refactor: centralize agent timeout defaults

CHANGELOG.md

@@ -15,6 +15,7 @@
 - Onboarding: when OpenAI Codex OAuth is used, default to `openai-codex/gpt-5.2` and warn if the selected model lacks auth.
 - CLI: auto-migrate legacy config entries on command start (same behavior as gateway startup).
 - Gateway: add `gateway stop|restart` helpers and surface launchd/systemd/schtasks stop hints when the gateway is already running.
+- Gateway: honor `agent.timeoutSeconds` for `chat.send` and share timeout defaults across chat/cron/auto-reply. Thanks @MSch for PR #229.
 - Auth: prioritize OAuth profiles but fall back to API keys when refresh fails; stored profiles now load without explicit auth order.
 - Control UI: harden config Form view with schema normalization, map editing, and guardrails to prevent data loss on save.
 - Cron: normalize cron.add/update inputs, align channel enums/status fields across gateway/CLI/UI/macOS, and add protocol conformance tests. Thanks @mneves75 for PR #256.

src/agents/timeout.ts

@@ -0,0 +1,35 @@
+import type { ClawdbotConfig } from "../config/config.js";
+
+const DEFAULT_AGENT_TIMEOUT_SECONDS = 600;
+
+const normalizeNumber = (value: unknown): number | undefined =>
+  typeof value === "number" && Number.isFinite(value)
+    ? Math.floor(value)
+    : undefined;
+
+export function resolveAgentTimeoutSeconds(cfg?: ClawdbotConfig): number {
+  const raw = normalizeNumber(cfg?.agent?.timeoutSeconds);
+  const seconds = raw ?? DEFAULT_AGENT_TIMEOUT_SECONDS;
+  return Math.max(seconds, 1);
+}
+
+export function resolveAgentTimeoutMs(opts: {
+  cfg?: ClawdbotConfig;
+  overrideMs?: number | null;
+  overrideSeconds?: number | null;
+  minMs?: number;
+}): number {
+  const minMs = Math.max(normalizeNumber(opts.minMs) ?? 1, 1);
+  const defaultMs = resolveAgentTimeoutSeconds(opts.cfg) * 1000;
+  const overrideMs = normalizeNumber(opts.overrideMs);
+  if (overrideMs !== undefined) {
+    if (overrideMs <= 0) return defaultMs;
+    return Math.max(overrideMs, minMs);
+  }
+  const overrideSeconds = normalizeNumber(opts.overrideSeconds);
+  if (overrideSeconds !== undefined) {
+    if (overrideSeconds <= 0) return defaultMs;
+    return Math.max(overrideSeconds * 1000, minMs);
+  }
+  return Math.max(defaultMs, minMs);
+}

src/auto-reply/reply.ts

@@ -11,6 +11,7 @@ import {
   resolveEmbeddedSessionLane,
 } from "../agents/pi-embedded.js";
 import { ensureSandboxWorkspaceForSession } from "../agents/sandbox.js";
+import { resolveAgentTimeoutMs } from "../agents/timeout.js";
 import {
   DEFAULT_AGENT_WORKSPACE_DIR,
   ensureAgentWorkspace,
@@ -221,8 +222,7 @@ export async function getReplyFromConfig(
     ensureBootstrapFiles: true,
   });
   const workspaceDir = workspace.dir;
-  const timeoutSeconds = Math.max(agentCfg?.timeoutSeconds ?? 600, 1);
+  const timeoutMs = resolveAgentTimeoutMs({ cfg });
-  const timeoutMs = timeoutSeconds * 1000;
   const configuredTypingSeconds =
     agentCfg?.typingIntervalSeconds ?? sessionCfg?.typingIntervalSeconds;
   const typingIntervalSeconds =

src/commands/agent.ts

@@ -16,6 +16,7 @@ import {
 } from "../agents/model-selection.js";
 import { runEmbeddedPiAgent } from "../agents/pi-embedded.js";
 import { buildWorkspaceSkillSnapshot } from "../agents/skills.js";
+import { resolveAgentTimeoutMs } from "../agents/timeout.js";
 import {
   DEFAULT_AGENT_WORKSPACE_DIR,
   ensureAgentWorkspace,
@@ -190,11 +191,17 @@ export async function agentCommand(
   const timeoutSecondsRaw =
     opts.timeout !== undefined
       ? Number.parseInt(String(opts.timeout), 10)
-      : (agentCfg?.timeoutSeconds ?? 600);
+      : undefined;
-  if (Number.isNaN(timeoutSecondsRaw) || timeoutSecondsRaw <= 0) {
+  if (
+    timeoutSecondsRaw !== undefined &&
+    (Number.isNaN(timeoutSecondsRaw) || timeoutSecondsRaw <= 0)
+  ) {
     throw new Error("--timeout must be a positive integer (seconds)");
   }
-  const timeoutMs = Math.max(timeoutSecondsRaw, 1) * 1000;
+  const timeoutMs = resolveAgentTimeoutMs({
+    cfg,
+    overrideSeconds: timeoutSecondsRaw,
+  });
 
   const sessionResolution = resolveSession({
     cfg,

src/cron/isolated-agent.ts

@@ -13,6 +13,7 @@ import {
 } from "../agents/model-selection.js";
 import { runEmbeddedPiAgent } from "../agents/pi-embedded.js";
 import { buildWorkspaceSkillSnapshot } from "../agents/skills.js";
+import { resolveAgentTimeoutMs } from "../agents/timeout.js";
 import {
   DEFAULT_AGENT_WORKSPACE_DIR,
   ensureAgentWorkspace,
@@ -234,12 +235,13 @@ export async function runCronIsolatedAgentTurn(params: {
     });
   }
 
