diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 850eb52d..3da7b98f 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@
 ### Added
 
 - `update_document` accepts a `uri` argument to change a document's URI.
+- docling-serve requests fail over to another instance on transport/5xx errors and skip instances whose circuit breaker is open; tune via `providers.docling_serve.max_attempts` and `providers.docling_serve.circuit_breaker`.
 
 ## [0.63.2] - 2026-07-03
 
diff --git a/docs/configuration/processing.md b/docs/configuration/processing.md
index 1174caaa..8e50e174 100644
--- a/docs/configuration/processing.md
+++ b/docs/configuration/processing.md
@@ -96,13 +96,21 @@ providers:
       - http://gpu-1:5001
       - http://cpu-1:5001
       - http://cpu-2:5001
+    max_attempts: 3
+    circuit_breaker:
+      failure_threshold: 3
+      cooldown_s: 30.0
 ```
 
 The round-robin counter is per-process — multiple concurrent ingester or
 client processes pick independently, so the distribution evens out over many
-jobs without coordination. For tight load balancing, failover, or health
-checks, run a real load balancer (nginx `least_conn`, etc.) in front and
-configure a single URL here.
+jobs without coordination. When a listed instance crashes or returns 5xx, the
+client fails the request over to another instance (up to `max_attempts`) and
+opens that instance's circuit breaker so subsequent jobs skip it until its
+`cooldown_s` elapses. An external load balancer can only front docling-serve in
+RQ mode (shared Redis task state); with the default standalone instances the
+submit / poll / result trio is instance-pinned, so the failover and health
+checks live in the client.
 
 **Tuning `ingester.workers.worker_count` for docling-serve users**: convert
 is usually the throughput ceiling — a default docling-serve instance
diff --git a/haiku_rag_slim/haiku/rag/chunkers/docling_serve.py b/haiku_rag_slim/haiku/rag/chunkers/docling_serve.py
index 7f46abf3..6398692b 100644
--- a/haiku_rag_slim/haiku/rag/chunkers/docling_serve.py
+++ b/haiku_rag_slim/haiku/rag/chunkers/docling_serve.py
@@ -56,10 +56,7 @@ class DoclingServeChunker(DocumentChunker):
 
     def __init__(self, config: AppConfig = Config):
         self.config = config
-        self.client = DoclingServeClient(
-            base_urls=config.providers.docling_serve.base_urls,
-            api_key=config.providers.docling_serve.api_key,
-        )
+        self.client = DoclingServeClient.from_config(config.providers.docling_serve)
         self.chunker_type = config.processing.chunker_type
 
     def _build_chunking_data(self) -> dict[str, str | list[str]]:
diff --git a/haiku_rag_slim/haiku/rag/ingester/pollers/circuit_breaker.py b/haiku_rag_slim/haiku/rag/circuit_breaker.py
similarity index 95%
rename from haiku_rag_slim/haiku/rag/ingester/pollers/circuit_breaker.py
rename to haiku_rag_slim/haiku/rag/circuit_breaker.py
index 25c03e75..664e2826 100644
--- a/haiku_rag_slim/haiku/rag/ingester/pollers/circuit_breaker.py
+++ b/haiku_rag_slim/haiku/rag/circuit_breaker.py
@@ -5,7 +5,7 @@ from haiku.rag.config import CircuitBreakerConfig
 
 
 class CircuitBreaker:
-    """Three-state breaker over discover() failures.
+    """Three-state breaker over repeated failures of a single target.
 
     - closed: failures are counted; threshold flips to open.
     - open: probes are blocked until cooldown elapses, then a single probe
diff --git a/haiku_rag_slim/haiku/rag/config/__init__.py b/haiku_rag_slim/haiku/rag/config/__init__.py
index 55645163..c2b79f0d 100644
--- a/haiku_rag_slim/haiku/rag/config/__init__.py
+++ b/haiku_rag_slim/haiku/rag/config/__init__.py
@@ -11,6 +11,7 @@ from haiku.rag.config.models import (
     AppConfig,
     CircuitBreakerConfig,
     ConversionOptions,
+    DoclingServeConfig,
     EmbeddingModelConfig,
     EmbeddingsConfig,
     FSSourceConfig,
@@ -40,6 +41,7 @@ __all__ = [
     "AppConfig",
     "CircuitBreakerConfig",
     "ConversionOptions",
+    "DoclingServeConfig",
     "EmbeddingModelConfig",
     "EmbeddingsConfig",
     "FSSourceConfig",
diff --git a/haiku_rag_slim/haiku/rag/config/models.py b/haiku_rag_slim/haiku/rag/config/models.py
index 0f2f682d..b9f2734c 100644
--- a/haiku_rag_slim/haiku/rag/config/models.py
+++ b/haiku_rag_slim/haiku/rag/config/models.py
@@ -237,15 +237,44 @@ class OllamaConfig(BaseModel):
     )
 
 
+class CircuitBreakerConfig(BaseModel):
+    """Breaker over repeated failures of a single target. Stops callers from
+    hammering a target that's persistently failing (an ingester source, a
+    docling-serve instance)."""
