One disadvantage of the client/server computing model is the client's strong dependence on the server. A system and method are disclosed for enabling a client application to operate offline from the server. For each request, the client application registers a request entry with a scheduler, informing the scheduler of an associated application callback. The scheduler then invokes this application callback when a network connection is available for use, and the client application then sends the request to the server. Error recovery methods are described for requests that are sent to the server but for which no reply is received, and for other error scenarios. Some applications may maintain client-side caches to lookup information independently of the server. Synchronization entries may be registered with the scheduler for keeping the client-side cache in sync with the server-side master data.