fix(runtime): retry transient sandbox startup failures

strix/runtime/backends.py

@@ -2,7 +2,9 @@
 
 from __future__ import annotations
 
+import asyncio
 import logging
+import os
 from collections.abc import Awaitable, Callable
 from typing import TYPE_CHECKING, Any
 
@@ -16,6 +18,127 @@ logger = logging.getLogger(__name__)
 
 SandboxBackend = Callable[..., Awaitable[tuple[Any, Any]]]
 
+_DEFAULT_START_ATTEMPTS = 3
+_START_BACKOFF_SECONDS = 2.0
+_TRANSIENT_TIMEOUT_NAMES = {
+    "ConnectTimeout",
+    "PoolTimeout",
+    "ReadTimeout",
+    "TimeoutError",
+    "TimeoutException",
+    "WriteTimeout",
+}
+_TRANSIENT_CONNECTION_NAMES = {
+    "ConnectError",
+    "ConnectionError",
+    "ConnectionResetError",
+    "ReadError",
+    "WriteError",
+}
+
+
+def _start_attempts() -> int:
+    raw = os.environ.get("STRIX_E2B_BOOTSTRAP_ATTEMPTS")
+    if raw is None:
+        return _DEFAULT_START_ATTEMPTS
+    try:
+        attempts = int(raw)
+    except ValueError:
+        logger.warning(
+            "Invalid STRIX_E2B_BOOTSTRAP_ATTEMPTS=%r; using %d",
+            raw,
+            _DEFAULT_START_ATTEMPTS,
+        )
+        return _DEFAULT_START_ATTEMPTS
+    if attempts < 1:
+        logger.warning(
+            "STRIX_E2B_BOOTSTRAP_ATTEMPTS must be positive; using %d",
+            _DEFAULT_START_ATTEMPTS,
+        )
+        return _DEFAULT_START_ATTEMPTS
+    return attempts
+
+
+def _exception_chain(error: BaseException) -> list[BaseException]:
+    chain: list[BaseException] = []
+    pending: list[BaseException | None] = [error]
+    seen: set[int] = set()
+    while pending:
+        current = pending.pop()
+        if current is None or id(current) in seen:
+            continue
+        seen.add(id(current))
+        chain.append(current)
+        pending.extend(
+            (
+                current.__cause__,
+                current.__context__,
+                getattr(current, "cause", None),
+            )
+        )
+    return chain
+
+
+def _is_transient_start_error(error: BaseException) -> bool:
+    for cause in _exception_chain(error):
+        name = type(cause).__name__
+        module = type(cause).__module__
+        if isinstance(cause, TimeoutError | ConnectionError | ConnectionResetError):
+            return True
+        if name in _TRANSIENT_TIMEOUT_NAMES:
+            return True
+        if name in _TRANSIENT_CONNECTION_NAMES and (
+            module.startswith(("httpcore", "httpx", "e2b", "agents"))
+            or name in {"ConnectionError", "ConnectionResetError"}
+        ):
+            return True
+    return False
+
+
+async def start_session_with_retry(
+    client: Any,
+    create_session: Callable[[], Awaitable[Any]],
+    *,
+    attempts: int | None = None,
+) -> Any:
+    """Start a sandbox session, retrying transient transport failures.
+
+    Backend implementations should use this helper when they own both session
+    creation and ``session.start()`` so failed starts can be torn down before a
+    retry. The caller owns the manifest and any temporary source directories
+    until this helper returns.
+    """
+    max_attempts = attempts if attempts is not None else _start_attempts()
+    for attempt in range(1, max_attempts + 1):
+        session: Any | None = None
+        try:
+            session = await create_session()
+            assert session is not None
+            await session.start()
+        except Exception as exc:
+            if session is not None:
+                try:
+                    await client.delete(session)
+                except Exception:  # noqa: BLE001
+                    logger.warning(
+                        "Failed to tear down sandbox after start failure",
+                        exc_info=True,
+                    )
+            transient = _is_transient_start_error(exc)
+            if not transient or attempt == max_attempts:
+                raise
+            delay = _START_BACKOFF_SECONDS * (2 ** (attempt - 1))
+            logger.warning(
+                "Transient sandbox start failure; retrying attempt %d/%d in %.1fs",
+                attempt + 1,
+                max_attempts,
+                delay,
+            )
+            await asyncio.sleep(delay)
+        else:
+            return session
+    raise AssertionError("sandbox start retry loop completed without returning or raising")
+
 
