diff --git a/mokelumne/dags/gen_llm_image_descriptions.py b/mokelumne/dags/gen_llm_image_descriptions.py
index 8a88aff..f0b9549 100644
--- a/mokelumne/dags/gen_llm_image_descriptions.py
+++ b/mokelumne/dags/gen_llm_image_descriptions.py
@@ -12,6 +12,7 @@
 from pathlib import Path
 from shutil import copyfile
 from typing import List
+import requests
 from airflow.exceptions import AirflowFailException
 from airflow.providers.smtp.operators.smtp import EmailOperator
 from airflow.sdk import dag, task, task_group, Param, get_current_context
@@ -27,6 +28,7 @@
 from mokelumne.plugins.static_files.helpers import static_files_run_dir
 from mokelumne.util.storage import run_dir
 from mokelumne.util.tind_csv_writer import TindCsvWriter, is_single_image_record
+from tind_client.errors import TooManyRequestsError
 
 
 logger = logging.getLogger(__name__)
@@ -110,6 +112,12 @@
             description_md="The maximum height for the fetched image.  Must be less than 8000px."
         ),
     },
+    default_args={
+        "retries": 3,
+        "retry_delay": 3,
+        "retry_exponential_backoff": True,
+        "max_retry_delay": 600,  # 10 minutes
+    },
     tags=["batch-image", "csv", "generate-descriptions", "llm", "process",],
 )
 def gen_llm_image_descriptions():
@@ -217,6 +225,13 @@ def fetch_image_to_record_directory(run_id: str, fetcher: ImageFetcher,
                     )
 
                 path = str(fetcher.fetch_one_image_for_record(tind_id, run_id))
+            except TooManyRequestsError as ex:
+                ti = context["ti"]
+                if ti.try_number <= ti.max_tries:
+                    logger.warning("TIND API returned 429; marking record for retry")
+                    raise
+                logger.warning("TIND API returned 429 on final attempt; marking record as failed")
+                return RunStatus(tind_id=tind_id, status="failed", description="TIND API too busy, try again later", path="")
             except Exception as ex:  # pylint: disable=broad-exception-caught
                 logger.warning("Fetcher encountered exception", exc_info=ex)
                 return RunStatus(tind_id=tind_id, status="failed", description=str(ex), path="")
@@ -383,7 +398,7 @@ def collate_csvs(output_dir_str: str) -> str:
             return timestamp
 
         @task
-        def generate_summary(output_dir_str: str, timestamp: str) -> str:
+        def generate_summary(output_dir_str: str, timestamp: str) -> str: # pylint: disable=too-many-locals
             """Generate a summary of the files in the collated path."""
             def count_success_fail_of_csv(csv_file: Path, success: str) -> tuple[int, int, int]:
                 """Count the success and failure rows for the given CSV."""
diff --git a/pyproject.toml b/pyproject.toml
index 1301cbe..8722472 100644
--- a/pyproject.toml
+++ b/pyproject.toml
@@ -78,7 +78,7 @@ skip-checking-raises = true
 style = "sphinx"
 
 [tool.pylint.messages_control]
-disable = ["expression-not-assigned"]
+disable = ["expression-not-assigned", "pointless-statement", "too-many-statements"]
 
