diff --git a/gitea_client.py b/gitea_client.py
index c98fef5a..7f0deb18 100644
--- a/gitea_client.py
+++ b/gitea_client.py
@@ -19,6 +19,7 @@ import os
 import urllib.request
 import urllib.error
 import urllib.parse
+import time
 from dataclasses import dataclass, field
 from datetime import datetime, timezone
 from pathlib import Path
@@ -211,37 +212,53 @@ class GiteaClient:
 
     # -- HTTP layer ----------------------------------------------------------
 
+
     def _request(
         self,
         method: str,
         path: str,
         data: Optional[dict] = None,
         params: Optional[dict] = None,
+        retries: int = 3,
+        backoff: float = 1.5,
     ) -> Any:
-        """Make an authenticated API request. Returns parsed JSON."""
+        """Make an authenticated API request with exponential backoff retries."""
         url = f"{self.api}{path}"
         if params:
             url += "?" + urllib.parse.urlencode(params)
 
         body = json.dumps(data).encode() if data else None
-        req = urllib.request.Request(url, data=body, method=method)
-        req.add_header("Authorization", f"token {self.token}")
-        req.add_header("Content-Type", "application/json")
-        req.add_header("Accept", "application/json")
+        
+        for attempt in range(retries):
+            req = urllib.request.Request(url, data=body, method=method)
+            req.add_header("Authorization", f"token {self.token}")
+            req.add_header("Content-Type", "application/json")
+            req.add_header("Accept", "application/json")
 
-        try:
-            with urllib.request.urlopen(req, timeout=30) as resp:
-                raw = resp.read().decode()
-                if not raw:
-                    return {}
-                return json.loads(raw)
-        except urllib.error.HTTPError as e:
-            body_text = ""
             try:
-                body_text = e.read().decode()
-            except Exception:
-                pass
-            raise GiteaError(e.code, body_text, url) from e
+                with urllib.request.urlopen(req, timeout=30) as resp:
+                    raw = resp.read().decode()
+                    if not raw:
+                        return {}
+                    return json.loads(raw)
+            except urllib.error.HTTPError as e:
+                # Don't retry client errors (4xx) except 429
+                if 400 <= e.code < 500 and e.code != 429:
+                    body_text = ""
+                    try:
+                        body_text = e.read().decode()
+                    except Exception:
+                        pass
+                    raise GiteaError(e.code, body_text, url) from e
+                
+                if attempt == retries - 1:
+                    raise GiteaError(e.code, str(e), url) from e
+                
+                time.sleep(backoff ** attempt)
+            except (urllib.error.URLError, TimeoutError) as e:
+                if attempt == retries - 1:
+                    raise GiteaError(500, str(e), url) from e
+                time.sleep(backoff ** attempt)
 
     def _get(self, path: str, **params) -> Any:
         # Filter out None values