 async def _docker_backend(
     *,
@@ -50,8 +173,10 @@ async def _docker_backend(
     client = StrixDockerSandboxClient(docker.from_env())
     client.strix_bind_mounts = bind_mounts or []
     options = DockerSandboxClientOptions(image=image, exposed_ports=exposed_ports)
-    session = await client.create(options=options, manifest=manifest)
+    session = await start_session_with_retry(
-    await session.start()
+        client,
+        lambda: client.create(options=options, manifest=manifest),
+    )
     return client, session
 
 
@@ -83,7 +208,9 @@ def register_backend(name: str, backend: SandboxBackend) -> None:
 
     Intended for downstream users who ship their own runtime — register
     before any ``session_manager.create_or_reuse`` call. Re-registering
-    an existing name overwrites the prior entry.
+    an existing name overwrites the prior entry. Backends that own both
+    session creation and ``session.start()`` should use
+    :func:`start_session_with_retry`.
     """
     _BACKENDS[name] = backend
     logger.info("Registered sandbox backend: %s", name)

tests/test_backend_retries.py

@@ -0,0 +1,193 @@
+"""Tests for transient sandbox start retries."""
+
+from __future__ import annotations
+
+import shutil
+from pathlib import Path
+from types import SimpleNamespace
+from typing import Any
+
+import pytest
+from agents.sandbox.errors import (
+    LocalDirReadError,
+    WorkspaceArchiveWriteError,
+    WorkspaceStartError,
+)
+
+from strix.runtime import session_manager
+from strix.runtime.backends import start_session_with_retry
+
+
+class _FakeSession:
+    def __init__(self, failures: list[BaseException]) -> None:
+        self._failures = iter(failures)
+
+    async def start(self) -> None:
+        try:
+            raise next(self._failures)
+        except StopIteration:
+            return
+
+    async def resolve_exposed_port(self, _port: int) -> SimpleNamespace:
+        return SimpleNamespace(tls=False, host="127.0.0.1", port=48080)
+
+
+class _FakeClient:
+    def __init__(self) -> None:
+        self.created = 0
+        self.deleted: list[_FakeSession] = []
+
+    async def create(self) -> _FakeSession:
+        self.created += 1
+        failures: list[BaseException] = []
+        if self.created == 1:
+            failures = [
+                WorkspaceStartError(
+                    path=Path("/workspace"),
+                    cause=WorkspaceArchiveWriteError(
+                        path=Path("/workspace"),
+                        cause=TimeoutError("transient transport timeout"),
+                    ),
+                )
+            ]
+        return _FakeSession(failures)
+
+    async def delete(self, session: _FakeSession) -> None:
+        self.deleted.append(session)
+
+
+async def test_transient_workspace_failure_retries_and_tears_down(
+    monkeypatch: pytest.MonkeyPatch,
+) -> None:
+    client = _FakeClient()
+    sleeps: list[float] = []
+
+    async def record_sleep(delay: float) -> None:
+        sleeps.append(delay)
+
+    monkeypatch.setattr("strix.runtime.backends.asyncio.sleep", record_sleep)
+
+    session = await start_session_with_retry(client, client.create, attempts=3)
+
+    assert isinstance(session, _FakeSession)
+    assert client.created == 2
+    assert len(client.deleted) == 1
+    assert sleeps == [2.0]
+
+
+async def test_non_transient_workspace_failure_does_not_retry() -> None:
+    client = _FakeClient()
+    session = _FakeSession([LocalDirReadError(src=Path("/workspace/repo"))])
+
+    async def create_session() -> _FakeSession:
+        client.created += 1
+        return session
+
