diff --git a/.github/actions/test-data-asyncio/action.yaml b/.github/actions/test-data-asyncio/action.yaml
index 0b4469ff..fb349ca9 100644
--- a/.github/actions/test-data-asyncio/action.yaml
+++ b/.github/actions/test-data-asyncio/action.yaml
@@ -38,7 +38,7 @@ runs:
     - name: Run data plane tests
       id: data-plane-asyncio-tests
       shell: bash
-      run: poetry run pytest tests/integration/data_asyncio -s -vv
+      run: poetry run pytest tests/integration/data_asyncio --retries 5 --retry-delay 35 -s -vv --log-cli-level=DEBUG
       env:
         PINECONE_API_KEY: ${{ inputs.PINECONE_API_KEY }}
         USE_GRPC: ${{ inputs.use_grpc }}
diff --git a/.github/actions/test-data-plane/action.yaml b/.github/actions/test-data-plane/action.yaml
index e11aed58..3a1c1204 100644
--- a/.github/actions/test-data-plane/action.yaml
+++ b/.github/actions/test-data-plane/action.yaml
@@ -52,7 +52,7 @@ runs:
     - name: Run data plane tests
       id: data-plane-tests
       shell: bash
-      run: poetry run pytest tests/integration/data
+      run: poetry run pytest tests/integration/data --retries 5 --retry-delay 35 -s -vv --log-cli-level=DEBUG
       env:
         PINECONE_API_KEY: ${{ inputs.PINECONE_API_KEY }}
         USE_GRPC: ${{ inputs.use_grpc }}
diff --git a/.github/workflows/testing-integration-asyncio.yaml b/.github/workflows/testing-integration-asyncio.yaml
index 4508a385..8c8fab60 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/testing-integration-asyncio.yaml
+++ b/.github/workflows/testing-integration-asyncio.yaml
@@ -26,7 +26,7 @@ jobs:
       - name: Run data plane tests
         id: data-plane-asyncio-tests
         shell: bash
-        run: poetry run pytest tests/integration/data_asyncio -s -vv
+        run: poetry run pytest tests/integration/data_asyncio --retries 5 --retry-delay 35 -s -vv --log-cli-level=DEBUG
         env:
             PINECONE_API_KEY: ${{ secrets.PINECONE_API_KEY }}
 
@@ -51,6 +51,6 @@ jobs:
           include_asyncio: true
           include_dev: true
       - name: 'db_control asyncio'
-        run: poetry run pytest tests/integration/control_asyncio -s -vv
+        run: poetry run pytest tests/integration/control_asyncio --retries 5 --retry-delay 35 -s -vv --log-cli-level=DEBUG
         env:
           PINECONE_API_KEY: '${{ secrets.PINECONE_API_KEY }}'
diff --git a/.github/workflows/testing-integration.yaml b/.github/workflows/testing-integration.yaml
index fceb1422..8275a5f1 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/testing-integration.yaml
+++ b/.github/workflows/testing-integration.yaml
@@ -21,7 +21,7 @@ jobs:
         with:
           include_asyncio: true
       - name: 'Run integration tests'
-        run: poetry run pytest tests/integration/inference -s -vv
+        run: poetry run pytest tests/integration/inference --retries 5 --retry-delay 35 -s -vv --log-cli-level=DEBUG
         env:
           PINECONE_DEBUG_CURL: 'true'
           PINECONE_API_KEY: '${{ secrets.PINECONE_API_KEY }}'
@@ -113,7 +113,7 @@ jobs:
       - name: Setup Poetry
         uses: ./.github/actions/setup-poetry
       - name: 'Run integration tests (REST)'
-        run: poetry run pytest tests/integration/control/serverless -s -vv
+        run: poetry run pytest tests/integration/control/serverless --retries 5 --retry-delay 35 -s -vv --log-cli-level=DEBUG
         env:
           PINECONE_DEBUG_CURL: 'true'
           PINECONE_API_KEY: '${{ secrets.PINECONE_API_KEY }}'
diff --git a/.github/workflows/testing-unit.yaml b/.github/workflows/testing-unit.yaml
index 9ee0bbb9..f97dfacf 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/testing-unit.yaml
+++ b/.github/workflows/testing-unit.yaml
@@ -58,7 +58,7 @@ jobs:
           include_asyncio: true
 
