} catch (e) {
  if (/Could not find retry policy/i.test(e.message)) {
    console.error('Declare retry_policy ProdRetry { ... } in your .baml files or fix the name');
  }
  throw e;
}

When it happens

Trigger: Calling get_retry_policy / the policy lookup inserter with a policy_name that doesn't match any `retry_policy <Name> { ... }` block in the loaded BAML sources (e.g. a client config referencing `retry_policy MissingPolicy`).

Common situations: Typo in the retry policy name in a client block; renaming/deleting a retry_policy in the .baml files without updating clients; loading the wrong baml_src directory that doesn't contain the file defining the policy.

Understand the failure class

Background: 'Could not be found', 'does not exist', 'not found in database': the resource-not-found family when an ID, slug, key, or URI lookup comes back empty — this error's family across 20 libraries.

Related errors

• Class not found
• Configuration error
• Enum not found
• Failed to initialize BAML runtime
• function ` ` not found

AI-assisted analysis of BoundaryML/baml@bd85ce9dee (2026-09-12). Data as JSON: /api/errors/02aa09b8e86bb23a. Report an issue: GitHub.

Appendix: source

Thrown at engine/baml-runtime/src/lib.rs:1992

        }
    }

    pub(crate) fn get_retry_policy_impl(
        &self,
        policy_name: &str,
        _ctx: &RuntimeContext,
    ) -> Result<CallablePolicy> {
        #[cfg(target_arch = "wasm32")]
        let mut retry_policies = self.retry_policies.lock().unwrap();
        #[cfg(not(target_arch = "wasm32"))]
        let retry_policies = &self.retry_policies;

        let inserter = || {
            self.ir()
                .walk_retry_policies()
                .find(|walker| walker.name() == policy_name)
                .ok_or_else(|| {
                    anyhow::anyhow!("Could not find retry policy with name: {}", policy_name)
                })
                .map(CallablePolicy::from)
        };

        #[cfg(target_arch = "wasm32")]
        {
            if let Some(policy_ref) = retry_policies.get(policy_name) {
                return Ok(policy_ref.clone());
            }
            let new_policy = inserter()?;
            retry_policies.insert(policy_name.into(), new_policy.clone());
            Ok(new_policy)
        }

        #[cfg(not(target_arch = "wasm32"))]
        {
            let policy_ref = retry_policies
                .entry(policy_name.into())

View on GitHub (pinned to bd85ce9dee)