diff --git a/scripts/fetch-user-info.js b/scripts/fetch-user-info.js
index df905505..bc02648a 100644
--- a/scripts/fetch-user-info.js
+++ b/scripts/fetch-user-info.js
@@ -50,23 +50,18 @@ async function fetchUserInfo(username) {
   }
 
   // 2. Fetch live profile ranking from the wrapper API
-  const livePromise = fetch(liveApiUrl)
-    .then(async (res) => {
-      if (res.ok) {
-        const apiData = await res.json();
-        ranking = apiData.ranking || 0;
-        contest = apiData.contest || null;
-      }
-    })
-    .catch((err) =>
-      console.error(
-        "Failed to fetch live profile ranking from API wrapper:",
-        err.message,
-      ),
-    );
+  const livePromise = fetch(liveApiUrl).then(async (res) => {
+    if (res.ok) {
+      const apiData = await res.json();
+      ranking = apiData.ranking || 0;
+      contest = apiData.contest || null;
+    } else {
+      throw new Error(`LeetCode API wrapper returned status ${res.status}`);
+    }
+  });
 
-  // Wait for the concurrent live API task to complete
-  await Promise.allSettled([livePromise]);
+  // Wait for the live API task to complete
+  await livePromise;
 
   // Ensure history is sorted chronologically
   history.sort((a, b) => new Date(a.date) - new Date(b.date));
diff --git a/scripts/sync-leaderboard.js b/scripts/sync-leaderboard.js
index 994744cc..a4c8f6da 100644
--- a/scripts/sync-leaderboard.js
+++ b/scripts/sync-leaderboard.js
@@ -4,6 +4,56 @@ const axios = require("axios");
 const fs = require("fs");
 const path = require("path");
 
+// Configure retry settings on axios response
+const MAX_RETRIES = 3;
+const INITIAL_DELAY_MS = 1000;
+
+axios.interceptors.response.use(
+  (response) => response,
+  async (error) => {
+    const { config } = error;
+
+    if (!config) {
+      return Promise.reject(error);
+    }
+
+    config.__retryCount = config.__retryCount || 0;
+
+    const isRateLimited = error.response && error.response.status === 429;
+    const isServerError =
+      error.response &&
+      error.response.status >= 500 &&
+      error.response.status <= 599;
+    const isNetworkError =
+      !error.response ||
+      error.code === "ECONNABORTED" ||
+      error.message.includes("timeout");
+
+    const shouldRetry =
+      (isRateLimited || isServerError || isNetworkError) &&
+      config.__retryCount < MAX_RETRIES;
+
+    if (shouldRetry) {
+      config.__retryCount += 1;
+
+      // Exponential backoff with jitter
+      const backoffDelay =
+        INITIAL_DELAY_MS * Math.pow(2, config.__retryCount - 1);
+      const jitter = Math.random() * 200;
+      const delay = backoffDelay + jitter;
+
+      console.warn(
+        `[Retry ${config.__retryCount}/${MAX_RETRIES}] Request failed for ${config.url} (${error.message}). Retrying in ${Math.round(delay)}ms...`,
+      );
+
+      await new Promise((resolve) => setTimeout(resolve, delay));
+      return axios(config);
+    }
+
+    return Promise.reject(error);
+  },
+);
+
 function atomicWrite(filePath, data) {
   const dir = path.dirname(filePath);
   const ext = path.extname(filePath);
diff --git a/server.js b/server.js
index 8ab527e7..ae6a3c3c 100644
--- a/server.js
+++ b/server.js
@@ -142,6 +142,22 @@ const apiLimiter = rateLimit({
   },
 });
 
+// ---- Cache configuration ----
+const userCache = new Map();
+const CACHE_TTL_MS = 2 * 60 * 1000; // 2 minutes
+
+// Helper to prune cache to bound memory usage
+function pruneUserCache() {
+  if (userCache.size > 1000) {
+    const now = Date.now();
+    for (const [key, value] of userCache.entries()) {
+      if (now - value.timestamp > CACHE_TTL_MS) {
+        userCache.delete(key);
+      }
+    }
+  }
+}
+
 app.use("/api/user/:username", apiLimiter);
 
 app.get("/api/user/:username", async (req, res) => {
@@ -152,12 +168,67 @@ app.get("/api/user/:username", async (req, res) => {
     return res.status(400).json({ error: "Invalid username format" });
   }
 
+  const cached = userCache.get(username);
+  const now = Date.now();
+
+  if (cached) {
+    if (now - cached.timestamp < CACHE_TTL_MS && cached.data) {
+      return res.json(cached.data);
+    }
+
+    if (cached.promise) {
+      try {
+        const data = await cached.promise;
+        return res.json(data);
+      } catch (err) {
+        if (cached.data) {
+          console.warn(
+            `[Cache Fallback] Serving stale data after pending fetch failed...`,
+          );
+          return res.json(cached.data);
+        }
+      }
+    }
+  }
+
+  let fetchPromise;
   try {
-    const data = await fetchUserInfo(username);
+    fetchPromise = fetchUserInfo(username);
+
+    userCache.set(username, {
+      ...cached,
+      timestamp: cached ? cached.timestamp : 0,
+      promise: fetchPromise,
+    });
+
+    const data = await fetchPromise;
+
+    pruneUserCache();
+    userCache.set(username, {
+      timestamp: Date.now(),
+      data,
+      promise: null,
+    });
+
     res.json(data);
   } catch (err) {
-    res.status(500).json({
-      error: "Failed to fetch user details",
+    userCache.set(username, {
+      ...cached,
+      promise: null,
+    });
+
+    if (cached && cached.data) {
+      console.warn(
+        `[Cache Fallback] Failed to fetch fresh data for user: ${username}. Serving stale cached data. Error: ${err.message}`,
+      );
+      return res.json(cached.data);
+    }
+
+    console.error(
+      `[Cache Error] Failed to fetch data for user: ${username} (No cached fallback available). Error: ${err.message}`,
+    );
+    res.status(502).json({
+      error: "Failed to fetch user details from external LeetCode API wrapper",
       details: err.message,
     });
   }