diff --git a/services/minecraft/src/cognitive/conscious/brain.test.ts b/services/minecraft/src/cognitive/conscious/brain.test.ts
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..1fdf9d199
--- /dev/null
+++ b/services/minecraft/src/cognitive/conscious/brain.test.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,94 @@
+import { describe, expect, it, vi } from 'vitest'
+
+import { Brain } from './brain'
+
+vi.mock('../../debug', () => {
+  return {
+    DebugService: {
+      getInstance: () => ({
+        traceLLM: vi.fn(),
+        log: vi.fn(),
+        updateQueue: vi.fn(),
+        updateBlackboard: vi.fn(),
+      }),
+    },
+  }
+})
+
+describe('brain decide retry', () => {
+  it('retries up to 2 times for recoverable errors', async () => {
+    const logger = {
+      log: vi.fn(),
+      warn: vi.fn(),
+      error: vi.fn(),
+      withError: vi.fn(() => logger),
+    } as any
+
+    let call = 0
+    const neuri = {
+      handleStateless: vi.fn(async (_messages: any, fn: any) => {
+        call++
+        if (call <= 2) {
+          const err: any = new Error('overloaded')
+          err.status = 503
+          throw err
+        }
+
+        return await fn({
+          messages: [],
+          reroute: vi.fn(async () => ({
+            choices: [{ message: { content: '{"thought":"ok","blackboard":{},"actions":[]}' } }],
+            usage: {},
+          })),
+        })
+      }),
+    } as any
+
+    const brain = new Brain({
+      eventManager: {} as any,
+      neuri,
+      logger,
+      taskExecutor: { getAvailableActions: () => [] } as any,
+      reflexManager: { getContextSnapshot: () => ({}) } as any,
+    })
+
+            ; (brain as any).bot = { bot: { chat: vi.fn() } }
+
+    const res = await (brain as any).decide('sys', 'user')
+    expect(res?.thought).toBe('ok')
+    expect(neuri.handleStateless).toHaveBeenCalledTimes(3)
+    expect((brain as any).bot.bot.chat).not.toHaveBeenCalled()
+  })
+
+  it('does not retry auth/badarg errors; sends chat then throws', async () => {
+    const logger = {
+      log: vi.fn(),
+      warn: vi.fn(),
+      error: vi.fn(),
+      withError: vi.fn(() => logger),
+    } as any
+
+    const neuri = {
+      handleStateless: vi.fn(async () => {
+        const err: any = new Error('unauthorized')
+        err.status = 401
+        throw err
+      }),
+    } as any
+
+    const brain = new Brain({
+      eventManager: {} as any,
+      neuri,
+      logger,
+      taskExecutor: { getAvailableActions: () => [] } as any,
+      reflexManager: { getContextSnapshot: () => ({}) } as any,
+    })
+
+    const chat = vi.fn()
+            ; (brain as any).bot = { bot: { chat } }
+
+    await expect((brain as any).decide('sys', 'user')).rejects.toThrow('unauthorized')
+    expect(neuri.handleStateless).toHaveBeenCalledTimes(1)
+    expect(chat).toHaveBeenCalledTimes(1)
+  })
+})
diff --git a/services/minecraft/src/cognitive/conscious/brain.ts b/services/minecraft/src/cognitive/conscious/brain.ts
index a8b588cae..7711de560 100644
--- a/services/minecraft/src/cognitive/conscious/brain.ts
+++ b/services/minecraft/src/cognitive/conscious/brain.ts
@@ -16,6 +16,71 @@ import { Blackboard } from './blackboard'
 import { buildConsciousContextView } from './context-view'
 import { generateBrainSystemPrompt } from './prompts/brain-prompt'
 