+
+    failure_threshold: int = Field(
+        default=5, description="Consecutive failures before the breaker opens."
+    )
+    cooldown_s: float = Field(
+        default=600.0,
+        description="How long the breaker stays open before allowing a probe.",
+    )
+
+
 class DoclingServeConfig(BaseModel):
-    """docling-serve endpoints. Accepts a single URL or a list — when a list
-    is given, the client round-robins jobs across the URLs. Each job's
-    submit/poll/result trio stays on the same instance (task IDs are
-    instance-local). The round-robin counter is per-process; for true load
-    balancing or failover, put an LB in front."""
+    """docling-serve endpoints. Accepts a single URL or a list — when a list is
+    given, the client round-robins jobs across the URLs, fails a request over to
+    another instance when one crashes or returns 5xx, and trips a per-instance
+    circuit breaker so repeated failures route around a dead instance. Each
+    job's submit/poll/result trio stays on the same instance (task IDs are
+    instance-local).
+
+    An external load balancer can only front docling-serve in RQ mode (shared
+    Redis task state); in the default standalone LocalOrchestrator mode the trio
+    is instance-pinned, so this client does the balancing/failover itself."""
 
     base_url: str | list[str] = "http://localhost:5001"
     api_key: str = ""
+    max_attempts: int = Field(
+        default=3,
+        description="Max attempts per request across the fleet before giving up; "
+        "each retry fails over to another instance.",
+    )
+    circuit_breaker: CircuitBreakerConfig = Field(
+        default_factory=lambda: CircuitBreakerConfig(
+            failure_threshold=3, cooldown_s=30.0
+        )
+    )
 
     @property
     def base_urls(self) -> list[str]:
@@ -314,19 +343,6 @@ class RetryPolicyConfig(BaseModel):
     jitter: float = Field(default=0.25, ge=0.0, le=1.0)
 
 
-class CircuitBreakerConfig(BaseModel):
-    """Per-source breaker over discover() failures. Stops the ingester from
-    hammering a source that's persistently failing."""
-
-    failure_threshold: int = Field(
-        default=5, description="Consecutive failures before the breaker opens."
-    )
-    cooldown_s: float = Field(
-        default=600.0,
-        description="How long the breaker stays open before allowing a probe.",
-    )
-
-
 class WorkerConfig(BaseModel):
     # Reject unknown keys so a renamed/removed setting (e.g. the former
     # claim_timeout_s) fails loudly instead of being silently ignored.
diff --git a/haiku_rag_slim/haiku/rag/converters/docling_serve.py b/haiku_rag_slim/haiku/rag/converters/docling_serve.py
index c728b4ae..c9a9ba2a 100644
--- a/haiku_rag_slim/haiku/rag/converters/docling_serve.py
+++ b/haiku_rag_slim/haiku/rag/converters/docling_serve.py
@@ -57,10 +57,7 @@ class DoclingServeConverter(DocumentConverter):
             config: Application configuration containing docling-serve settings.
         """
         self.config = config
-        self.client = DoclingServeClient(
-            base_urls=config.providers.docling_serve.base_urls,
-            api_key=config.providers.docling_serve.api_key,
-        )
+        self.client = DoclingServeClient.from_config(config.providers.docling_serve)
 
     @property
     def supported_extensions(self) -> list[str]:
diff --git a/haiku_rag_slim/haiku/rag/ingester/pollers/__init__.py b/haiku_rag_slim/haiku/rag/ingester/pollers/__init__.py
index 2c581799..19bf24b9 100644
--- a/haiku_rag_slim/haiku/rag/ingester/pollers/__init__.py
+++ b/haiku_rag_slim/haiku/rag/ingester/pollers/__init__.py
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-from haiku.rag.ingester.pollers.circuit_breaker import CircuitBreaker
+from haiku.rag.circuit_breaker import CircuitBreaker
 from haiku.rag.ingester.pollers.factory import build_source
 from haiku.rag.ingester.pollers.fs import FSPoller
 from haiku.rag.ingester.pollers.manager import PollerManager
diff --git a/haiku_rag_slim/haiku/rag/ingester/pollers/base.py b/haiku_rag_slim/haiku/rag/ingester/pollers/base.py
index c3d6a859..e6700b8f 100644
--- a/haiku_rag_slim/haiku/rag/ingester/pollers/base.py
+++ b/haiku_rag_slim/haiku/rag/ingester/pollers/base.py