 [tool.pytest]
 minversion = "9.0"
diff --git a/requirements.txt b/requirements.txt
index 9995863..199bee6 100644
--- a/requirements.txt
+++ b/requirements.txt
@@ -591,6 +591,7 @@ fastapi==0.135.3 \
     --hash=sha256:9b0f590c813acd13d0ab43dd8494138eb58e484bfac405db1f3187cfc5810d98 \
     --hash=sha256:bd6d7caf1a2bdd8d676843cdcd2287729572a1ef524fc4d65c17ae002a1be654
     # via
+    #   mokelumne (pyproject.toml)
     #   apache-airflow-core
     #   cadwyn
 fastapi-cli==0.0.24 \
@@ -850,6 +851,7 @@ httpx==0.28.1 \
     --hash=sha256:75e98c5f16b0f35b567856f597f06ff2270a374470a5c2392242528e3e3e42fc \
     --hash=sha256:d909fcccc110f8c7faf814ca82a9a4d816bc5a6dbfea25d6591d6985b8ba59ad
     # via
+    #   mokelumne (pyproject.toml)
     #   apache-airflow-core
     #   apache-airflow-task-sdk
     #   fastapi
@@ -1998,9 +2000,9 @@ python-slugify==8.0.4 \
     # via
     #   apache-airflow-core
     #   pytest-playwright
-python-tind-client==0.2.3 \
-    --hash=sha256:8d5286b1af0df3a87ffc4c80a7199663fb02983dbe2b576601ae76cf50e0e915 \
-    --hash=sha256:dfeb0590267c6af5f60832eedb4a7fa4794844cc44bb75066febe9d9698599cc
+python-tind-client==0.2.4 \
+    --hash=sha256:52b4a44c33963f682f66d107940766a76c8cd4e3c829d65dd609ccf5f6641b5f \
+    --hash=sha256:c9699c47223491bcb492d457542c9abfa8cabd1a585fffd23b2e3b55639d8166
     # via mokelumne (pyproject.toml)
 pytz==2026.1.post1 \
     --hash=sha256:3378dde6a0c3d26719182142c56e60c7f9af7e968076f31aae569d72a0358ee1 \
diff --git a/test/tests/test_gen_llm_image_descriptions.py b/test/tests/test_gen_llm_image_descriptions.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..194355d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/tests/test_gen_llm_image_descriptions.py
@@ -0,0 +1,53 @@
+"""Tests for gen_llm_image_descriptions DAG."""
+# pylint: disable=redefined-outer-name
+
+from unittest.mock import patch, MagicMock
+import pytest
+
+from airflow.dag_processing.dagbag import DagBag
+from pathlib import Path
+from tind_client.errors import TooManyRequestsError
+
+dag_dir = Path(__file__).resolve().parent.parent.parent / "mokelumne/dags"
+
+
+@pytest.fixture(scope="module")
+def fetch_fn():
+    """Fixture to get the fetch function from the DAG."""
+    dagbag = DagBag(dag_folder=dag_dir.resolve(), include_examples=False)
+    dag = dagbag.get_dag("gen_llm_image_descriptions")
+    return dag.get_task("fetch_images.fetch_image_to_record_directory").python_callable
+
+
+def _mock_context(try_number: int, max_tries: int) -> dict:
+    mock_ti = MagicMock()
+    mock_ti.try_number = try_number
+    mock_ti.max_tries = max_tries
+    return {"params": {"max_width": 8000, "max_height": 8000}, "run_id": "test", "ti": mock_ti}
+
+
+def test_429_causes_task_retry(fetch_fn):
+    """If retries remain, a TindClient's TooManyRequestsError (429) triggers a retry."""
+    mock_fetcher = MagicMock()
+    mock_fetcher.get_metadata_for_record.side_effect = TooManyRequestsError()
+
+    with patch(
+        f"{fetch_fn.__module__}.get_current_context",
+        return_value=_mock_context(try_number=1, max_tries=3),
+    ):
+        with pytest.raises(TooManyRequestsError):
+            fetch_fn("test_run", mock_fetcher, "12345")
+
+
+def test_429_on_final_attempt_returns_failed_status(fetch_fn):
+    """If last retry gets a TooManyRequestsError, the task returns a failed status."""
+    mock_fetcher = MagicMock()
+    mock_fetcher.get_metadata_for_record.side_effect = TooManyRequestsError()
+
+    with patch(
+        f"{fetch_fn.__module__}.get_current_context",
+        return_value=_mock_context(try_number=4, max_tries=3),
+    ):
+        result = fetch_fn("test_run", mock_fetcher, "12345")
+        assert result.tind_id == "12345"
+        assert result.status == "failed"
diff --git a/test/unit/test_image_fetcher.py b/test/unit/test_image_fetcher.py
index b871841..ec5bb70 100644
--- a/test/unit/test_image_fetcher.py
+++ b/test/unit/test_image_fetcher.py
@@ -4,6 +4,8 @@
 from typing import Any
 from unittest.mock import Mock, call
 
+from tind_client.errors import TooManyRequestsError
+
 from mokelumne.util.image_fetcher import ImageFetcher, base64_size
 
 
@@ -68,6 +70,13 @@ def download_image_from_record_sized(self, _record_id: str, _run_id: str, _width
         return str(FIXTURE_PATH / 'test3_scaled.jpg')
 
 
+class MockTindHookWith429(MockTindHook):
+    """A mock TindHook that simulates a 429 Too Many Requests response."""
+    def get_file_metadata(self, _record_id: str) -> list[dict[str, Any]]:
+        """Raise a Too Many Requests error."""
+        raise TooManyRequestsError()
+
+
 def fetch_factory(tind_mock: MockTindHook, **kwargs) -> ImageFetcher:
     """Create an ImageFetcher with a mocked TIND fetcher client.