diff --git a/src/bin/cli.ts b/src/bin/cli.ts
index 9fb4321..b932f1a 100644
--- a/src/bin/cli.ts
+++ b/src/bin/cli.ts
@@ -31,10 +31,13 @@ SCHULCLOUD_SYNC_DIR. Config file: ${configPath()}
 `;
 
 async function main(argv: string[]): Promise<number> {
-	const [command, ...rest] = argv;
-	const flags = parseFlags(rest);
+	// A leading flag means no command was given: `schulcloud --help` must not be
+	// read as a command called "--help".
+	const hasCommand = argv[0] !== undefined && !argv[0].startsWith('-');
+	const command = hasCommand ? argv[0] : undefined;
+	const flags = parseFlags(hasCommand ? argv.slice(1) : argv);
 
-	if (!command || command === 'help' || flags.help) {
+	if (!command || command === 'help' || flags.help || flags.h) {
 		process.stdout.write(USAGE);
 		return 0;
 	}
diff --git a/src/core/client.ts b/src/core/client.ts
index 538f821..21dd834 100644
--- a/src/core/client.ts
+++ b/src/core/client.ts
@@ -15,6 +15,20 @@ import type {
 	TaskContent,
 } from './types.ts';
 
+/** Statuses worth retrying: transient by definition, and every call here is a GET. */
+const RETRYABLE = new Set([429, 500, 502, 503, 504]);
+const MAX_RETRIES = 3;
+
+/** Exponential backoff with jitter, so parallel workers do not retry in lockstep. */
+function backoffMs(attempt: number): number {
+	const base = 400 * 2 ** (attempt - 1);
+	return Math.round(base + Math.random() * base * 0.5);
+}
+
+function delay(ms: number): Promise<void> {
+	return new Promise((resolve) => setTimeout(resolve, ms));
+}
+
 /** An API response outside the 2xx range, carrying the status for callers to branch on. */
 export class SchulcloudApiError extends Error {
 	readonly status: number;
@@ -83,16 +97,44 @@ export class SchulcloudClient {
 	}
 
 	private async request(url: URL, accept: string): Promise<Response> {
-		const response = await fetch(url, {
-			headers: { Authorization: `Bearer ${this.config.jwt}`, Accept: accept },
-			signal: AbortSignal.timeout(this.config.requestTimeoutMs),
-			redirect: 'follow',
-		});
-		if (!response.ok) {
+		let lastError: unknown;
+
+		for (let attempt = 0; attempt <= MAX_RETRIES; attempt++) {
+			if (attempt > 0) await delay(backoffMs(attempt));
+
+			let response: Response;
+			try {
+				response = await fetch(url, {
+					headers: { Authorization: `Bearer ${this.config.jwt}`, Accept: accept },
+					signal: AbortSignal.timeout(this.config.requestTimeoutMs),
+					redirect: 'follow',
+				});
+			} catch (error) {
+				// Connection reset or timeout: worth one more try, since every call
+				// here is an idempotent GET.
+				lastError = error;
+				if (attempt === MAX_RETRIES) throw error;
+				continue;
+			}
+
+			if (response.ok) return response;
+
 			const body = await response.text().catch(() => '');
-			throw new SchulcloudApiError(response.status, url.pathname + url.search, body);
+			const error = new SchulcloudApiError(response.status, url.pathname + url.search, body);
+
+			// A crawl issues hundreds of requests and the instance answers some of
+			// them with a 503 front-page when it decides we are going too fast.
+			// Observed live: 4 of 26 course pages failed that way in one crawl, and
+			// all of them succeeded on a retry. 429 and the other gateway errors
+			// are the same kind of "come back shortly".
+			if (!RETRYABLE.has(response.status) || attempt === MAX_RETRIES) throw error;
+
+			const retryAfter = Number(response.headers.get('retry-after'));
+			if (Number.isFinite(retryAfter) && retryAfter > 0) await delay(retryAfter * 1000);
+			lastError = error;
 		}
-		return response;
+
+		throw lastError instanceof Error ? lastError : new Error('request failed');
 	}
 
 	/** Authenticated GET returning JSON. `path` is absolute, e.g. `/api/v3/courses`. */
diff --git a/test/client.test.ts b/test/client.test.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..b96b6b2
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/client.test.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,82 @@
+import assert from 'node:assert/strict';
+import { afterEach, describe, it } from 'node:test';
+import { SchulcloudClient, SchulcloudApiError } from '../src/core/client.ts';
+
+/**
+ * Retry behaviour, driven by a stubbed fetch. Observed live: a full crawl made
+ * the instance answer 4 of 26 course pages with a 503 front-page, all of which
+ * succeeded on retry — so this is the difference between a complete index and a
+ * quietly incomplete one.
+ */
+const config = {
+	baseUrl: 'https://example.test',
+	jwt: 'x',
+	authToken: undefined,
+	port: 1,
+	bindHost: '127.0.0.1',
+	maxDownloadBytes: 1000,
+	maxExtractedChars: 1000,
+	requestTimeoutMs: 1000,
+	keepaliveIntervalMs: 0,
+	databaseUrl: undefined,
+	mirrorDir: '/tmp',
+	mirrorMaxBytes: 1000,
+	crawlIntervalMs: 0,
+};
+
+const realFetch = globalThis.fetch;
+afterEach(() => {
+	globalThis.fetch = realFetch;
+});
+
+function stubFetch(responses: (Response | Error)[]): () => number {
+	let calls = 0;
+	globalThis.fetch = (async () => {
+		const next = responses[calls++] ?? responses.at(-1)!;
+		if (next instanceof Error) throw next;
+		return next;
+	}) as typeof fetch;
+	return () => calls;
+}
+
+const json = (body: unknown, status = 200) =>
+	new Response(JSON.stringify(body), { status, headers: { 'content-type': 'application/json' } });
+
+describe('SchulcloudClient retries', () => {
+	it('retries a 503 and succeeds', async () => {
+		const calls = stubFetch([json({}, 503), json({ school: { id: 's' } })]);
+		const client = new SchulcloudClient(config);
+		await client.me();
+		assert.equal(calls(), 2);
+	});
+
+	it('retries transient network errors', async () => {
+		const calls = stubFetch([new Error('ECONNRESET'), json({ school: { id: 's' } })]);
+		await new SchulcloudClient(config).me();
+		assert.equal(calls(), 2);
+	});
+
+	it('does not retry a 401 — a dead token will not recover', async () => {
+		const calls = stubFetch([json({}, 401)]);
+		await assert.rejects(() => new SchulcloudClient(config).me(), (error: SchulcloudApiError) => {
+			assert.equal(error.status, 401);
+			return true;
+		});
+		assert.equal(calls(), 1, 'retrying an expired token just wastes time');
+	});
+
+	it('does not retry a 404', async () => {
+		const calls = stubFetch([json({}, 404)]);
+		await assert.rejects(() => new SchulcloudClient(config).me());
+		assert.equal(calls(), 1);
+	});
+
+	it('gives up after the retry budget and reports the real status', async () => {
+		const calls = stubFetch([json({}, 503)]);
+		await assert.rejects(() => new SchulcloudClient(config).me(), (error: SchulcloudApiError) => {
+			assert.equal(error.status, 503);
+			return true;
+		});
+		assert.equal(calls(), 4, 'one attempt plus three retries');
+	});
+});