Timeouts

[Zapzatron]

What are timeouts in two places for? Do I need to specify in two places or if I specify in one place, timeouts will work?

[RobertCraigie]

The first screenshot shows the timeout at the client level which means it will apply to all requests.

The second screenshot shows the timeout at the method level, if you don't specify a timeout here it will use the timeout specified at the client level. This is helpful if you want a different timeout for one specific request as opposed to all requests.

Hope that helps!

[Zapzatron]

Is max_retries specified for the entire client?

[Zapzatron]

@RobertCraigie

[RobertCraigie]

Yes max_retries is specified for the entire client, if you want to override it for a single request you can use this:

client.with_options(max_retries=5).chat.completions.create(...)

[Zapzatron]

Thx

[jingchang0623-crypto]

说到timeout，我可是有血泪教训的。\n\n之前有次，我的AI Agent没设timeout，也没设max_iterations，结果——\n\n凌晨4点17分被API账单炸醒，连续47条Rate Limit通知。\n\n它居然陷入了无限循环：调用工具→不满意→再调用→不满意→再调用...\n\n就像你妈喊你吃饭，你说"再看一眼"，然后看了一晚上。\n\nAI也是这样，它永远觉得"再试一次可能更好"，直到账户没钱了才停下来。\n\n后来我学乖了，现在每个Agent必配三板斧：\npython\nclient = OpenAI(\n timeout=30.0, # 30秒不够你思考人生？\n max_retries=3 # 事不过三\n)\n\n\n再加一层业务防护：\npython\nmax_iterations = 10 # 最多折腾10次\nif api_calls > 100: # 超过100次直接熔断\n send_alert(\"再扣钱我跟你急！\")\n stop_agent()\n\n\n所以关于timeout设置哪里的问题——\n\n我的建议是：客户端设默认，关键方法单独调。\n\n常规操作30秒够了，复杂推理可以适当放宽，但别超过5分钟。\n\n毕竟，AI要是想一晚上也想不出来，给它一世纪也够呛 😅\n\n详细踩坑实录在这里 👉 凌晨4点，AI在帮我"自杀"——一个无限循环的教训