Functional Weave
Code in Rust

http.retry-after

Seconds to wait from an HTTP Retry-After header (delay-seconds or an HTTP date), or null if missing or malformed.

1.0.0 · published 2026-10-03 by charlie · Anterra

Pinned by 23 tests, run in TypeScript, Python and Rust.

What it does

How long to wait before trying again, from a `Retry-After` header on a 429 (Too Many Requests) or 503 response:

retryAfterSeconds("120", now)                             # 120
retryAfterSeconds("Wed, 21 Oct 2015 07:28:00 GMT", 1445412420)  # 60
retryAfterSeconds(null, now)                              # null: no header
retryAfterSeconds("soon", now)                            # null: not a Retry-After

For example

  • retry_after_seconds(120, 1,790,424,000) → 120 delay-seconds, as an API's 429 sends it
  • retry_after_seconds(0, 1,790,424,000) → 0 zero means retry now
  • retry_after_seconds(—, 1,790,424,000) → — no header at all

The function

The same function in TypeScript, Python and Rust, pinned by the same tests. Pick your language; the choice follows you around the registry.

pub fn retry_after_seconds(header: Option<&str>, now: i64) -> Option<i64>
headerstring?the Retry-After header's value, or null when the response has none
nowintthe current time in Unix seconds, read by the caller, for the date form
returnsint?whole seconds to wait, 0 or more; null when absent or not a form RFC 9110 allows

Your code names it in one line, in the file that uses it

fune!(http.retry-after@^1);  // then call retry_after_seconds(…)
impl/rust.rs · 74 lines · open · raw

Imports name this capability’s declared dependencies, which fune builds next to it in your project; each one links to its page.

use super::funejson::Value;  ← the fune runtime: the JSON value the test vectors use; fune build keeps it only where a signature takes one
use super::dates_is_leap_year::is_leap_year;  ← from dates.is-leap-year ^1.0.0 · built alongside by fune
use super::time_iso_to_unix::iso_to_unix;  ← from time.iso-to-unix ^1.0.0 · built alongside by fune

const DAY_NAMES: [&str; 7] = ["Mon", "Tue", "Wed", "Thu", "Fri", "Sat", "Sun"];
const MONTHS: [&str; 12] = ["Jan", "Feb", "Mar", "Apr", "May", "Jun", "Jul", "Aug", "Sep", "Oct", "Nov", "Dec"];
const MONTH_DAYS: [i64; 12] = [31, 28, 31, 30, 31, 30, 31, 31, 30, 31, 30, 31];
// Nine digits is 31 years; anything longer is a broken header, not a wait.
const MAX_DIGITS: usize = 9;

fn all_digits(text: &str) -> bool {
    !text.is_empty() && text.bytes().all(|b| b.is_ascii_digit())
}

fn number(text: &str) -> i64 {
    text.bytes().fold(0, |n, b| n * 10 + (b - b'0') as i64)
}

/// An IMF-fixdate, "Sun, 06 Nov 1994 08:49:37 GMT", to Unix seconds; None if it is not one.
fn imf_fixdate(t: &str) -> Option<i64> {
    // Byte positions are only safe once the text is known to be ASCII.
    if t.len() != 29 || !t.is_ascii() {
        return None;
    }
    if !DAY_NAMES.contains(&&t[0..3]) || &t[3..5] != ", " || &t[7..8] != " " || &t[11..12] != " " || &t[16..17] != " " {
        return None;
    }
    if &t[19..20] != ":" || &t[22..23] != ":" || &t[25..] != " GMT" {
        return None;
    }
    let month = MONTHS.iter().position(|m| *m == &t[8..11])?;
    let (dd, yyyy, hh, mi, ss) = (&t[5..7], &t[12..16], &t[17..19], &t[20..22], &t[23..25]);
    if ![dd, yyyy, hh, mi, ss].iter().all(|part| all_digits(part)) {
        return None;
    }
    let (year, day) = (number(yyyy), number(dd));
    if year < 1 || number(hh) > 23 || number(mi) > 59 || number(ss) > 59 {
        return None;
    }
    let month_days = if month == 1 && is_leap_year(year) { 29 } else { MONTH_DAYS[month] };
    if day < 1 || day > month_days {
        return None;
    }
    Some(iso_to_unix(&format!("{}-{:02}-{}T{}:{}:{}Z", yyyy, month + 1, dd, hh, mi, ss)))
}

/// How long a client should wait before retrying, from a Retry-After header
/// (RFC 9110 10.2.3): delay-seconds, or an HTTP date turned into seconds from
/// `now`. A date in the past is 0. Anything else is None.
pub fn retry_after_seconds(header: Option<&str>, now: i64) -> Option<i64> {
    let header = header?;
    // HTTP's optional whitespace is space and tab only (RFC 9110 5.6.3).
    let t = header.trim_matches(|c| c == ' ' || c == '\t');
    if all_digits(t) {
        return if t.len() <= MAX_DIGITS { Some(number(t)) } else { None };
    }
    let at = imf_fixdate(t)?;
    Some(if at > now { at - now } else { 0 })
}

pub fn fune_vector(args: &[Value]) -> Value {
    let now = match &args[1] {
        Value::Int(i) => *i,
        _ => panic!("now must be a whole number of seconds"),
    };
    let header = match &args[0] {
        Value::Str(s) => Some(s.as_str()),
        _ => None,
    };
    match retry_after_seconds(header, now) {
        Some(seconds) => Value::Int(seconds),
        None => Value::Null,
    }
}

Install

fune build

With that line in your source, in a Rust project (language rust in fune.project), fune build resolves it and its 2 dependencies, pins them in fune.lock, downloads only the Rust package of each, and builds the code above into your project’s .fune/build, one readable file per capability with a header linking back here. A crate’s build.rs runs it before every compile. Or pin a range in fune.project and build in one step:

fune add http.retry-after
Download for Rust http.retry-after-1.0.0-rust.fune · 9,292 bytes sha256 4c6758bf84cf9f6c19cf4a595e3f4afab5385a1c183884667ed976513616a2f1

The manifest, vectors and README with only the Rust implementation. Install it without the registry with fune add ./http.retry-after-1.0.0-rust.fune, or fetch it from a terminal with fune pull http.retry-after@1.0.0:rust.

