aws timeout_error ai_generated true

Execution failed due to a timeout error

ID: aws/aws-api-gateway-timeout

Also available as: JSON · Markdown
82%Fix Rate
85%Confidence
120Evidence
2023-01-01First Seen

Version Compatibility

VersionStatusIntroducedDeprecatedNotes
2 active — — —

Root Cause

API Gateway request exceeded the 29-second integration timeout limit for the backend.

generic

Workarounds

  1. 88% success Use asynchronous invocation pattern with Step Functions or SQS 
    Return 202 Accepted immediately, process in background, client polls for result

    Sources: https://docs.aws.amazon.com/apigateway/latest/developerguide/set-up-lambda-integration-async.html

  2. 80% success Optimize backend Lambda/service to respond within 29 seconds 
    Profile the backend, reduce cold starts, optimize database queries, increase Lambda memory

    Sources: https://docs.aws.amazon.com/lambda/latest/dg/best-practices.html

Dead Ends

Common approaches that don't work:

  1. Increase API Gateway timeout beyond 29 seconds 95% fail

    API Gateway has a hard limit of 29 seconds for integration timeout that cannot be increased

  2. Retry the same request immediately 80% fail

    If the backend is inherently slow, retries will also time out, wasting resources

Error Chain

Frequently confused with: