The entire point of idempotency is not to always respond the same every single time, it's that the user can always expect the same response every single time. I

The entire point of idempotency is not to always respond the same every single time, it's that the user can always expect the same response every single time. If the user receives a response it does not expect (or no response, etc.) than they don't want the same response on every retry, they still want the expected response In a perfect world, an idempotent app responds the same every time. But in a perfect world you don't really need idempotency.