diff --git a/src/lib/entitySubmissionHelpers.ts b/src/lib/entitySubmissionHelpers.ts
index d5d7021f..2eb66d15 100644
--- a/src/lib/entitySubmissionHelpers.ts
+++ b/src/lib/entitySubmissionHelpers.ts
@@ -370,40 +370,98 @@ async function submitCompositeCreation(
     }
   }
 
-  // Use RPC to create submission with items atomically
-  const { data: result, error } = await supabase.rpc('create_submission_with_items', {
-    p_user_id: userId,
-    p_submission_type: uploadedPrimary.type,
-    p_content: { action: 'create' } as unknown as Json,
-    p_items: submissionItems as unknown as Json[]
-  });
+  // Use RPC to create submission with items atomically with retry logic
+  const { withRetry } = await import('./retryHelpers');
+  const { toast } = await import('@/hooks/use-toast');
+  
+  const result = await withRetry(
+    async () => {
+      const { data, error } = await supabase.rpc('create_submission_with_items', {
+        p_user_id: userId,
+        p_submission_type: uploadedPrimary.type,
+        p_content: { action: 'create' } as unknown as Json,
+        p_items: submissionItems as unknown as Json[]
+      });
 
-  if (error) {
-    // Extract Supabase error details for better error logging
-    const supabaseError = error as { message?: string; code?: string; details?: string; hint?: string };
-    const errorMessage = supabaseError.message || 'Unknown error';
-    const errorCode = supabaseError.code;
-    const errorDetails = supabaseError.details;
-    const errorHint = supabaseError.hint;
-    
-    // Create proper Error instance with enhanced context
-    const enhancedError = new Error(
-      `Composite submission failed: ${errorMessage}${errorDetails ? `\nDetails: ${errorDetails}` : ''}${errorHint ? `\nHint: ${errorHint}` : ''}`
-    );
-    
-    handleError(enhancedError, {
+      if (error) {
+        // Extract Supabase error details for better error logging
+        const supabaseError = error as { message?: string; code?: string; details?: string; hint?: string };
+        const errorMessage = supabaseError.message || 'Unknown error';
+        const errorCode = supabaseError.code;
+        const errorDetails = supabaseError.details;
+        const errorHint = supabaseError.hint;
+        
+        // Create proper Error instance with enhanced context
+        const enhancedError = new Error(
+          `Composite submission failed: ${errorMessage}${errorDetails ? `\nDetails: ${errorDetails}` : ''}${errorHint ? `\nHint: ${errorHint}` : ''}`
+        );
+        
+        // Attach Supabase metadata for retry logic
+        (enhancedError as any).supabaseCode = errorCode;
+        (enhancedError as any).supabaseDetails = errorDetails;
+        (enhancedError as any).supabaseHint = errorHint;
+        
+        throw enhancedError;
+      }
+
+      return data;
+    },
+    {
+      maxAttempts: 3,
+      baseDelay: 1000,
+      maxDelay: 10000,
+      onRetry: (attempt, error, delay) => {
+        logger.warn('Retrying composite submission', {
+          attempt,
+          maxAttempts: 3,
+          delay,
+          error: error instanceof Error ? error.message : String(error),
+          primaryType: uploadedPrimary.type,
+          dependencyCount: dependencies.length
+        });
+        
+        // Show user feedback
+        toast({
+          title: 'Submission retry',
+          description: `Attempt ${attempt}/3 - Retrying in ${Math.round(delay / 1000)}s...`,
+        });
+      },
+      shouldRetry: (error) => {
+        // Don't retry validation errors
+        if (error instanceof Error) {
+          const message = error.message.toLowerCase();
+          if (message.includes('required')) return false;
+          if (message.includes('banned')) return false;
+          if (message.includes('suspended')) return false;
+          if (message.includes('slug')) return false;
+          if (message.includes('already exists')) return false;
+          if (message.includes('duplicate')) return false;
+          if (message.includes('permission')) return false;
+          if (message.includes('forbidden')) return false;
+          if (message.includes('unauthorized')) return false;
+        }
+        
+        // Use default retryable error detection from retryHelpers
+        const { isRetryableError } = require('./retryHelpers');
+        return isRetryableError(error);
+      }
+    }
+  ).catch((error) => {
+    // Final failure - log and throw
+    handleError(error, {
       action: 'Composite submission',
       metadata: { 
         primaryType: uploadedPrimary.type, 
         dependencyCount: dependencies.length,
-        supabaseCode: errorCode,
-        supabaseDetails: errorDetails,
-        supabaseHint: errorHint
+        supabaseCode: (error as any).supabaseCode,
+        supabaseDetails: (error as any).supabaseDetails,
+        supabaseHint: (error as any).supabaseHint,
+        retriesExhausted: true
       },
     });
     