-  const timeoutSecondsRaw =
+  const timeoutMs = resolveAgentTimeoutMs({
-    params.job.payload.kind === "agentTurn" && params.job.payload.timeoutSeconds
+    cfg: params.cfg,
-      ? params.job.payload.timeoutSeconds
+    overrideSeconds:
-      : (agentCfg?.timeoutSeconds ?? 600);
+      params.job.payload.kind === "agentTurn"
-  const timeoutSeconds = Math.max(Math.floor(timeoutSecondsRaw), 1);
+        ? params.job.payload.timeoutSeconds
-  const timeoutMs = timeoutSeconds * 1000;
+        : undefined,
+  });
 
   const delivery =
     params.job.payload.kind === "agentTurn" &&

src/gateway/server-bridge.ts

@@ -10,6 +10,7 @@ import {
   resolveModelRefFromString,
   resolveThinkingDefault,
 } from "../agents/model-selection.js";
+import { resolveAgentTimeoutMs } from "../agents/timeout.js";
 import {
   abortEmbeddedPiRun,
   isEmbeddedPiRunActive,
@@ -927,14 +928,10 @@ export function createBridgeHandlers(ctx: BridgeHandlersContext) {
           const { cfg, storePath, store, entry } = loadSessionEntry(
             p.sessionKey,
           );
-          const defaultTimeoutMs = Math.max(
+          const timeoutMs = resolveAgentTimeoutMs({
-            Math.floor((cfg.agent?.timeoutSeconds ?? 600) * 1000),
+            cfg,
-            0,
+            overrideMs: p.timeoutMs,
-          );
+          });
-          const timeoutMs =
-            typeof p.timeoutMs === "number" && Number.isFinite(p.timeoutMs)
-              ? Math.max(0, Math.floor(p.timeoutMs))
-              : defaultTimeoutMs;
           const now = Date.now();
           const sessionId = entry?.sessionId ?? randomUUID();
           const sessionEntry: SessionEntry = {

src/gateway/server-methods/chat.ts

@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 import { randomUUID } from "node:crypto";
 
 import { resolveThinkingDefault } from "../../agents/model-selection.js";
+import { resolveAgentTimeoutMs } from "../../agents/timeout.js";
 import { agentCommand } from "../../commands/agent.js";
 import { type SessionEntry, saveSessionStore } from "../../config/sessions.js";
 import { registerAgentRunContext } from "../../infra/agent-events.js";
@@ -188,14 +189,10 @@ export const chatHandlers: GatewayRequestHandlers = {
       }
     }
     const { cfg, storePath, store, entry } = loadSessionEntry(p.sessionKey);
-    const defaultTimeoutMs = Math.max(
+    const timeoutMs = resolveAgentTimeoutMs({
-      Math.floor((cfg.agent?.timeoutSeconds ?? 600) * 1000),
+      cfg,
-      0,
+      overrideMs: p.timeoutMs,
-    );
+    });
-    const timeoutMs =
-      typeof p.timeoutMs === "number" && Number.isFinite(p.timeoutMs)
-        ? Math.max(0, Math.floor(p.timeoutMs))
-        : defaultTimeoutMs;
     const now = Date.now();
     const sessionId = entry?.sessionId ?? randomUUID();
     const sessionEntry: SessionEntry = {

src/gateway/server.chat.test.ts

@@ -40,6 +40,27 @@ describe("gateway server chat", () => {
     await server.close();
   });
 
+  test("chat.send defaults to agent timeout config", async () => {
+    testState.agentConfig = { timeoutSeconds: 123 };
+    const { server, ws } = await startServerWithClient();
+    await connectOk(ws);
+
+    const res = await rpcReq(ws, "chat.send", {
+      sessionKey: "main",
+      message: "hello",
+      idempotencyKey: "idem-timeout-1",
+    });
+    expect(res.ok).toBe(true);
+
+    const call = vi.mocked(agentCommand).mock.calls.at(-1)?.[0] as
+      | { timeout?: string }
+      | undefined;
+    expect(call?.timeout).toBe("123");
+
+    ws.close();
+    await server.close();
+  });
+
   test("chat.send blocked by send policy", async () => {
     const dir = await fs.mkdtemp(path.join(os.tmpdir(), "clawdbot-gw-"));
     testState.sessionStorePath = path.join(dir, "sessions.json");

src/gateway/test-helpers.ts

@@ -84,6 +84,7 @@ export const cronIsolatedRun = hoisted.cronIsolatedRun;
 export const agentCommand = hoisted.agentCommand;
 
 export const testState = {
+  agentConfig: undefined as Record<string, unknown> | undefined,
   sessionStorePath: undefined as string | undefined,
   sessionConfig: undefined as Record<string, unknown> | undefined,
   allowFrom: undefined as string[] | undefined,
@@ -243,6 +244,7 @@ vi.mock("../config/config.js", async () => {
       agent: {
         model: "anthropic/claude-opus-4-5",
         workspace: path.join(os.tmpdir(), "clawd-gateway-test"),
+        ...testState.agentConfig,
       },
       whatsapp: {
         allowFrom: testState.allowFrom,
@@ -351,6 +353,7 @@ export function installGatewayTestHooks() {
     testState.cronStorePath = undefined;
     testState.sessionConfig = undefined;
     testState.sessionStorePath = undefined;
+    testState.agentConfig = undefined;
     testState.allowFrom = undefined;
     testIsNixMode.value = false;
     cronIsolatedRun.mockClear();