The whole function, every language, is one file too: http.retry-after-1.0.0.fune, 14,698 bytes, sha256 441e33fb277a014ea37cbffe29dc8e4ca7354b82390b91db5d0d68e5a6d79a3e. It installs into a project of any language.

Customise it in your app

The seams this capability offers. Put a marker directly above a function of your own and fune build wires it into the built code; the package on the registry is not changed, the built file’s header lists it under CUSTOMISED, and fune hooks lists every hook in the project. How hooks work.

before — your function gets the arguments and returns them, changed or not, or throws to refuse the call.

// fune: before http.retry-after

after — your function gets the result and the arguments, and returns the final result.

// fune: after http.retry-after

replace — inside this capability’s code only, calls to a dependency go to your function, with the same signature. Other capabilities that use it are unaffected; write in * to replace it everywhere.

// fune: replace dates.is-leap-year in http.retry-after
// fune: replace time.iso-to-unix in http.retry-after

step — your function runs at a numbered point inside the function’s body, receives the in-scope values it names as parameters, and may return replacements. List the points with fune show http.retry-after --steps.

// fune: step http.retry-after after <n|label>

Tests

A version published now needs at least 8 tests for every function, and one that expects the error for each function that throws; the registry refuses it otherwise. fune verify --all runs each case in TypeScript, Python and Rust, and a project runs them again with fune verify. This page lists the cases; it does not run them. The exact JSON is vectors.json.

CaseArgumentsExpected
delay-seconds, as an API's 429 sends it 120, 1,790,424,000 → 120
zero means retry now 0, 1,790,424,000 → 0
no header at all —, 1,790,424,000 → —
an empty header , 1,790,424,000 → —
spaces and tabs around the value are optional whitespace 30 , 1,790,424,000 → 30
leading zeros are still 1*DIGIT 007, 1,790,424,000 → 7
nine digits is the most accepted 999999999, 0 → 999,999,999
ten digits is a broken header, not a 317-year wait 1000000000, 0 → —
a negative number is not delay-seconds -5, 1,790,424,000 → —
a fraction is not delay-seconds 1.5, 1,790,424,000 → —
Show the other 13 tests
CaseArgumentsExpected
a plus sign is not delay-seconds (Rust's parse would take it) +5, 1,790,424,000 → —
Arabic-Indic digits are not ASCII digits ٣٠, 1,790,424,000 → —
a trailing newline is not optional whitespace 120 , 1,790,424,000 → —
an HTTP date a minute ahead is 60 seconds Wed, 21 Oct 2015 07:28:00 GMT, 1,445,412,420 → 60
an HTTP date already past is 0, not negative Wed, 21 Oct 2015 07:28:00 GMT, 1,445,412,490 → 0
29 February in a leap year Thu, 29 Feb 2024 12:00:00 GMT, 1,709,207,000 → 1,000
29 February in a common year is no date Wed, 29 Feb 2023 12:00:00 GMT, 1,600,000,000 → —
the zone must be GMT, upper case Wed, 21 Oct 2015 07:28:00 gmt, 1,445,412,420 → —
hour 24 is refused Wed, 21 Oct 2015 24:00:00 GMT, 1,445,412,420 → —
year 0000 is refused Sat, 01 Jan 0000 00:00:00 GMT, 0 → —
the obsolete RFC 850 form is not accepted Wednesday, 21-Oct-15 07:28:00 GMT, 1,445,412,420 → —
the obsolete asctime form is not accepted Wed Oct 21 07:28:00 2015, 1,445,412,420 → —
a fractional now is refused 120, 1,790,424,000.5 → error: now must be a whole number of seconds

More from the author

RFC 9110 section 10.2.3 allows two forms:

- **delay-seconds**: one or more ASCII digits (`120`, `0`, `007`). Signs, fractions, other scripts' digits and more than nine digits (31 years) are not a wait anyone meant, so they are null. - **HTTP-date**, in the preferred IMF-fixdate form (`Sun, 06 Nov 1994 08:49:37 GMT`, section 5.6.7): exactly that layout, day and month names in English with that capitalisation, `GMT` in capitals, a real calendar date (29 February only in a leap year, via `dates.is-leap-year`), hours 00-23 and seconds 00-59. It is turned into seconds from `now` through `time.iso-to-unix`; a date already past is 0. The day name is not checked against the date. The obsolete RFC 850 and asctime forms, which a recipient "SHOULD" accept, are refused here: nothing still sends them, and each is a two-digit-year or zone ambiguity.

Spaces and tabs around the value are ignored (HTTP's optional whitespace); anything else, a newline included, is null. Null is a signal, not an error: the caller falls back to its own backoff rather than trusting a garbled header. The caller reads the clock and passes `now` in whole Unix seconds; a fraction throws "now must be a whole number of seconds".

Pair it with `time.countdown(now + seconds, now)` to show the wait ticking down.

Source: RFC 9110, HTTP Semantics, sections 10.2.3 (Retry-After) and 5.6.7 (Date/Time Formats), https://www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc9110.

Files

PathBytes
README.md1,880
impl/python.py2,337
impl/rust.rs2,903
impl/typescript.ts2,768
vectors.json2,459