+function toErrorMessage(err: unknown): string {
+  if (err instanceof Error)
+    return err.message
+  if (typeof err === 'string')
+    return err
+  try {
+    return JSON.stringify(err)
+  }
+  catch {
+    return String(err)
+  }
+}
+
+function getErrorStatus(err: unknown): number | undefined {
+  const anyErr = err as any
+  const status = anyErr?.status ?? anyErr?.response?.status ?? anyErr?.cause?.status
+  return typeof status === 'number' ? status : undefined
+}
+
+function getErrorCode(err: unknown): string | undefined {
+  const anyErr = err as any
+  const code = anyErr?.code ?? anyErr?.cause?.code
+  return typeof code === 'string' ? code : undefined
+}
+
+function isLikelyAuthOrBadArgError(err: unknown): boolean {
+  const msg = toErrorMessage(err).toLowerCase()
+  const status = getErrorStatus(err)
+  if (status === 401 || status === 403)
+    return true
+
+  return (
+    msg.includes('unauthorized')
+    || msg.includes('invalid api key')
+    || msg.includes('authentication')
+    || msg.includes('forbidden')
+    || msg.includes('badarg')
+    || msg.includes('bad arg')
+    || msg.includes('invalid argument')
+    || msg.includes('invalid_request_error')
+  )
+}
+
+function isLikelyRecoverableError(err: unknown): boolean {
+  const status = getErrorStatus(err)
+  if (status === 429)
+    return true
+  if (typeof status === 'number' && status >= 500)
+    return true
+
+  const code = getErrorCode(err)
+  if (code && ['ETIMEDOUT', 'ECONNRESET', 'ENOTFOUND', 'EAI_AGAIN', 'ECONNREFUSED'].includes(code))
+    return true
+
+  const msg = toErrorMessage(err).toLowerCase()
+  return (
+    msg.includes('timeout')
+    || msg.includes('timed out')
+    || msg.includes('rate limit')
+    || msg.includes('overloaded')
+    || msg.includes('temporarily')
+    || msg.includes('try again')
+  )
+}
+
 interface BrainDeps {
   eventManager: EventManager
   neuri: Neuri
@@ -44,6 +109,8 @@ export class Brain {
   private blackboard: Blackboard
   private debugService: DebugService
 
+  private bot: MineflayerWithAgents | undefined
+
   private nextActionId = 1
   private inFlightActions = new Map<string, ActionInstruction>()
 
@@ -65,6 +132,7 @@ export class Brain {
 
   public init(bot: MineflayerWithAgents): void {
     this.log('INFO', 'Brain: Initializing...')
+    this.bot = bot
     this.blackboard.update({ selfUsername: bot.username })
 
     // Perception Signal Handler - Only process chat messages for now
@@ -421,7 +489,9 @@ export class Brain {
   }
 
   private async decide(sysPrompt: string, userMsg: string): Promise<LLMResponse | null> {
-    try {
+    const maxAttempts = 3
+
+    const decideOnce = async (): Promise<LLMResponse | null> => {
       const request_start = Date.now()
       const response = await this.deps.neuri.handleStateless(
         [
@@ -453,14 +523,42 @@ export class Brain {
 
       if (!response)
         return null
+
       // TODO: use toolcall instead of outputing json directly
-      const parsed = JSON.parse(response) as LLMResponse
-      return parsed
+      return JSON.parse(response) as LLMResponse
     }
-    catch (err) {
-      this.log('ERROR', 'Brain: Decision failed', { error: err })
-      return null
+
+    for (let attempt = 1; attempt <= maxAttempts; attempt++) {
+      try {
+        return await decideOnce()
+      }
+      catch (err) {
+        const remaining = maxAttempts - attempt
+        const shouldRetry = remaining > 0 && !isLikelyAuthOrBadArgError(err) && isLikelyRecoverableError(err)
+        this.log('ERROR', 'Brain: Decision attempt failed', {
+          error: err,
+          attempt,
+          remaining,
+          shouldRetry,
+          status: getErrorStatus(err),
+          code: getErrorCode(err),
+        })
+
+        if (shouldRetry)
+          continue
+
+        const errMsg = toErrorMessage(err)
+        try {
+          this.bot?.bot?.chat?.(`[Brain] decide failed: ${errMsg}`)
+        }
+        catch (chatErr) {
+          this.log('ERROR', 'Brain: Failed to send error message to chat', { error: chatErr })
+        }
+        throw err
+      }
     }
+
+    return null
   }
 
   // --- Debug Helpers ---