Add backon - modern retry/backoff library (Hidden Gem)

[Llucs]

Add backon to Miscellaneous

Category: Hidden Gem

Repo: https://github.com/Llucs/backon
PyPI: https://pypi.org/project/backon/

Justification

backon is a modern evolution of the backoff library (2,700+ stars), which is archived and no longer maintained. backon provides:

• Zero dependencies — pure Python, stdlib only
• Four APIs — decorator, functional, context manager, callable
• Async native — same API works for async def functions
• Full type hints — validated with mypy, strict mode compatible
• Circuit breaker — CLOSED/OPEN/HALF_OPEN states with automatic recovery
• Hedging — concurrent retry requests, first-success-wins
• Prometheus / OpenTelemetry metrics — optional, zero hard dependencies
• Testing module — disable_retries(), limit_retries(), remove_backoff()
• Trio support — retry with the trio async framework
• Iterator API — for attempt in Retrying(...)

It is the only actively maintained retry library that offers all of these features in a single package. The original backoff (2.7k stars) is archived, tenacity is in maintenance mode, and retrying has not been updated since 2021.

Quality Checklist

• Python-first: 100% Python
• Active: commits within last 12 months (latest v3.7.0 Jul 1, 2026)
• Stable: production-ready, multiple releases (v3.7.0)
• Documented: comprehensive README with examples
• Unique: only actively-maintained full-featured retry library for Python