fix(agent): disable OpenAI SDK auto-retry that double-fires inside the rate-limit loop

Same bug class as the Anthropic fix (#26293): the OpenAI/aggregator client is
built without max_retries, so the SDK default of 2 applies. The SDK's own 1-2s
backoff ignores Retry-After and retries inside hermes's outer conversation loop,
burning request slots against a rate-limited bucket. Set max_retries=0 at the
single create_openai_client chokepoint (covers init, switch_model, recovery,
restore, request-scoped). auxiliary_client builds its own clients and is not
wrapped by the loop, so it keeps SDK retries.

agent/agent_runtime_helpers.py

@@ -1452,6 +1452,15 @@ def create_openai_client(agent, client_kwargs: dict, *, reason: str, shared: boo
         keepalive_http = agent._build_keepalive_http_client(client_kwargs.get("base_url", ""))
         if keepalive_http is not None:
             client_kwargs["http_client"] = keepalive_http
+    # Delegate all rate-limit / 5xx retry to hermes's outer conversation loop,
+    # which honors Retry-After and applies adaptive/jittered backoff. The OpenAI
+    # SDK default (max_retries=2) uses its own 1-2s backoff that ignores
+    # Retry-After and double-retries inside our loop — the same deadlock the
+    # Anthropic clients hit (#26293). This is the single chokepoint every primary
+    # OpenAI/aggregator client passes through (init, switch_model, recovery,
+    # restore, request-scoped); auxiliary_client builds its own clients and keeps
+    # SDK retries because it is NOT wrapped by the conversation loop.
+    client_kwargs.setdefault("max_retries", 0)
     # Uses the module-level `OpenAI` name, resolved lazily on first
     # access via __getattr__ below. Tests patch via `run_agent.OpenAI`.
     client = _ra().OpenAI(**client_kwargs)

tests/run_agent/test_create_openai_client_disables_sdk_retries.py

@@ -0,0 +1,78 @@
+"""Regression guard: _create_openai_client must disable SDK-level retries.
+
+#26293: the OpenAI SDK default ``max_retries=2`` uses its own 1-2s backoff that
+ignores ``Retry-After`` and double-retries *inside* hermes's outer conversation
+loop — burning request slots against a rate-limited bucket that won't refill for
+minutes. The outer loop already owns rate-limit backoff (honors Retry-After,
+adaptive + jittered), so every primary OpenAI/aggregator client must be built
+with ``max_retries=0``. This is the OpenAI-path twin of the Anthropic adapter
+fix in tests/agent/test_anthropic_adapter.py.
+"""
+from unittest.mock import MagicMock, patch
+
+from run_agent import AIAgent
+
+
+@patch("run_agent.OpenAI")
+def test_create_openai_client_disables_sdk_retries(mock_openai):
+    mock_openai.return_value = MagicMock()
+    agent = AIAgent(
+        api_key="test-key",
+        base_url="https://openrouter.ai/api/v1",
+        model="test/model",
+        quiet_mode=True,
+        skip_context_files=True,
+        skip_memory=True,
+    )
+
+    agent._create_openai_client(
+        {"api_key": "test-key", "base_url": "https://openrouter.ai/api/v1"},
+        reason="test",
+        shared=False,
+    )
+
+    # Find the construction call that carries our base_url (AIAgent() also
+    # builds a client during init; the assertion targets the explicit call).
+    matching = [
+        c for c in mock_openai.call_args_list
+        if c.kwargs.get("base_url") == "https://openrouter.ai/api/v1"
+    ]
+    assert matching, "OpenAI was never constructed with the expected base_url"
+    for call in matching:
+        assert call.kwargs.get("max_retries") == 0, (
+            "_create_openai_client must set max_retries=0 so the SDK does not "
+            "double-retry inside the outer rate-limit loop (#26293); got "
+            f"{call.kwargs.get('max_retries')!r}"
+        )
+
+
+@patch("run_agent.OpenAI")
+def test_create_openai_client_honors_explicit_max_retries(mock_openai):
+    """An explicit max_retries in client_kwargs is respected (setdefault, not
+    clobber) — future callers can opt back into SDK retries if needed."""
+    mock_openai.return_value = MagicMock()
+    agent = AIAgent(
+        api_key="test-key",
+        base_url="https://openrouter.ai/api/v1",
+        model="test/model",
+        quiet_mode=True,
+        skip_context_files=True,
+        skip_memory=True,
+    )
+
+    agent._create_openai_client(
+        {
+            "api_key": "test-key",
+            "base_url": "https://explicit.example.com/v1",
+            "max_retries": 5,
+        },
+        reason="test",
+        shared=False,
+    )
+
+    matching = [
+        c for c in mock_openai.call_args_list
+        if c.kwargs.get("base_url") == "https://explicit.example.com/v1"
+    ]
+    assert matching, "OpenAI was never constructed with the explicit base_url"
+    assert matching[-1].kwargs.get("max_retries") == 5