How do I choose between retry policies and compensation in a durable agent workflow?

Choose retries when the failed step can be safely re-executed without side effects, such as calling an idempotent API. Choose compensation when a step completed but later steps fail, requiring rollback of prior actions, like refunding a payment. Catalyst lets you define retry policies per activity and compensation activities per workflow. For non-idempotent steps, always prefer compensation over infinite retries.