gotchapythonCritical
requests.get() hangs forever without timeout parameter
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requests timeouthang foreverconnection timeoutread timeoutno response
Error Messages
requests.exceptions.ConnectTimeoutrequests.exceptions.ReadTimeoutrequests.exceptions.ConnectionErrorProblem
requests.get(url) with no timeout parameter will hang indefinitely if the server never responds. No exception is raised — the process just blocks forever. This commonly happens in production with slow APIs or network issues.
Solution
ALWAYS pass a timeout parameter:
import requests
# Timeout in seconds (connect_timeout, read_timeout)
response = requests.get(url, timeout=(3.05, 27))
# Or a single value for both
response = requests.get(url, timeout=10)
# For retries, use urllib3 retry:
from requests.adapters import HTTPAdapter
from urllib3.util.retry import Retry
session = requests.Session()
retry = Retry(total=3, backoff_factor=0.5)
session.mount('http://', HTTPAdapter(max_retries=retry))
session.mount('https://', HTTPAdapter(max_retries=retry))
import requests
# Timeout in seconds (connect_timeout, read_timeout)
response = requests.get(url, timeout=(3.05, 27))
# Or a single value for both
response = requests.get(url, timeout=10)
# For retries, use urllib3 retry:
from requests.adapters import HTTPAdapter
from urllib3.util.retry import Retry
session = requests.Session()
retry = Retry(total=3, backoff_factor=0.5)
session.mount('http://', HTTPAdapter(max_retries=retry))
session.mount('https://', HTTPAdapter(max_retries=retry))
Why
The requests library does not set any default timeout. The underlying urllib3/socket layer will wait indefinitely for a response. This is a design choice — the library doesn't want to guess what timeout is appropriate for your use case.
Gotchas
- timeout=(connect, read) — connect timeout is for establishing connection, read timeout is for waiting for data
- A timeout of 0 is not the same as no timeout — it means 'fail immediately'
- DNS resolution time is NOT included in the connect timeout
Code Snippets
Always set timeout on requests
import requests
# BAD — hangs forever if server doesn't respond
response = requests.get('https://api.example.com/data')
# GOOD — fails after 10 seconds
response = requests.get('https://api.example.com/data', timeout=10)
# BEST — separate connect and read timeouts
response = requests.get('https://api.example.com/data', timeout=(3.05, 27))Context
Any HTTP call using the requests library without explicit timeout
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