       - name: Run unit tests (REST)
-        run: poetry run pytest --cov=pinecone --timeout=120 tests/unit
+        run: poetry run pytest --cov=pinecone --timeout=120 tests/unit --retries 5 --retry-delay 35 -s -vv --log-cli-level=DEBUG
       - name: Run unit tests (GRPC)
         if: ${{ matrix.use_grpc == true }}
-        run: poetry run pytest --cov=pinecone/grpc --timeout=120 tests/unit_grpc
+        run: poetry run pytest --cov=pinecone/grpc --timeout=120 tests/unit_grpc --retries 5 --retry-delay 35 -s -vv --log-cli-level=DEBUG
diff --git a/pinecone/grpc/utils.py b/pinecone/grpc/utils.py
index bd6540de..dcd19710 100644
--- a/pinecone/grpc/utils.py
+++ b/pinecone/grpc/utils.py
@@ -48,8 +48,8 @@ def parse_fetch_response(response: Message):
     for id, vec in vectors.items():
         vd[id] = _Vector(
             id=vec["id"],
-            values=vec["values"],
-            sparse_values=parse_sparse_values(vec.get("sparseValues")),
+            values=vec.get("values", None),
+            sparse_values=parse_sparse_values(vec.get("sparseValues", None)),
             metadata=vec.get("metadata", None),
             _check_type=False,
         )
diff --git a/pinecone/utils/tqdm.py b/pinecone/utils/tqdm.py
index 05907686..df1f34a3 100644
--- a/pinecone/utils/tqdm.py
+++ b/pinecone/utils/tqdm.py
@@ -1,6 +1,12 @@
+import warnings
+
+__all__ = ["tqdm"]
+
 try:
-    # Use the notebook-friendly auto selection if tqdm is installed.
-    from tqdm.auto import tqdm
+    # Suppress the specific tqdm warning about IProgress
+    with warnings.catch_warnings():
+        warnings.filterwarnings("ignore", category=UserWarning, module="tqdm")
+        from tqdm.auto import tqdm
 except ImportError:
     # Fallback: define a dummy tqdm that supports the same interface.
     class tqdm:  # type: ignore
diff --git a/poetry.lock b/poetry.lock
index 8805fbf9..427dc1e2 100644
--- a/poetry.lock
+++ b/poetry.lock
@@ -1452,6 +1452,23 @@ pytest = ">=5.0"
 [package.extras]
 dev = ["pre-commit", "pytest-asyncio", "tox"]
 
+[[package]]
+name = "pytest-retry"
+version = "1.7.0"
+description = "Adds the ability to retry flaky tests in CI environments"
+optional = false
+python-versions = ">=3.9"
+files = [
+    {file = "pytest_retry-1.7.0-py3-none-any.whl", hash = "sha256:a2dac85b79a4e2375943f1429479c65beb6c69553e7dae6b8332be47a60954f4"},
+    {file = "pytest_retry-1.7.0.tar.gz", hash = "sha256:f8d52339f01e949df47c11ba9ee8d5b362f5824dff580d3870ec9ae0057df80f"},
+]
+
+[package.dependencies]
+pytest = ">=7.0.0"
+
+[package.extras]
+dev = ["black", "flake8", "isort", "mypy"]
+
 [[package]]
 name = "pytest-timeout"
 version = "2.2.0"
@@ -1882,4 +1899,4 @@ grpc = ["googleapis-common-protos", "grpcio", "grpcio", "grpcio", "lz4", "protob
 [metadata]
 lock-version = "2.0"
 python-versions = "^3.9"
-content-hash = "bf919c64ad5ce7179d48c97ab8b608e49671ce20db9ed660121e99eea9d574cc"
+content-hash = "8a10046c5826a9773836e6b3ee50271bb0077d0faf32d709f1e65c4bb1fc53ea"
diff --git a/pyproject.toml b/pyproject.toml
index 9f81f8c9..891066a3 100644
--- a/pyproject.toml
+++ b/pyproject.toml
@@ -85,6 +85,7 @@ pytest = "8.2.0"
 pytest-asyncio = "^0.25.2"
 pytest-cov = "2.10.1"
 pytest-mock = "3.6.1"
+pytest-retry = "^1.7.0"
 pytest-timeout = "2.2.0"
 pytest-benchmark = [
   { version = '5.0.0', python = ">=3.9,<4.0" }
diff --git a/tests/integration/data/test_fetch.py b/tests/integration/data/test_fetch.py
index 5523d27e..7c97aa9e 100644
--- a/tests/integration/data/test_fetch.py
+++ b/tests/integration/data/test_fetch.py
@@ -143,7 +143,6 @@ def test_fetch_unspecified_namespace(self, idx):
         assert results.vectors["1"].values is not None
         assert results.vectors["4"].metadata is not None
 
