diff --git a/run_agent.py b/run_agent.py
index 295106e3d5..7543d1d0c0 100644
--- a/run_agent.py
+++ b/run_agent.py
@@ -3469,7 +3469,7 @@ class AIAgent:
             
             api_start_time = time.time()
             retry_count = 0
-            max_retries = 6  # Increased to allow longer backoff periods
+            max_retries = 3
             compression_attempts = 0
             max_compression_attempts = 3
             codex_auth_retry_attempted = False
@@ -3939,8 +3939,11 @@ class AIAgent:
                     # These indicate a problem with the request itself (bad model ID,
                     # invalid API key, forbidden, etc.) and will never succeed on retry.
                     # Note: 413 and context-length errors are excluded — handled above.
+                    # Also catch local validation errors (ValueError, TypeError) — these
+                    # are programming bugs, not transient failures.
+                    is_local_validation_error = isinstance(api_error, (ValueError, TypeError))
                     is_client_status_error = isinstance(status_code, int) and 400 <= status_code < 500 and status_code != 413
-                    is_client_error = (is_client_status_error or any(phrase in error_msg for phrase in [
+                    is_client_error = (is_local_validation_error or is_client_status_error or any(phrase in error_msg for phrase in [
                         'error code: 401', 'error code: 403',
                         'error code: 404', 'error code: 422',
                         'is not a valid model', 'invalid model', 'model not found',