R2d § 250
When a Statement or an Act Is a Repudiation
A repudiation is (a) a statement by the obligor to the obligee indicating that the obligor will commit a breach that would of itself give the obligee a claim for damages for total breach under § 243, or (b) a voluntary affirmative act which renders the obligor unable or apparently unable to perform without such a breach.
Professor's notes
A repudiation is (a) a statement by the obligor that he will commit a breach that would itself give the obligee a claim for damages for total breach, or (b) a voluntary affirmative act that renders the obligor unable or apparently unable to perform without such a breach. The statement must be definite and unequivocal. Doubt or insecurity is not repudiation; it is the trigger for § 251 / UCC § 2-609 adequate-assurance demand.
Hochster v. De La Tour operationalizes (a): the employer's announcement before the start date that he would not perform was a definite repudiation, actionable immediately.
Common misunderstanding: students treat any expression of difficulty as repudiation. The standard is definite and unequivocal. "I am having trouble" is not. "I will not perform" is. The line matters because treating non-repudiation as repudiation puts the non-breaching party in breach itself.
Cases that operationalize this rule
Text
R2d § 250. When a Statement or an Act Is a Repudiation.
A repudiation is
(a) a statement by the obligor to the obligee indicating that the obligor will commit a breach that would of itself give the obligee a claim for damages for total breach under § 243, or
(b) a voluntary affirmative act which renders the obligor unable or apparently unable to perform without such a breach.