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Increase default request timeout to 5 minutes for elicitation support#875

Merged
cliffhall merged 2 commits intomainfrom
fix/increase-default-timeout-for-elicitation
Oct 18, 2025
Merged

Increase default request timeout to 5 minutes for elicitation support#875
cliffhall merged 2 commits intomainfrom
fix/increase-default-timeout-for-elicitation

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@bhosmer-ant
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Summary

  • Increased the default MCP_SERVER_REQUEST_TIMEOUT from 10 seconds to 5 minutes (300,000ms)
  • Added documentation clarifying the difference between client-side and server-side timeouts
  • Updated configuration descriptions in both code and documentation

Problem

The Inspector's default 10-second timeout was too short for elicitation tools that require user input. When testing elicitation tools, the Inspector would cancel the request after 10 seconds with a "Request timed out" error, even though the server was still waiting for user input.

Solution

Set a more reasonable default timeout of 5 minutes that accommodates:

  • Elicitation tools requiring user interaction
  • Long-running operations
  • Tools that may need time for processing

Users can still customize this value through:

  • The Configuration panel in the UI
  • URL parameters (?MCP_SERVER_REQUEST_TIMEOUT=...)
  • Saved localStorage settings

Changes

  • client/src/lib/constants.ts: Updated default timeout value
  • client/src/lib/configurationTypes.ts: Clarified documentation about client-side timeout
  • README.md: Updated default value in configuration table and added explanatory note about timeout behavior

Testing

Tested with an MCP server implementing an elicitation tool - the tool now works correctly without timing out prematurely.

- Changed MCP_SERVER_REQUEST_TIMEOUT from 10s to 5m (300000ms)
- Supports elicitation tools and other long-running operations
- Updated documentation to clarify client-side vs server-side timeouts
- Users can still customize via UI config or URL parameters
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github-actions Bot commented Oct 16, 2025

🎭 Playwright E2E Test Results

✅  24 passed

Details

24 tests across 3 suites
 34.6 seconds
 e74cbf0
ℹ️  Test Environment: Ubuntu Latest, Node.js v22.20.0
Browsers: Chromium, Firefox

📊 View Detailed HTML Report (download artifacts)

@bhosmer-ant
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(sorry for the review request spam!)

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@cliffhall cliffhall left a comment

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LGTM! 👍

Thanks @bhosmer-ant. I got caught by this default in a demo the other day and had to go set a reasonable value in the sidebar.

@cliffhall cliffhall merged commit f216d42 into main Oct 18, 2025
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@cliffhall cliffhall deleted the fix/increase-default-timeout-for-elicitation branch October 18, 2025 19:08
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