diff --git a/scripts/lib/http.py b/scripts/lib/http.py
index 17d612a..9894c6e 100644
--- a/scripts/lib/http.py
+++ b/scripts/lib/http.py
@@ -18,8 +18,8 @@ def log(msg: str):
     if DEBUG:
         sys.stderr.write(f"[DEBUG] {msg}\n")
         sys.stderr.flush()
-MAX_RETRIES = 3
-RETRY_DELAY = 1.0
+MAX_RETRIES = 5
+RETRY_DELAY = 2.0
 USER_AGENT = "last30days-skill/2.1 (Assistant Skill)"
 
 
@@ -92,7 +92,20 @@ def request(
                 raise last_error
 
             if attempt < retries - 1:
-                time.sleep(RETRY_DELAY * (attempt + 1))
+                if e.code == 429:
+                    # Respect Retry-After header, fall back to exponential backoff
+                    retry_after = e.headers.get("Retry-After") if hasattr(e, 'headers') else None
+                    if retry_after:
+                        try:
+                            delay = float(retry_after)
+                        except ValueError:
+                            delay = RETRY_DELAY * (2 ** attempt) + 1
+                    else:
+                        delay = RETRY_DELAY * (2 ** attempt) + 1  # 2s, 5s, 9s...
+                    log(f"Rate limited (429). Waiting {delay:.1f}s before retry {attempt + 2}/{retries}")
+                else:
+                    delay = RETRY_DELAY * (2 ** attempt)
+                time.sleep(delay)
         except urllib.error.URLError as e:
             log(f"URL Error: {e.reason}")
             last_error = HTTPError(f"URL Error: {e.reason}")
diff --git a/scripts/lib/openai_reddit.py b/scripts/lib/openai_reddit.py
index 51e2eed..2c6b838 100644
--- a/scripts/lib/openai_reddit.py
+++ b/scripts/lib/openai_reddit.py
@@ -8,7 +8,8 @@ from typing import Any, Dict, List, Optional
 from . import http
 
 # Fallback models when the selected model isn't accessible (e.g., org not verified for GPT-5)
-MODEL_FALLBACK_ORDER = ["gpt-4.1", "gpt-4o", "gpt-4o-mini"]
+# Note: gpt-4o-mini does NOT support web_search with filters param, so exclude it
+MODEL_FALLBACK_ORDER = ["gpt-4.1", "gpt-4o"]
 
 
 def _log_error(msg: str):
@@ -188,6 +189,9 @@ def search_reddit(
             if _is_model_access_error(e):
                 _log_info(f"Model {current_model} not accessible, trying fallback...")
                 continue
+            if e.status_code == 429:
+                _log_info(f"Rate limited on {current_model}, trying fallback model...")
+                continue
             # Non-access error, don't retry with different model
             raise