@@ -3,9 +3,9 @@ import logging
 import random
 from datetime import UTC, datetime
 
+from haiku.rag.circuit_breaker import CircuitBreaker
 from haiku.rag.config import SourceConfig
 from haiku.rag.ingester.batch import BatchChange, BatchSourceSummary
-from haiku.rag.ingester.pollers.circuit_breaker import CircuitBreaker
 from haiku.rag.ingester.queue.models import JobOp, SyncRow
 from haiku.rag.ingester.queue.repository import JobRepo, SyncStateRepo
 from haiku.rag.ingester.sources.base import (
diff --git a/haiku_rag_slim/haiku/rag/ingester/pollers/fs.py b/haiku_rag_slim/haiku/rag/ingester/pollers/fs.py
index e27e8b80..f30f5111 100644
--- a/haiku_rag_slim/haiku/rag/ingester/pollers/fs.py
+++ b/haiku_rag_slim/haiku/rag/ingester/pollers/fs.py
@@ -11,8 +11,8 @@ from haiku.rag.ingester.sources.filter import FileFilter
 from haiku.rag.telemetry import logfire
 
 if TYPE_CHECKING:
+    from haiku.rag.circuit_breaker import CircuitBreaker
     from haiku.rag.config import FSSourceConfig
-    from haiku.rag.ingester.pollers.circuit_breaker import CircuitBreaker
     from haiku.rag.ingester.sources.fs import FSSource
 
 logger = logging.getLogger(__name__)
diff --git a/haiku_rag_slim/haiku/rag/ingester/pollers/manager.py b/haiku_rag_slim/haiku/rag/ingester/pollers/manager.py
index a947ddf0..7067e215 100644
--- a/haiku_rag_slim/haiku/rag/ingester/pollers/manager.py
+++ b/haiku_rag_slim/haiku/rag/ingester/pollers/manager.py
@@ -4,10 +4,10 @@ from collections.abc import Sequence
 from datetime import UTC, datetime
 from typing import TYPE_CHECKING
 
+from haiku.rag.circuit_breaker import CircuitBreaker
 from haiku.rag.config import FSSourceConfig, SourceConfig
 from haiku.rag.ingester.batch import BatchManifest
 from haiku.rag.ingester.pollers.base import BasePoller
-from haiku.rag.ingester.pollers.circuit_breaker import CircuitBreaker
 from haiku.rag.ingester.pollers.factory import build_source
 from haiku.rag.ingester.pollers.fs import FSPoller
 from haiku.rag.ingester.pollers.periodic import PeriodicPoller
diff --git a/haiku_rag_slim/haiku/rag/ingester/pollers/periodic.py b/haiku_rag_slim/haiku/rag/ingester/pollers/periodic.py
index 45ec5fa8..8417c7da 100644
--- a/haiku_rag_slim/haiku/rag/ingester/pollers/periodic.py
+++ b/haiku_rag_slim/haiku/rag/ingester/pollers/periodic.py
@@ -4,7 +4,7 @@ from typing import TYPE_CHECKING
 from haiku.rag.ingester.pollers.base import BasePoller
 
 if TYPE_CHECKING:
-    from haiku.rag.ingester.pollers.circuit_breaker import CircuitBreaker
+    from haiku.rag.circuit_breaker import CircuitBreaker
 
 
 class PeriodicPoller(BasePoller):
diff --git a/haiku_rag_slim/haiku/rag/ingester/workers/pool.py b/haiku_rag_slim/haiku/rag/ingester/workers/pool.py
index f270bcf5..501477bb 100644
--- a/haiku_rag_slim/haiku/rag/ingester/workers/pool.py
+++ b/haiku_rag_slim/haiku/rag/ingester/workers/pool.py
@@ -5,9 +5,9 @@ import time
 from typing import TYPE_CHECKING
 from uuid import uuid4
 
+from haiku.rag.circuit_breaker import CircuitBreaker
 from haiku.rag.config import CircuitBreakerConfig
 from haiku.rag.ingester.exceptions import PermanentError, TransientError
-from haiku.rag.ingester.pollers.circuit_breaker import CircuitBreaker
 from haiku.rag.ingester.queue.models import Job, JobOp
 from haiku.rag.ingester.queue.repository import JobRepo, SyncStateRepo
 from haiku.rag.ingester.workers.pipeline import run_job
diff --git a/haiku_rag_slim/haiku/rag/providers/docling_serve.py b/haiku_rag_slim/haiku/rag/providers/docling_serve.py
index 2d32e98c..7a9164ec 100644
--- a/haiku_rag_slim/haiku/rag/providers/docling_serve.py
+++ b/haiku_rag_slim/haiku/rag/providers/docling_serve.py
@@ -2,27 +2,61 @@
 
 import asyncio
 import itertools
-from typing import Any
+import logging
+import time
+from collections.abc import Awaitable, Callable
+from typing import Any, TypeVar
 
 import httpx
 
-# Process-global registry of round-robin rotators over docling-serve
-# instances, keyed by the sorted tuple of base URLs. Clients are constructed
-# per-job by `get_converter` / `get_chunker`, so the rotation cursor has to
-# live OUTSIDE the instance to actually advance across jobs. Two clients
-# pointing at the same instance set share one rotator; clients with
-# different sets get independent rotators.
