> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://headgate.mintlify.site/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Handler outcomes

> Success, retry, skip, revoke, snooze, undecodable, rate-limited, and lease-lost.

Outcomes are explicit because they have different retry, accounting, history, and retention
semantics.

| Outcome        | Attempt consumed                    | Result                                |
| -------------- | ----------------------------------- | ------------------------------------- |
| `success`      | Yes, current attempt ran            | Complete and retain/delete by policy  |
| `retry`        | Yes                                 | Schedule deterministic backoff        |
| `skip`         | No additional failure               | Archive without another retry         |
| `revoke`       | No additional failure               | Delete                                |
| `snooze`       | No                                  | Schedule for a handler-selected delay |
| `rate_limited` | No                                  | Requeue as a non-failure              |
| `undecodable`  | No retry can fix it                 | Park visibly                          |
| `lease_lost`   | Counts as crash, not returned error | Reclaim or quarantine                 |

<CodeGroup>
  ```rust Rust theme={"system"}
  return Err(headgate::Control::Snooze(Duration::from_secs(30)).into());
  return Err(headgate::Control::RateLimited.into());
  return Err(headgate::Control::Skip.into());
  ```

  ```go Go theme={"system"}
  return headgate.Snooze(30 * time.Second)
  return headgate.ErrRateLimited
  return headgate.ErrSkipJob
  ```
</CodeGroup>

`archived` is Headgate's dead-letter queue. See the
[dead-letter queue guide](/docs/guides/dead-letter-queue) for inspection, redrive,
notifications, and retention.