diff --git a/HISTORY.md b/HISTORY.md
index 2bad1b0..238d819 100644
--- a/HISTORY.md
+++ b/HISTORY.md
@@ -6,14 +6,6 @@ The format is based on [Keep a Changelog](http://keepachangelog.com/en/1.0.0/)
 and this project adheres to [Semantic Versioning](http://semver.org/spec/v2.0.0.html).
 
 <!-- insertion marker -->
-## [1.6.0](https://github.com/cortexapps/cli/releases/tag/1.6.0) - 2025-11-14
-
-<small>[Compare with 1.5.0](https://github.com/cortexapps/cli/compare/1.5.0...1.6.0)</small>
-
-### Bug Fixes
-
-- remove rate limiter initialization log message (#169) #patch ([015107a](https://github.com/cortexapps/cli/commit/015107aca15d5a4cf4eb746834bcbb7dac607e1d) by Jeff Schnitter).
-
 ## [1.5.0](https://github.com/cortexapps/cli/releases/tag/1.5.0) - 2025-11-13
 
 <small>[Compare with 1.4.0](https://github.com/cortexapps/cli/compare/1.4.0...1.5.0)</small>
diff --git a/cortexapps_cli/cli.py b/cortexapps_cli/cli.py
index 1327aab..c389ca7 100755
--- a/cortexapps_cli/cli.py
+++ b/cortexapps_cli/cli.py
@@ -87,7 +87,7 @@ def global_callback(
     url: str = typer.Option(None, "--url", "-u", help="Base URL for the API", envvar="CORTEX_BASE_URL"),
     config_file: str = typer.Option(os.path.join(os.path.expanduser('~'), '.cortex', 'config'), "--config", "-c", help="Config file path", envvar="CORTEX_CONFIG"),
     tenant: str = typer.Option("default", "--tenant", "-t", help="Tenant alias", envvar="CORTEX_TENANT_ALIAS"),
-    log_level: Annotated[str, typer.Option("--log-level", "-l", help="Set the logging level")] = "WARNING",
+    log_level: Annotated[str, typer.Option("--log-level", "-l", help="Set the logging level")] = "INFO",
     rate_limit: int = typer.Option(None, "--rate-limit", "-r", help="API rate limit in requests per minute (default: 1000)", envvar="CORTEX_RATE_LIMIT")
 ):
     if not ctx.obj:
diff --git a/cortexapps_cli/commands/backup.py b/cortexapps_cli/commands/backup.py
index 0b39592..f5245de 100644
--- a/cortexapps_cli/commands/backup.py
+++ b/cortexapps_cli/commands/backup.py
@@ -472,8 +472,6 @@ def import_relationships_file(file_info):
     return ("entity-relationships", len(results) - failed_count, [(fp, et, em) for rt, fp, et, em in results if et])
 
 def _import_catalog(ctx, directory):
-    results = []
-    failed_count = 0
     if os.path.isdir(directory):
         print("Processing: " + directory)
         files = [(filename, os.path.join(directory, filename))
@@ -509,8 +507,6 @@ def import_catalog_file(file_info):
     return ("catalog", len(results) - failed_count, [(fp, et, em) for fn, fp, et, em in results if et])
 
 def _import_plugins(ctx, directory):
-    results = []
-    failed_count = 0
     if os.path.isdir(directory):
         print("Processing: " + directory)
         files = [(filename, os.path.join(directory, filename))
@@ -547,8 +543,6 @@ def import_plugin_file(file_info):
     return ("plugins", len(results) - failed_count, [(fp, et, em) for fn, fp, et, em in results if et])
 
 def _import_scorecards(ctx, directory):
-    results = []
-    failed_count = 0
     if os.path.isdir(directory):
         print("Processing: " + directory)
         files = [(filename, os.path.join(directory, filename))
@@ -585,8 +579,6 @@ def import_scorecard_file(file_info):
     return ("scorecards", len(results) - failed_count, [(fp, et, em) for fn, fp, et, em in results if et])
 
 def _import_workflows(ctx, directory):
-    results = []
-    failed_count = 0
     if os.path.isdir(directory):
         print("Processing: " + directory)
         files = [(filename, os.path.join(directory, filename))
diff --git a/cortexapps_cli/cortex_client.py b/cortexapps_cli/cortex_client.py
index 9692efd..470b0ee 100644
--- a/cortexapps_cli/cortex_client.py
+++ b/cortexapps_cli/cortex_client.py
@@ -98,7 +98,7 @@ def __init__(self, api_key, tenant, numeric_level, base_url='https://api.getcort
             max_retries=Retry(
                 total=3,
                 backoff_factor=0.3,
-                status_forcelist=[429],  # Only retry on rate limit errors
+                status_forcelist=[500, 502, 503, 504],  # Removed 429 - we avoid it with rate limiting
                 allowed_methods=["GET", "POST", "PUT", "PATCH", "DELETE", "HEAD", "OPTIONS"],
                 respect_retry_after_header=True
             )