diff --git a/crates/arc-attractor/src/engine.rs b/crates/arc-attractor/src/engine.rs
index ed6933467..54b500718 100644
--- a/crates/arc-attractor/src/engine.rs
+++ b/crates/arc-attractor/src/engine.rs
@@ -1426,11 +1426,11 @@ mod tests {
     }
 
     #[test]
-    fn build_retry_policy_no_attrs_uses_graph_default_50() {
+    fn build_retry_policy_no_attrs_uses_graph_default_3() {
         let node = Node::new("n");
         let graph = Graph::new("test");
         let policy = build_retry_policy(&node, &graph);
-        assert_eq!(policy.max_attempts, 51); // default_max_retry=50 + 1
+        assert_eq!(policy.max_attempts, 4); // default_max_retry=3 + 1
     }
 
     #[test]
@@ -1512,8 +1512,8 @@ mod tests {
         );
         let graph = Graph::new("test");
         let policy = build_retry_policy(&node, &graph);
-        // Unknown preset should fall back to graph default_max_retry=50
-        assert_eq!(policy.max_attempts, 51);
+        // Unknown preset should fall back to graph default_max_retry=3
+        assert_eq!(policy.max_attempts, 4);
     }
 
     // --- normalize_label tests ---
diff --git a/crates/arc-attractor/src/graph/types.rs b/crates/arc-attractor/src/graph/types.rs
index 7a3863354..635765741 100644
--- a/crates/arc-attractor/src/graph/types.rs
+++ b/crates/arc-attractor/src/graph/types.rs
@@ -384,12 +384,12 @@ impl Graph {
             .unwrap_or("")
     }
 
-    /// Graph-level `default_max_retry` (default 50).
+    /// Graph-level `default_max_retry` (default 3).
     pub fn default_max_retry(&self) -> i64 {
         self.attrs
             .get("default_max_retry")
             .and_then(AttrValue::as_i64)
-            .unwrap_or(50)
+            .unwrap_or(3)
     }
 
     /// Graph-level `retry_target`.
@@ -656,7 +656,7 @@ mod tests {
     #[test]
     fn graph_default_max_retry() {
         let g = Graph::new("empty");
-        assert_eq!(g.default_max_retry(), 50);
+        assert_eq!(g.default_max_retry(), 3);
     }
 
     #[test]
diff --git a/docs/specs/attractor-spec.md b/docs/specs/attractor-spec.md
index e3795196b..210737df0 100644
--- a/docs/specs/attractor-spec.md
+++ b/docs/specs/attractor-spec.md
@@ -135,7 +135,7 @@ Graph attributes are declared in a `graph [ ... ]` block or as top-level `key =
 | `goal`                    | String   | `""`      | Human-readable goal for the pipeline. Exposed as `$goal` in prompt templates and mirrored into the run context as `graph.goal`. |
 | `label`                   | String   | `""`      | Display name for the graph (used in visualization). |
 | `model_stylesheet`        | String   | `""`      | CSS-like stylesheet for per-node LLM model/provider defaults. See Section 8. |
-| `default_max_retry`       | Integer  | `50`      | Global retry ceiling for nodes that omit `max_retries`. |
+| `default_max_retry`       | Integer  | `3`       | Global retry ceiling for nodes that omit `max_retries`. |
 | `retry_target`            | String   | `""`      | Node ID to jump to if exit is reached with unsatisfied goal gates. |
 | `fallback_retry_target`   | String   | `""`      | Secondary jump target if `retry_target` is missing or invalid. |
 | `default_fidelity`        | String   | `""`      | Default context fidelity mode (see Section 5.4). |
@@ -2028,7 +2028,7 @@ ASSERT "review" IN checkpoint.completed_nodes
 | `goal`                  | String   | `""`    | Pipeline-level goal description |
 | `label`                 | String   | `""`    | Display name for the graph |
 | `model_stylesheet`      | String   | `""`    | CSS-like LLM model/provider stylesheet |
-| `default_max_retry`     | Integer  | `50`    | Global retry ceiling |
+| `default_max_retry`     | Integer  | `3`     | Global retry ceiling |
 | `default_fidelity`      | String   | `""`    | Default context fidelity mode |
 | `retry_target`          | String   | `""`    | Node to jump to on unsatisfied exit |
 | `fallback_retry_target` | String   | `""`    | Secondary jump target |