-    throw enhancedError;
-  }
+    throw error;
+  });
 
   return { submitted: true, submissionId: result };
 }
diff --git a/src/lib/errorHandler.ts b/src/lib/errorHandler.ts
index 923e58cd..da06be26 100644
--- a/src/lib/errorHandler.ts
+++ b/src/lib/errorHandler.ts
@@ -113,7 +113,12 @@ export const handleError = (
       p_error_message: errorMessage,
       p_error_stack: stack,
       p_user_agent: navigator.userAgent,
-      p_breadcrumbs: JSON.stringify(breadcrumbs),
+      p_breadcrumbs: JSON.stringify({
+        ...breadcrumbs,
+        isRetry: context.metadata?.isRetry || false,
+        attempt: context.metadata?.attempt,
+        retriesExhausted: context.metadata?.retriesExhausted || false,
+      }),
       p_timezone: envContext.timezone,
       p_referrer: document.referrer || undefined,
       p_duration_ms: context.duration,
@@ -126,11 +131,14 @@ export const handleError = (
     logger.error('Failed to capture error context', { logError });
   }
 
-  // Show user-friendly toast with error ID
-  toast.error(context.action, {
-    description: `${errorMessage}\n\nReference ID: ${shortErrorId}`,
-    duration: 5000,
-  });
+  // Show user-friendly toast with error ID (skip for retry attempts)
+  const isRetry = context.metadata?.isRetry === true || context.metadata?.attempt;
+  if (!isRetry) {
+    toast.error(context.action, {
+      description: `${errorMessage}\n\nReference ID: ${shortErrorId}`,
+      duration: 5000,
+    });
+  }
 