+from haiku.rag.circuit_breaker import CircuitBreaker
+from haiku.rag.config import CircuitBreakerConfig, DoclingServeConfig
+
+logger = logging.getLogger(__name__)
+
+_T = TypeVar("_T")
+
+# Statuses that mean "try again elsewhere" rather than "this request is bad".
+_RETRYABLE_STATUS = frozenset({408, 429})
+
+
+def _is_retryable(exc: BaseException) -> bool:
+    """Whether a failure reflects an unhealthy docling-serve instance.
+
+    True for transport errors (a crashed / unresponsive instance) and
+    server-side 5xx / 408 / 429. Such failures are retried on another instance
+    and counted against the instance's circuit breaker. Other 4xx and the
+    task-level ValueError from `_submit_and_wait` (a bad document, not the
+    instance's fault) won't succeed on a retry, so they propagate untouched.
+    """
+    if isinstance(exc, httpx.HTTPStatusError):
+        status = exc.response.status_code
+        return status >= 500 or status in _RETRYABLE_STATUS
+    return isinstance(exc, httpx.TransportError)
+
+
+# Process-global registries over docling-serve instances. Clients are built
+# per-job by `get_converter` / `get_chunker`, so this shared state lives OUTSIDE
+# the instance to persist across jobs: the round-robin cursor (keyed by the
+# sorted URL set) advances across jobs, and the per-URL breakers keep a crashed
+# instance skipped across jobs until its cooldown elapses. The first client to
+# touch a URL fixes that breaker's config; in practice all clients share one.
 _instance_rotators: dict[tuple[str, ...], "itertools.cycle[str]"] = {}
+_instance_breakers: dict[str, CircuitBreaker] = {}
 
 
 class DoclingServeClient:
     """Client for docling-serve async workflow.
 
     Handles the submit → poll → fetch pattern used by both conversion and
-    chunking. Accepts a list of base URLs and round-robins jobs across
-    them via a process-wide rotator keyed by the URL set. Each job's
-    submit/poll/result trio stays on the same instance — task IDs are
-    instance-local, so picking a different URL mid-job would 404.
+    chunking. Accepts a list of base URLs and round-robins jobs across them via
+    a process-wide rotator keyed by the URL set. Each job's submit/poll/result
+    trio stays on the same instance — task IDs are instance-local, so picking a
+    different URL mid-job would 404.
+
+    When an instance crashes or returns 5xx, the request fails over to another
+    instance (up to `max_attempts`) and the failure trips that instance's
+    circuit breaker, so subsequent `_pick_url` calls skip it while it recovers.
     """
 
     def __init__(
@@ -31,6 +65,11 @@ class DoclingServeClient:
         api_key: str | None = None,
         timeout: float = 300,
         transport: httpx.AsyncBaseTransport | None = None,
+        circuit_breaker: CircuitBreakerConfig | None = None,
+        max_attempts: int = 3,
+        retry_base_delay: float = 0.5,
+        retry_max_delay: float = 8.0,
+        now_fn: Callable[[], float] = time.monotonic,
     ):
         urls = [base_urls] if isinstance(base_urls, str) else list(base_urls)
         if not urls:
@@ -40,6 +79,11 @@ class DoclingServeClient:
         self.timeout = timeout
         # transport is for testing — production callers leave it None.
         self._transport = transport
+        self._breaker_config = circuit_breaker or CircuitBreakerConfig()
+        self._max_attempts = max(1, max_attempts)
+        self._retry_base_delay = retry_base_delay
+        self._retry_max_delay = retry_max_delay
+        self._now = now_fn
         # setdefault is atomic under the GIL — concurrent constructors with
         # the same instance set will end up sharing one rotator.
         key = tuple(sorted(self.base_urls))
@@ -47,6 +91,15 @@ class DoclingServeClient:
             key, itertools.cycle(self.base_urls)
         )
 
+    @classmethod
+    def from_config(cls, config: DoclingServeConfig) -> "DoclingServeClient":
+        return cls(
+            base_urls=config.base_urls,
+            api_key=config.api_key,
+            circuit_breaker=config.circuit_breaker,
+            max_attempts=config.max_attempts,
+        )
+
     def _httpx_client(self) -> httpx.AsyncClient:
         return httpx.AsyncClient(timeout=self.timeout, transport=self._transport)
 
@@ -56,9 +109,80 @@ class DoclingServeClient:
         callers should let `_pick_url` round-robin per request."""
         return self.base_urls[0]
 
-    def _pick_url(self) -> str:
+    def _breaker_for(self, url: str) -> CircuitBreaker:
+        breaker = _instance_breakers.get(url)
+        if breaker is None:
+            breaker = CircuitBreaker(self._breaker_config, now_fn=self._now)
+            _instance_breakers[url] = breaker
+        return breaker
+
+    def _pick_url(self, exclude: frozenset[str] = frozenset()) -> str:
+        """Next instance in the round-robin, skipping instances that already
+        failed this request (`exclude`) or whose circuit breaker is open.