+    with pytest.raises(LocalDirReadError):
+        await start_session_with_retry(client, create_session, attempts=3)
+
+    assert client.created == 1
+    assert client.deleted == [session]
+
+
+async def test_each_transient_attempt_is_torn_down(monkeypatch: pytest.MonkeyPatch) -> None:
+    client = _FakeClient()
+    client.created = 0
+    sessions: list[_FakeSession] = []
+    sleeps: list[float] = []
+
+    async def record_sleep(delay: float) -> None:
+        sleeps.append(delay)
+
+    monkeypatch.setattr("strix.runtime.backends.asyncio.sleep", record_sleep)
+
+    async def create_session() -> _FakeSession:
+        client.created += 1
+        failures: list[BaseException] = []
+        if client.created < 3:
+            failures = [
+                WorkspaceStartError(
+                    path=Path("/workspace"),
+                    cause=TimeoutError("transient transport timeout"),
+                )
+            ]
+        session = _FakeSession(failures)
+        sessions.append(session)
+        return session
+
+    result = await start_session_with_retry(client, create_session, attempts=3)
+
+    assert result is sessions[2]
+    assert client.deleted == sessions[:2]
+    assert sleeps == [2.0, 4.0]
+
+
+async def test_staged_dirs_survive_retries_and_cleanup_once(
+    tmp_path: Path,
+    monkeypatch: pytest.MonkeyPatch,
+) -> None:
+    repo = tmp_path / "repo"
+    repo.mkdir()
+    (repo / "real.txt").write_text("content")
+    (repo / "link.txt").symlink_to(repo / "real.txt")
+
+    client = _FakeClient()
+    observed_paths: list[Path] = []
+    sleeps: list[float] = []
+    original_rmtree = shutil.rmtree  # pyright: ignore[reportDeprecated]
+    removed_paths: list[Path] = []
+
+    async def record_sleep(delay: float) -> None:
+        sleeps.append(delay)
+
+    monkeypatch.setattr("strix.runtime.backends.asyncio.sleep", record_sleep)
+
+    def record_rmtree(path: str | Path, **kwargs: Any) -> None:
+        removed_paths.append(Path(path))
+        original_rmtree(path, **kwargs)  # pyright: ignore[reportDeprecated]
+
+    monkeypatch.setattr("strix.runtime.session_manager.shutil.rmtree", record_rmtree)
+    monkeypatch.setattr(
+        session_manager,
+        "load_settings",
+        lambda: SimpleNamespace(runtime=SimpleNamespace(backend="fake")),
+    )
+    monkeypatch.setattr(session_manager, "bootstrap_caido", _bootstrap_caido)
+
+    async def fake_backend(**kwargs: Any) -> tuple[_FakeClient, _FakeSession]:
+        staged_path = kwargs["manifest"].entries["repo"].src
+
+        async def create_session() -> _FakeSession:
+            observed_paths.append(Path(staged_path))
+            return await client.create()
+
+        session = await start_session_with_retry(client, create_session, attempts=3)
+        return client, session
+
+    def fake_get_backend(_name: str) -> Any:
+        return fake_backend
+
+    monkeypatch.setattr(session_manager, "get_backend", fake_get_backend)
+
+    try:
+        await session_manager.create_or_reuse(
+            "retry-test",
+            image="test-image",
+            local_sources=[
+                {
+                    "source_path": str(repo),
+                    "workspace_subdir": "repo",
+                }
+            ],
+        )
+    finally:
+        await session_manager.cleanup("retry-test")
+
+    assert len(observed_paths) == 2
+    assert observed_paths[0] == observed_paths[1]
+    assert observed_paths[0] in removed_paths
+    assert not observed_paths[0].exists()
+
+
+async def _bootstrap_caido(*_args: Any, **_kwargs: Any) -> object:
+    return object()