   return errorId;
 };
diff --git a/src/lib/retryHelpers.ts b/src/lib/retryHelpers.ts
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..d44c0980
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/lib/retryHelpers.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,190 @@
+/**
+ * Retry utility with exponential backoff
+ * Handles transient failures gracefully with configurable retry logic
+ */
+
+import { logger } from './logger';
+
+export interface RetryOptions {
+  /** Maximum number of attempts (default: 3) */
+  maxAttempts?: number;
+  /** Base delay in milliseconds (default: 1000) */
+  baseDelay?: number;
+  /** Maximum delay in milliseconds (default: 10000) */
+  maxDelay?: number;
+  /** Multiplier for exponential backoff (default: 2) */
+  backoffMultiplier?: number;
+  /** Add jitter to prevent thundering herd (default: true) */
+  jitter?: boolean;
+  /** Callback invoked before each retry attempt */
+  onRetry?: (attempt: number, error: unknown, delay: number) => void;
+  /** Custom function to determine if error is retryable (default: isRetryableError) */
+  shouldRetry?: (error: unknown) => boolean;
+}
+
+/**
+ * Determines if an error is transient and retryable
+ * @param error - The error to check
+ * @returns true if error is retryable, false otherwise
+ */
+export function isRetryableError(error: unknown): boolean {
+  // Network/timeout errors from fetch
+  if (error instanceof TypeError && error.message.includes('fetch')) {
+    return true;
+  }
+  
+  // Network/timeout errors
+  if (error instanceof Error) {
+    const message = error.message.toLowerCase();
+    if (message.includes('network') || 
+        message.includes('timeout') ||
+        message.includes('connection') ||
+        message.includes('econnrefused') ||
+        message.includes('enotfound')) {
+      return true;
+    }
+  }
+  
+  // Supabase/PostgreSQL errors
+  if (error && typeof error === 'object') {
+    const supabaseError = error as { code?: string; status?: number };
+    
+    // Connection/timeout errors
+    if (supabaseError.code === 'PGRST301') return true; // Connection timeout
+    if (supabaseError.code === 'PGRST204') return true; // Temporary failure
+    if (supabaseError.code === 'PGRST000') return true; // Connection error
+    
+    // HTTP status codes indicating transient failures
+    if (supabaseError.status === 429) return true; // Rate limit
+    if (supabaseError.status === 503) return true; // Service unavailable
+    if (supabaseError.status === 504) return true; // Gateway timeout
+    if (supabaseError.status && supabaseError.status >= 500 && supabaseError.status < 600) {
+      return true; // Server errors (5xx)
+    }
+    
+    // Database-level transient errors
+    if (supabaseError.code === '40001') return true; // Serialization failure
+    if (supabaseError.code === '40P01') return true; // Deadlock detected
+    if (supabaseError.code === '57014') return true; // Query cancelled
+    if (supabaseError.code === '08000') return true; // Connection exception
+    if (supabaseError.code === '08003') return true; // Connection does not exist
+    if (supabaseError.code === '08006') return true; // Connection failure
+    if (supabaseError.code === '08001') return true; // Unable to connect
+    if (supabaseError.code === '08004') return true; // Server rejected connection
+  }
+  
+  return false;
+}
+
+/**
+ * Calculates delay for next retry attempt using exponential backoff
+ * @param attempt - Current attempt number (0-indexed)
+ * @param options - Retry configuration
+ * @returns Delay in milliseconds
+ */
+function calculateBackoffDelay(attempt: number, options: Required<RetryOptions>): number {
+  const exponentialDelay = options.baseDelay * Math.pow(options.backoffMultiplier, attempt);
+  const cappedDelay = Math.min(exponentialDelay, options.maxDelay);
+  
+  // Add jitter (randomness) to prevent thundering herd
+  if (options.jitter) {
+    const jitterAmount = cappedDelay * 0.3; // ±30% jitter
+    const jitterOffset = (Math.random() * 2 - 1) * jitterAmount;
+    return Math.max(0, cappedDelay + jitterOffset);
+  }
+  
+  return cappedDelay;
+}
+
+/**
+ * Executes a function with retry logic and exponential backoff
+ * 
+ * @param fn - Async function to execute
+ * @param options - Retry configuration options
+ * @returns Result of the function execution
+ * @throws Last error if all retry attempts fail
+ * 
+ * @example
+ * ```typescript
+ * const result = await withRetry(
+ *   async () => await supabase.rpc('my_function', { data }),
+ *   {
+ *     maxAttempts: 3,
+ *     onRetry: (attempt, error, delay) => {
+ *       toast.info(`Retrying... (${attempt}/3)`);
+ *     }
+ *   }
+ * );
+ * ```
+ */
+export async function withRetry<T>(
+  fn: () => Promise<T>,
+  options?: RetryOptions
+): Promise<T> {
+  const config: Required<RetryOptions> = {
+    maxAttempts: options?.maxAttempts ?? 3,
+    baseDelay: options?.baseDelay ?? 1000,
+    maxDelay: options?.maxDelay ?? 10000,
+    backoffMultiplier: options?.backoffMultiplier ?? 2,
+    jitter: options?.jitter ?? true,
+    onRetry: options?.onRetry ?? (() => {}),
+    shouldRetry: options?.shouldRetry ?? isRetryableError,
+  };
+
+  let lastError: unknown;
+  
+  for (let attempt = 0; attempt < config.maxAttempts; attempt++) {
+    try {
+      // Execute the function
+      const result = await fn();
+      
+      // Log successful retry if not first attempt
+      if (attempt > 0) {
+        logger.info('Retry succeeded', {
+          attempt: attempt + 1,
+          totalAttempts: config.maxAttempts
+        });
+      }
+      
+      return result;
+    } catch (error) {
+      lastError = error;
+      
+      // Check if we should retry
+      const isLastAttempt = attempt === config.maxAttempts - 1;
+      const shouldRetry = config.shouldRetry(error);
+      
+      if (isLastAttempt || !shouldRetry) {
+        // Log final failure
+        logger.error('Retry exhausted or non-retryable error', {
+          attempt: attempt + 1,
+          maxAttempts: config.maxAttempts,
+          isRetryable: shouldRetry,
+          error: error instanceof Error ? error.message : String(error)
+        });
+        
+        throw error;
+      }
+      
+      // Calculate delay for next attempt
+      const delay = calculateBackoffDelay(attempt, config);
+      
+      // Log retry attempt
+      logger.warn('Retrying after error', {
+        attempt: attempt + 1,
+        maxAttempts: config.maxAttempts,
+        delay,
+        error: error instanceof Error ? error.message : String(error)
+      });
+      
+      // Invoke callback
+      config.onRetry(attempt + 1, error, delay);
+      
+      // Wait before retrying
+      await new Promise(resolve => setTimeout(resolve, delay));
+    }
+  }
+  
+  // This should never be reached, but TypeScript requires it
+  throw lastError;
+}