+
+        When no healthy, not-excluded instance exists, probe one anyway (the
+        loop consumed a full rotation, so one more step rotates across calls
+        rather than pinning one node) — a single-instance or fully-down fleet
+        still gets an attempt instead of failing with nothing to pick.
+        """
+        for _ in range(len(self.base_urls)):
+            url = next(self._instance_rotator)
+            if url in exclude:
+                continue
+            if not self._breaker_for(url).is_open:
+                return url
         return next(self._instance_rotator)
 
+    def _retry_delay(self, attempt_no: int) -> float:
+        """Capped exponential backoff between retry attempts."""
+        return min(self._retry_base_delay * (2**attempt_no), self._retry_max_delay)
+
+    async def _run_with_retry(
+        self,
+        attempt: Callable[[httpx.AsyncClient, str], Awaitable[_T]],
+        name: str,
+    ) -> _T:
+        """Run `attempt(client, base_url)` with bounded retry + failover.
+
+        Each attempt runs the full submit → poll → fetch trio against one
+        instance (task IDs are instance-local, so a trio can't be split across
+        instances). A retryable failure counts against that instance's breaker
+        and fails over to another instance; a successful attempt closes the
+        breaker. Non-retryable errors propagate immediately.
+        """
+        tried: set[str] = set()
+        last_exc: BaseException | None = None
+        for attempt_no in range(self._max_attempts):
+            base_url = self._pick_url(exclude=frozenset(tried))
+            breaker = self._breaker_for(base_url)
+            try:
+                async with self._httpx_client() as client:
+                    result = await attempt(client, base_url)
+            except Exception as exc:
+                if not _is_retryable(exc):
+                    raise
+                breaker.record_failure()
+                tried.add(base_url)
+                last_exc = exc
+                if attempt_no + 1 >= self._max_attempts:
+                    raise
+                logger.warning(
+                    "docling-serve request for %s failed on %s "
+                    "(attempt %d/%d), retrying on another instance: %s",
+                    name,
+                    base_url,
+                    attempt_no + 1,
+                    self._max_attempts,
+                    exc,
+                )
+                await asyncio.sleep(self._retry_delay(attempt_no))
+            else:
+                breaker.record_success()
+                return result
+        raise last_exc or RuntimeError(  # pragma: no cover
+            "retry loop exited without a result"
+        )
+
     def _get_headers(self) -> dict[str, str]:
         """Get headers for API requests."""
         headers: dict[str, str] = {}
@@ -118,15 +242,16 @@ class DoclingServeClient:
     ) -> dict[str, Any]:
         """Submit a task and poll until completion; fetch result as JSON.
 
-        httpx exceptions (ConnectError, HTTPStatusError, TimeoutException,
-        etc.) propagate so the ingester's pipeline classifier can route
-        4xx → PermanentError and 5xx/network → TransientError. ValueError
-        is raised by `_submit_and_wait` when docling-serve reports a task
-        failure or returns no task_id.
+        Retries on a different instance when an instance crashes or returns
+        5xx/overload (see `_run_with_retry`). Non-retryable httpx exceptions
+        (4xx other than 408/429) and the ValueError raised by `_submit_and_wait`
+        (task failure / missing task_id) propagate so the ingester's pipeline
+        classifier can route them (4xx → PermanentError, ValueError →
+        TransientError for a whole-document retry).
         """
         headers = self._get_headers()
-        base_url = self._pick_url()
-        async with self._httpx_client() as client:
+
+        async def _attempt(client: httpx.AsyncClient, base_url: str) -> dict[str, Any]:
             task_id = await self._submit_and_wait(
                 client, base_url, endpoint, files, data, headers, name
             )
@@ -135,6 +260,8 @@ class DoclingServeClient:
             result_response.raise_for_status()
             return result_response.json()
 
+        return await self._run_with_retry(_attempt, name)
+
     async def submit_and_poll_zip(
         self,
         endpoint: str,
@@ -147,11 +274,12 @@ class DoclingServeClient:
         Used when the caller requested ``target_type=zip`` (e.g. to retrieve
         picture image bytes that docling-serve only emits as referenced files
         bundled into a zip archive). The submit/poll flow is identical to
-        ``submit_and_poll``; only the result-fetching step differs.
+        ``submit_and_poll`` (including the retry + failover); only the
+        result-fetching step differs.