-    @pytest.mark.skip(reason="Backend implementation not ready")
     def test_fetch_sparse_index(self, sparse_idx):
         sparse_idx.upsert(
             vectors=[
@@ -165,9 +164,11 @@ def test_fetch_sparse_index(self, sparse_idx):
         assert fetch_results.namespace == ""
         assert len(fetch_results.vectors) == 10
         for i in range(10):
+            logger.debug(fetch_results.vectors[str(i)])
             assert fetch_results.vectors[str(i)].id == str(i)
-            assert fetch_results.vectors[str(i)].values is not None
-            assert len(fetch_results.vectors[str(i)].values) == 2
+            assert fetch_results.vectors[str(i)].sparse_values is not None
+            assert len(fetch_results.vectors[str(i)].sparse_values.indices) == 2
+            assert len(fetch_results.vectors[str(i)].sparse_values.values) == 2
             assert fetch_results.vectors[str(i)].metadata is not None
             assert fetch_results.vectors[str(i)].metadata["genre"] == "action"
             assert fetch_results.vectors[str(i)].metadata["runtime"] == 120
diff --git a/tests/integration/data/test_list_errors.py b/tests/integration/data/test_list_errors.py
index 1ab3c496..bda299a0 100644
--- a/tests/integration/data/test_list_errors.py
+++ b/tests/integration/data/test_list_errors.py
@@ -28,6 +28,7 @@ def seed_for_list2(idx, list_errors_namespace, wait=True):
 
 @pytest.mark.usefixtures("seed_for_list2")
 class TestListErrors:
+    @pytest.mark.skip(reason="Bug filed https://github.com/pinecone-io/pinecone-db/issues/9578")
     def test_list_change_prefix_while_fetching_next_page(self, idx, list_errors_namespace):
         results = idx.list_paginated(prefix="99", limit=5, namespace=list_errors_namespace)
         with pytest.raises(PineconeException) as e:
diff --git a/tests/integration/data/test_query.py b/tests/integration/data/test_query.py
index 09f895c2..99971f8d 100644
--- a/tests/integration/data/test_query.py
+++ b/tests/integration/data/test_query.py
@@ -115,7 +115,11 @@ def test_query_by_vector_include_metadata(self, idx, query_namespace, use_nondef
         assert isinstance(results, QueryResponse) == True
         assert results.namespace == target_namespace
 
-        matches_with_metadata = [match for match in results.matches if match.metadata is not None]
+        matches_with_metadata = [
+            match
+            for match in results.matches
+            if match.metadata is not None and match.metadata != {}
+        ]
         assert len(matches_with_metadata) == 3
         assert find_by_id(results.matches, "4").metadata["genre"] == "action"
 
@@ -134,7 +138,11 @@ def test_query_by_vector_include_values_and_metadata(
         assert isinstance(results, QueryResponse) == True
         assert results.namespace == target_namespace
 
-        matches_with_metadata = [match for match in results.matches if match.metadata is not None]
+        matches_with_metadata = [
+            match
+            for match in results.matches
+            if match.metadata is not None and match.metadata != {}
+        ]
         assert len(matches_with_metadata) == 3
         assert find_by_id(results.matches, "4").metadata["genre"] == "action"
         assert len(results.matches[0].values) == self.expected_dimension