Node timeout for partial response results in AxiosError: maxContentLength size of -1 exceeded

[WestonThayer]

Describe the bug

The timeout option causes an unexpected type of Error to be thrown in Node when the server sends the first response chunk within the timeout, but then hangs.

To Reproduce

1. Load https://codesandbox.io/s/jovial-farrell-z2qvkd?file=/src/index.js

Inspect console output.

Code snippet

const axios = require("axios");
const http = require("http");

const server = http.createServer((req, res) => {
  res.write("partial response");
  setTimeout(() => res.end(), 2000);
});
server.listen(3000);

axios
  .get("http://localhost:3000", { timeout: 1000 })
  .then(() => console.log("got response"))
  .catch((error) => console.log(error));

Expected behavior

AxiosError: timeout of 1000ms exceeded.

Axios Version

1.1.3

Adapter Version

No response

Browser

No response

Browser Version

No response

Node.js Version

14.19.3

OS

No response

Additional Library Versions

No response

Additional context/Screenshots

Related #4364.

[TechWizard9999]

😊 "I'd be delighted to work on issue! Could you please assign it to me?"

[isaachinman]

@WestonThayer Did you ever find an acceptable resolution to this problem?

[WestonThayer]

We still don't rely on axios's timeout option, instead using our own setTimeout() with a axios.CancelToken. FWIW we'll probably migrate off axios to the fetch built into Node.js at some point.

[isaachinman]

Thanks for such a rapid response, even after a year and a half!

I've been doing more streaming recently, and have come to a similar conclusion. Axios is poorly suited for streaming, especially in client contexts, and even fetch has drawbacks.

I've taken to using raw XMLHttpRequest in many cases.

[n0th1ng-else]

I have switched to AbortSignal and it worked fine in my case. Dropped a short write up about the solution https://nothing-else.blog/blog/axios-timeout-for-chunked-responses