         """
         headers = self._get_headers()
-        base_url = self._pick_url()
-        async with self._httpx_client() as client:
+
+        async def _attempt(client: httpx.AsyncClient, base_url: str) -> bytes:
             task_id = await self._submit_and_wait(
                 client, base_url, endpoint, files, data, headers, name
             )
@@ -159,3 +287,5 @@ class DoclingServeClient:
             result_response = await client.get(result_url, headers=headers)
             result_response.raise_for_status()
             return result_response.content
+
+        return await self._run_with_retry(_attempt, name)
diff --git a/tests/ingester/test_circuit_breaker.py b/tests/ingester/test_circuit_breaker.py
index 0267c68e..ad098d02 100644
--- a/tests/ingester/test_circuit_breaker.py
+++ b/tests/ingester/test_circuit_breaker.py
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
+from haiku.rag.circuit_breaker import CircuitBreaker
 from haiku.rag.config import CircuitBreakerConfig
-from haiku.rag.ingester.pollers.circuit_breaker import CircuitBreaker
 
 
 class _Clock:
diff --git a/tests/ingester/test_pollers.py b/tests/ingester/test_pollers.py
index c9daed5e..d7970d13 100644
--- a/tests/ingester/test_pollers.py
+++ b/tests/ingester/test_pollers.py
@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@ from pathlib import Path
 
 import pytest
 
+from haiku.rag.circuit_breaker import CircuitBreaker
 from haiku.rag.config import (
     CircuitBreakerConfig,
     FSSourceConfig,
@@ -11,7 +12,6 @@ from haiku.rag.config import (
     S3SourceConfig,
     WebDAVSourceConfig,
 )
-from haiku.rag.ingester.pollers.circuit_breaker import CircuitBreaker
 from haiku.rag.ingester.pollers.manager import PollerManager
 from haiku.rag.ingester.pollers.periodic import PeriodicPoller
 from haiku.rag.ingester.queue.models import JobOp, JobStatus
diff --git a/tests/test_docling_serve_client.py b/tests/test_docling_serve_client.py
index b19360d4..8bda6d61 100644
--- a/tests/test_docling_serve_client.py
+++ b/tests/test_docling_serve_client.py
@@ -9,6 +9,7 @@ resume mid-rotation, breaking specific-order assertions.
 import httpx
 import pytest
 
+from haiku.rag.config import CircuitBreakerConfig
 from haiku.rag.providers.docling_serve import DoclingServeClient
 
 
@@ -134,3 +135,319 @@ async def test_zip_endpoint_uses_round_robin_too():
     )
     per_call = [seen[i : i + 3] for i in range(0, 6, 3)]
     assert [triple[0] for triple in per_call] == ["a", "b"]
+
+
+def _failover_transport(
+    down_hosts: set[str], task_id: str, result: dict
+) -> tuple[httpx.MockTransport, list[str]]:
+    """MockTransport where any request to a host in ``down_hosts`` raises a
+    ConnectError (a crashed instance); other hosts serve a normal
+    submit/poll/result trio. Mutate ``down_hosts`` mid-test to flip an
+    instance's health. Records every host attempted."""
+    seen: list[str] = []
+    routes = _success_routes(task_id, result)
+
+    def handler(request: httpx.Request) -> httpx.Response:
+        seen.append(request.url.host)
+        if request.url.host in down_hosts:
+            raise httpx.ConnectError("connection refused", request=request)
+        return routes.get(request.url.path, httpx.Response(404))
+
+    return httpx.MockTransport(handler), seen
+
+
+async def _poll(client: DoclingServeClient):
+    return await client.submit_and_poll(
+        endpoint="/v1/convert/file/async",
+        files={"file": ("x.md", b"x", "text/markdown")},
+        data={},
+    )
+
+
+@pytest.mark.asyncio
+async def test_retry_fails_over_to_healthy_instance():
+    """A crashed instance (connection error) is retried on another instance and
+    the call succeeds without surfacing the failure."""
+    transport, seen = _failover_transport({"down-a"}, "t", {"ok": True})
+    client = DoclingServeClient(
+        base_urls=["http://down-a:5001", "http://up-a:5001"],
+        transport=transport,
+        retry_base_delay=0.0,
+    )
+
+    result = await _poll(client)
+
+    assert result == {"ok": True}
+    assert seen[0] == "down-a"
+    # The successful trio all landed on the healthy host.
+    assert seen[-3:] == ["up-a", "up-a", "up-a"]
+
+
+@pytest.mark.asyncio
+async def test_retry_5xx_fails_over():
+    """A 5xx from a struggling instance is retried elsewhere (status-based
+    retryability, distinct from the transport-error path)."""
