diff --git a/plugins/openai/pyproject.toml b/plugins/openai/pyproject.toml
index 1cc7508c5..ed22a766e 100644
--- a/plugins/openai/pyproject.toml
+++ b/plugins/openai/pyproject.toml
@@ -26,7 +26,8 @@ dependencies = [
 
 [project.optional-dependencies]
 test = [
-    "vcrpy>=5.1.0",
+    "vcrpy==5.1.0",
+    "urllib3==2.2.3",
 ]
 
 [project.urls]
diff --git a/plugins/openai/superduper_openai/__init__.py b/plugins/openai/superduper_openai/__init__.py
index 891e18817..8aa4cf285 100644
--- a/plugins/openai/superduper_openai/__init__.py
+++ b/plugins/openai/superduper_openai/__init__.py
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 from .model import OpenAIChatCompletion, OpenAIEmbedding
 
-__version__ = "0.4.2"
+__version__ = "0.4.3"
 
 __all__ = 'OpenAIChatCompletion', 'OpenAIEmbedding'
diff --git a/plugins/openai/superduper_openai/model.py b/plugins/openai/superduper_openai/model.py
index 165f1ab1b..0bf36dab0 100644
--- a/plugins/openai/superduper_openai/model.py
+++ b/plugins/openai/superduper_openai/model.py
@@ -16,11 +16,11 @@
 )
 from openai._types import NOT_GIVEN
 from superduper.backends.query_dataset import QueryDataset
+from superduper.base import exceptions
 from superduper.base.datalayer import Datalayer
 from superduper.components.model import APIBaseModel, Inputs
 from superduper.misc.compat import cache
 from superduper.misc.retry import Retry, safe_retry
-from superduper.base import exceptions
 
 retry = Retry(
     exception_types=(
@@ -55,27 +55,19 @@ def __post_init__(self, db, example):
         super().__post_init__(db, example)
 
         assert isinstance(self.client_kwargs, dict)
-
         if self.openai_api_key is not None:
             self.client_kwargs['api_key'] = self.openai_api_key
         if self.openai_api_base is not None:
             self.client_kwargs['base_url'] = self.openai_api_base
             self.client_kwargs['default_headers'] = self.openai_api_base
 
-    @safe_retry(exceptions.MissingSecretsException)
-    def init(self, db=None):
+    @safe_retry(exceptions.MissingSecretsException, verbose=0)
+    def init(self):
         """Initialize the model."""
         super().init()
 
         # dall-e is not currently included in list returned by OpenAI model endpoint
-        if self.model not in (
-            mo := _available_models(json.dumps(self.client_kwargs))
-        ) and self.model not in ('dall-e'):
-            msg = f'model {self.model} not in OpenAI available models, {mo}'
-            raise ValueError(msg)
-        self.syncClient = SyncOpenAI(**self.client_kwargs)
-
-        if 'OPENAI_API_KEY' not in os.environ and (
+        if 'OPENAI_API_KEY' not in os.environ or (
             'api_key' not in self.client_kwargs.keys() and self.client_kwargs
         ):
             raise exceptions.MissingSecretsException(
@@ -83,6 +75,13 @@ def init(self, db=None):
                 'nor in `client_kwargs`'
             )
 
+        if self.model not in (
+            mo := _available_models(json.dumps(self.client_kwargs))
+        ) and self.model not in ('dall-e'):
+            msg = f'model {self.model} not in OpenAI available models, {mo}'
+            raise ValueError(msg)
+        self.syncClient = SyncOpenAI(**self.client_kwargs)
+
     def predict_batches(self, dataset: t.Union[t.List, QueryDataset]) -> t.List:
         """Predict on a dataset.
 
diff --git a/superduper/base/config.py b/superduper/base/config.py
index 35088d282..55e72e19b 100644
--- a/superduper/base/config.py
+++ b/superduper/base/config.py
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 """Configuration variables for superduper.io.
 
 The classes in this file define the configuration variables for superduper.io,
-which means that this file gets imported before alost anything else, and
+hich means that this file gets imported before alost anything else, and
 canot contain any other imports from this project.
 """
 
@@ -148,6 +148,7 @@ class Config(BaseConfig):
 
     :param envs: The envs datas
     :param data_backend: The URI for the data backend
+    :param secrets_volume: The secrets volume mount for secrets env vars.
     :param lance_home: The home directory for the Lance vector indices,
                        Default: .superduper/vector_indices
     :param artifact_store: The URI for the artifact store
diff --git a/superduper/misc/retry.py b/superduper/misc/retry.py
index 8e2968ab3..f294242df 100644
--- a/superduper/misc/retry.py
+++ b/superduper/misc/retry.py
@@ -43,13 +43,14 @@ def __call__(self, f: t.Callable) -> t.Any:
         return retrier(f)
 
 
-def safe_retry(exception_to_check, retries=1, delay=1):
+def safe_retry(exception_to_check, retries=1, delay=0.3, verbose=1):
     """
     A decorator that retries a function if a specified exception is raised.
 
     :param exception_to_check: The exception or tuple of exceptions to check.
     :param retries: The maximum number of retries.
     :param delay: Delay between retries in seconds.
+    :param verbose: Verbose for logs.
     :return: The result of the decorated function.
     """
 
@@ -57,21 +58,25 @@ def decorator(func):
         @functools.wraps(func)
         def wrapper(*args, **kwargs):
             attempt = 0
-            while attempt < retries:
+            while attempt <= retries:
                 try:
-                    load_secrets()
+                    if attempt >= 1:
+                        load_secrets()
                     return func(*args, **kwargs)
                 except exception_to_check as e:
                     attempt += 1
-                    if attempt >= retries:
-                        logging.error(
-                            f"Function {func.__name__} failed after {retries} retries."
-                        )
+                    if attempt > retries:
+                        if verbose:
+                            logging.error(
+                                f"Function {func.__name__} failed ",
+                                "after {retries} retries.",
+                            )
                         raise
-                    logging.warn(
-                        f"Retrying {func.__name__} due to {e}"
-                        ", attempt {attempt} of {retries}..."
-                    )
+                    if verbose:
+                        logging.warn(
+                            f"Retrying {func.__name__} due to {e}"
+                            ", attempt {attempt} of {retries}..."
+                        )
                     time.sleep(delay)
 
         return wrapper