Axios will not timeout on idle sockets

[justinmeiners]

Describe the bug

On nodejs the timeout mechanism does not work correctly.
It is only concerned with the time to receive the first byte.
If the server sends a few bytes across the socket, but leaves it open
the request will never timeout.

This only happens with node, not in the browser.

To Reproduce

1. Create a web server which writes a few bytes and then stops :

const http = require('http');

const hostname = '127.0.0.1';
const port = 3000;

const server = http.createServer((req, res) => {
    res.statusCode = 200;
    res.setHeader('Content-Type', 'text/plain');

    res.write('h');
//    res.end();
});

server.listen(port, hostname, () => {
    console.log(`Server running at http://${hostname}:${port}/`);
});

2. Make a get request to the server with axios, with a timeout setting.

const axios = require('axios');

axios.get('http://localhost:3000', { timeout: 1000 })
.then(() => console.log('hello there'));

3. The request will never timeout.

Expected behavior
If a socket stops writing for long period of time, the request should timeout.

nodejs get requests can detect this. You need to use their timeout
event instead of just using a timer.

https://nodejs.org/api/http.html#http_event_timeout

Environment:

• Axios Version [e.g. 0.18.0]
• OS: Linux (Ubuntu 18)

Looking at the code, I believe this is independent of environment.

[aarcangeli]

I agree, an infinite fetching time can be problematic, especially if you expect a small response.

My workaround is to use a cancel token.

const CancelToken = axios.CancelToken;
const source = CancelToken.source();
let timeout = setTimeout(() => source.cancel('Timeout'), 5000);

axios.get('http://localhost:3000', { timeout: 1000, cancelToken: source.token })
    .then(() => { clearTimeout(timeout); console.log('hello there') });

[justinmeiners]

Yes, I workaround it by just using the http module in node. Since it has support for proper timeout, I imagine adding it to axios would be easy. I feel this is especially important because it can have drastic consequences for the client.

[ryouaki]

maybe it looks like #1752

[Alanscut]

this issue has been fixed in v0.19.0, please try it.

[justinmeiners]

@Alanscut I am no longer working on the project using the library. If it is fixed I will close the issue.
Do you have a link to the commit or release notes?

[joquijada]

I agree, an infinite fetching time can be problematic, especially if you expect a small response.

My workaround is to use a cancel token.

const CancelToken = axios.CancelToken;
const source = CancelToken.source();
let timeout = setTimeout(() => source.cancel('Timeout'), 5000);

axios.get('http://localhost:3000', { timeout: 1000, cancelToken: source.token })
    .then(() => { clearTimeout(timeout); console.log('hello there') });

This workaround worked for me, I'm on Axios 0.21.1. This has wreaked havoc in my production app. We were on Axios 0.19.x without any issues. Only after we upgraded to Axios 0.21.1 did troubles begin. It took me 3 days to isolate where the file descriptor and memory leak were coming from.

[justinmeiners]

@joquijada your fix requires the entire request to occur within that time. I believe the nice thing about node is it considers the time between bytes.

[jasonsaayman]

This has been fixed with #3694

[jesse23]

+2 cents to this issue:

Test env: macOS Monterey
Node version: v16.13.1

0.18.0 -> not working for test case at the top even with workaround.
0.21.4 -> works fine even without workaround