+    seen: list[str] = []
+    ok = _success_routes("t", {"ok": True})
+
+    def handler(request: httpx.Request) -> httpx.Response:
+        seen.append(request.url.host)
+        if request.url.host == "sad-b":
+            return httpx.Response(503)
+        return ok.get(request.url.path, httpx.Response(404))
+
+    client = DoclingServeClient(
+        base_urls=["http://sad-b:5001", "http://ok-b:5001"],
+        transport=httpx.MockTransport(handler),
+        retry_base_delay=0.0,
+    )
+
+    result = await _poll(client)
+    assert result == {"ok": True}
+    assert seen[0] == "sad-b"
+    assert "ok-b" in seen
+
+
+@pytest.mark.asyncio
+async def test_retry_429_fails_over():
+    """A 429 (transient overload) is retried elsewhere — the status-set
+    membership branch of retryability, distinct from 5xx."""
+    seen: list[str] = []
+    ok = _success_routes("t", {"ok": True})
+
+    def handler(request: httpx.Request) -> httpx.Response:
+        seen.append(request.url.host)
+        if request.url.host == "busy-g":
+            return httpx.Response(429)
+        return ok.get(request.url.path, httpx.Response(404))
+
+    client = DoclingServeClient(
+        base_urls=["http://busy-g:5001", "http://free-g:5001"],
+        transport=httpx.MockTransport(handler),
+        retry_base_delay=0.0,
+    )
+
+    result = await _poll(client)
+    assert result == {"ok": True}
+    assert seen[0] == "busy-g"
+    assert "free-g" in seen
+
+
+@pytest.mark.asyncio
+async def test_retry_exhausts_all_instances_then_raises():
+    """When every instance is down, the call retries up to max_attempts and then
+    surfaces the transport error."""
+    transport, seen = _failover_transport({"down-c", "down-d"}, "t", {})
+    client = DoclingServeClient(
+        base_urls=["http://down-c:5001", "http://down-d:5001"],
+        transport=transport,
+        max_attempts=2,
+        retry_base_delay=0.0,
+    )
+
+    with pytest.raises(httpx.ConnectError):
+        await _poll(client)
+
+    # Two attempts, each preferring a not-yet-failed instance.
+    assert seen == ["down-c", "down-d"]
+
+
+@pytest.mark.asyncio
+async def test_4xx_is_not_retried():
+    """A 4xx (other than 408/429) is the caller's fault — not retried on another
+    instance; it propagates after a single attempt."""
+    seen: list[str] = []
+
+    def handler(request: httpx.Request) -> httpx.Response:
+        seen.append(request.url.host)
+        return httpx.Response(400, json={"detail": "bad request"})
+
+    client = DoclingServeClient(
+        base_urls=["http://e:5001", "http://f:5001"],
+        transport=httpx.MockTransport(handler),
+        retry_base_delay=0.0,
+    )
+
+    with pytest.raises(httpx.HTTPStatusError):
+        await _poll(client)
+
+    assert seen == ["e"]
+
+
+@pytest.mark.asyncio
+async def test_task_failure_is_not_retried():
+    """A docling-serve task 'failure' status raises ValueError and is NOT
+    retried — a document problem, not an instance one."""
+    seen: list[str] = []
+
+    def handler(request: httpx.Request) -> httpx.Response:
+        seen.append(request.url.host)
+        if request.url.path == "/v1/convert/file/async":
+            return httpx.Response(200, json={"task_id": "t"})
+        if request.url.path == "/v1/status/poll/t":
+            return httpx.Response(200, json={"task_status": "failure", "detail": "x"})
+        return httpx.Response(404)
+
+    client = DoclingServeClient(
+        base_urls=["http://h:5001", "http://i:5001"],
+        transport=httpx.MockTransport(handler),
+        retry_base_delay=0.0,
+    )
+
+    with pytest.raises(ValueError, match="task failed"):
+        await _poll(client)
+
+    # Only the first instance was attempted (submit + poll) — no failover.
+    assert set(seen) == {"h"}
+
+
+def test_pick_url_skips_excluded_instances():
+    """On retry, _pick_url advances past every excluded instance."""
+    urls = ["http://p1:5001", "http://p2:5001", "http://p3:5001"]
+    client = DoclingServeClient(base_urls=urls)
+    assert client._pick_url(exclude=frozenset({urls[0]})) == urls[1]
+    assert client._pick_url(exclude=frozenset({urls[1], urls[2]})) == urls[0]
+
+
+@pytest.mark.asyncio
+async def test_retryable_failure_fails_over_and_trips_breaker():
+    """A retryable failure does both jobs at once: the request fails over to a
+    healthy instance AND the failure counts against the crashed instance's
+    breaker."""
+    trip_a, trip_b = "http://trip-a:5001", "http://trip-b:5001"
+    transport, seen = _failover_transport({"trip-a"}, "t", {"ok": True})
+    client = DoclingServeClient(
+        base_urls=[trip_a, trip_b],
+        transport=transport,
+        circuit_breaker=CircuitBreakerConfig(failure_threshold=1, cooldown_s=30.0),
+        max_attempts=2,
+        retry_base_delay=0.0,
+    )
+
+    result = await _poll(client)
+
+    assert result == {"ok": True}
+    assert seen[0] == "trip-a"
+    assert client._breaker_for(trip_a).is_open
+    assert not client._breaker_for(trip_b).is_open
+
+
+@pytest.mark.asyncio
+async def test_open_breaker_skips_crashed_instance():
+    """Once an instance's breaker has opened, later requests route straight to a
+    healthy instance without even attempting the dead one."""
+    crash, live = "http://crash-x:5001", "http://live-x:5001"
+    transport, seen = _failover_transport({"crash-x"}, "t", {"ok": True})
+    client = DoclingServeClient(
+        base_urls=[crash, live],
+        transport=transport,
+        circuit_breaker=CircuitBreakerConfig(failure_threshold=1, cooldown_s=30.0),
+        max_attempts=2,
+        retry_base_delay=0.0,
+    )
+
+    await _poll(client)  # crash-x fails, opens its breaker, fails over to live-x
+    assert client._breaker_for(crash).is_open
+
+    seen.clear()
+    for _ in range(3):
+        await _poll(client)
+    assert "crash-x" not in seen
+    assert set(seen) == {"live-x"}
+
+
+@pytest.mark.asyncio
+async def test_breaker_recovers_after_cooldown():
+    """An open breaker auto-probes after its cooldown; once the instance is
+    healthy again a successful request closes the breaker."""
+    clock = [1000.0]
+    down = {"flip-y"}
+    flip, spare = "http://flip-y:5001", "http://spare-y:5001"
+    transport, seen = _failover_transport(down, "t", {"ok": True})
+    client = DoclingServeClient(
+        base_urls=[flip, spare],
+        transport=transport,
+        circuit_breaker=CircuitBreakerConfig(failure_threshold=1, cooldown_s=30.0),
+        max_attempts=2,
+        retry_base_delay=0.0,
+        now_fn=lambda: clock[0],
+    )
+
+    await _poll(client)  # flip-y fails, opens; fails over to spare-y
+    assert client._breaker_for(flip).is_open
+
+    # Instance recovers, but within the cooldown it's still treated as open.
+    down.clear()
+    assert client._breaker_for(flip).is_open
+
+    # After the cooldown the breaker allows a probe; traffic returns and a
+    # success closes it.
+    clock[0] += 31.0
+    seen.clear()
+    await _poll(client)
+    assert "flip-y" in seen
+    assert not client._breaker_for(flip).is_open
+
+
+@pytest.mark.asyncio
+async def test_4xx_does_not_trip_breaker():
+    """A 4xx is the caller's fault — it must not count against instance health,
+    even at a 1-failure threshold."""
+    bad = "http://bad-z:5001"
+
+    def handler(_request: httpx.Request) -> httpx.Response:
+        return httpx.Response(400, json={"detail": "bad request"})
+
+    client = DoclingServeClient(
+        base_urls=[bad],
+        transport=httpx.MockTransport(handler),
+        circuit_breaker=CircuitBreakerConfig(failure_threshold=1, cooldown_s=30.0),
+        retry_base_delay=0.0,
+    )
+
+    for _ in range(3):
+        with pytest.raises(httpx.HTTPStatusError):
+            await _poll(client)
+
+    assert not client._breaker_for(bad).is_open
+
+
+def test_all_open_breakers_rotate_instead_of_pinning_one():
+    """When every breaker is open, successive picks rotate across the fleet
+    rather than pinning the first instance — an all-429 overload shouldn't pile
+    every retry on one node."""
+    urls = [
+        "http://allopen-a:5001",
+        "http://allopen-b:5001",
+        "http://allopen-c:5001",
+    ]
+    client = DoclingServeClient(
+        base_urls=urls,
+        circuit_breaker=CircuitBreakerConfig(failure_threshold=1, cooldown_s=30.0),
+    )
+    for u in urls:
+        client._breaker_for(u).record_failure()
+        assert client._breaker_for(u).is_open
+
+    picks = [client._pick_url() for _ in range(6)]
+    assert set(picks) == set(urls)
+
+
+def test_from_config_wires_retry_and_breaker():
+    """Retry/breaker knobs set in DoclingServeConfig reach the client via
+    get_converter / get_chunker (DoclingServeClient.from_config)."""
+    from haiku.rag.chunkers.docling_serve import DoclingServeChunker
+    from haiku.rag.config import AppConfig
+    from haiku.rag.converters.docling_serve import DoclingServeConverter
+
+    config = AppConfig()
+    ds = config.providers.docling_serve
+    ds.base_url = "http://cfg-n:5001"
+    ds.max_attempts = 7
+    ds.circuit_breaker = CircuitBreakerConfig(failure_threshold=9, cooldown_s=90.0)
+
+    for component in (DoclingServeConverter(config), DoclingServeChunker(config)):
+        client = component.client
+        assert client._max_attempts == 7
+        assert client._breaker_config.failure_threshold == 9
+        assert client._breaker_config.cooldown_s == 90.0