diff --git a/cli-config.yaml.example b/cli-config.yaml.example
index 64927c2b6..bd63901e1 100644
--- a/cli-config.yaml.example
+++ b/cli-config.yaml.example
@@ -507,6 +507,13 @@ agent:
   # finish, then interrupts anything still running after this timeout.
   # 0 = no drain, interrupt immediately.
   # restart_drain_timeout: 60
+
+  # Max app-level retry attempts for API errors (connection drops, provider
+  # timeouts, 5xx, etc.) before the agent surfaces the failure. Lower this
+  # to 1 if you use fallback providers and want fast failover on flaky
+  # primaries (default 3). The OpenAI SDK does its own low-level retries
+  # underneath this wrapper — this is the Hermes-level loop.
+  # api_max_retries: 3
   
   # Enable verbose logging
   verbose: false
diff --git a/hermes_cli/config.py b/hermes_cli/config.py
index c78b01b15..36e478a70 100644
--- a/hermes_cli/config.py
+++ b/hermes_cli/config.py
@@ -361,6 +361,15 @@ DEFAULT_CONFIG = {
         # to finish, then interrupts any remaining runs after the timeout.
         # 0 = no drain, interrupt immediately.
         "restart_drain_timeout": 60,
+        # Max app-level retry attempts for API errors (connection drops,
+        # provider timeouts, 5xx, etc.) before the agent surfaces the
+        # failure.  The OpenAI SDK already does its own low-level retries
+        # (max_retries=2 default) for transient network errors; this is
+        # the Hermes-level retry loop that wraps the whole call.  Lower
+        # this to 1 if you use fallback providers and want fast failover
+        # on flaky primaries; raise it if you prefer to tolerate longer
+        # provider hiccups on a single provider.
+        "api_max_retries": 3,
         "service_tier": "",
         # Tool-use enforcement: injects system prompt guidance that tells the
         # model to actually call tools instead of describing intended actions.
diff --git a/hermes_cli/tips.py b/hermes_cli/tips.py
index 24acc15f5..0c1bebe67 100644
--- a/hermes_cli/tips.py
+++ b/hermes_cli/tips.py
@@ -289,6 +289,7 @@ TIPS = [
     "When a provider returns HTTP 402 (payment required), the auxiliary client auto-falls back to the next one.",
     "agent.tool_use_enforcement steers models that describe actions instead of calling tools — auto for GPT/Codex.",
     "agent.restart_drain_timeout (default 60s) lets running agents finish before a gateway restart takes effect.",
+    "agent.api_max_retries (default 3) controls how many times the agent retries a failed API call before surfacing the error — lower it for fast fallback.",
     "The gateway caches AIAgent instances per session — destroying this cache breaks Anthropic prompt caching.",
     "Any website can expose skills via /.well-known/skills/index.json — the skills hub discovers them automatically.",
     "The skills audit log at ~/.hermes/skills/.hub/audit.log tracks every install and removal operation.",
diff --git a/run_agent.py b/run_agent.py
index 855b67a84..63b0adb42 100644
--- a/run_agent.py
+++ b/run_agent.py
@@ -1548,6 +1548,17 @@ class AIAgent:
             _agent_section = {}
         self._tool_use_enforcement = _agent_section.get("tool_use_enforcement", "auto")
 
+        # App-level API retry count (wraps each model API call).  Default 3,
+        # overridable via agent.api_max_retries in config.yaml.  See #11616.
+        try:
+            _raw_api_retries = _agent_section.get("api_max_retries", 3)
+            _api_retries = int(_raw_api_retries)
+            if _api_retries < 1:
+                _api_retries = 1  # 1 = no retry (single attempt)
+        except (TypeError, ValueError):
+            _api_retries = 3
+        self._api_max_retries = _api_retries
+
         # Initialize context compressor for automatic context management
         # Compresses conversation when approaching model's context limit
         # Configuration via config.yaml (compression section)
@@ -9259,7 +9270,7 @@ class AIAgent:
             
             api_start_time = time.time()
             retry_count = 0
-            max_retries = 3
+            max_retries = self._api_max_retries
             primary_recovery_attempted = False
             max_compression_attempts = 3
             codex_auth_retry_attempted=False
diff --git a/tests/run_agent/test_api_max_retries_config.py b/tests/run_agent/test_api_max_retries_config.py
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..44e859986
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/run_agent/test_api_max_retries_config.py
@@ -0,0 +1,65 @@
+"""Tests for agent.api_max_retries config surface.
+
+Closes #11616 — make the hardcoded ``max_retries = 3`` in the agent's API
+retry loop user-configurable so fallback-provider setups can fail over
+faster on flaky primaries instead of burning ~3x180s on the same stall.
+"""
+from unittest.mock import MagicMock, patch
+
+from run_agent import AIAgent
+
+
+def _make_agent(api_max_retries=None):
+    """Build an AIAgent with a mocked config.load_config that returns a
+    config tree containing the given agent.api_max_retries (or default)."""
+    cfg = {"agent": {}}
+    if api_max_retries is not None:
+        cfg["agent"]["api_max_retries"] = api_max_retries
+
+    with patch("run_agent.OpenAI"), \
+         patch("hermes_cli.config.load_config", return_value=cfg):
+        return 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,
+        )
+
+
+def test_default_api_max_retries_is_three():
+    """No config override → legacy default of 3 retries preserved."""
+    agent = _make_agent()
+    assert agent._api_max_retries == 3
+
+
+def test_api_max_retries_honors_config_override():
+    """Setting agent.api_max_retries in config propagates to the agent."""
+    agent = _make_agent(api_max_retries=1)
+    assert agent._api_max_retries == 1
+
+    agent2 = _make_agent(api_max_retries=5)
+    assert agent2._api_max_retries == 5
+
+
+def test_api_max_retries_clamps_below_one_to_one():
+    """0 or negative values would disable the retry loop entirely
+    (the ``while retry_count < max_retries`` guard would never execute),
+    so clamp to 1 = single attempt, no retry."""
+    agent = _make_agent(api_max_retries=0)
+    assert agent._api_max_retries == 1
+
+    agent2 = _make_agent(api_max_retries=-3)
+    assert agent2._api_max_retries == 1
+
+
+def test_api_max_retries_falls_back_on_invalid_value():
+    """Garbage values in config don't crash agent init — fall back to 3."""
+    agent = _make_agent(api_max_retries="not-a-number")
+    assert agent._api_max_retries == 3
+
+    agent2 = _make_agent(api_max_retries=None)
+    # None with dict.get default fires → default(3), then int(None) raises
+    # TypeError → except branch sets to 3.
+    assert agent2._api_max_retries == 3