Python requests timeout

In this tutorial, you will learn about Python requests timeout.

In Python, you can use the requests module for making HTTP requests.

Why do you need Python requests timeout?

When making HTTP requests using the requests module, the request may take some time to complete.

The time taken for a request to complete depends on a number of factors.

These factors include network latency, server response time, and the size and complexity of the request.

In some cases, it may be important to limit the amount of time that a request can take, in order to prevent the program from getting stuck waiting for a response that may never come.

To address this issue, the requests module provides a timeout parameter.

You can use this parameter to set a time limit for the request.

The timeout parameter is specified in seconds.

You can use it with any of the requests methods that make HTTP requests.

Such as get(), post(), put(), and delete().

When you set the timeout parameter, the request will wait for the server to respond for up to the specified number of seconds.

If the server does not respond within that time, a requests.exceptions.Timeout exception will be raised.

By default, requests does not set a timeout value.

So requests can potentially hang indefinitely.

This is why it’s important to set a timeout value when making requests.

Particularly when dealing with external services that may be slow to respond or may experience intermittent connectivity issues.

To solve this issue, python’s requests module has a timeout parameter.

What is timeout in request?

Timeout in requests is a parameter that allows you to set a maximum time limit for a request to receive a response from the server.

When you send a request using the requests library in Python, you can specify a timeout value using the timeout parameter.

The timeout value can be a float or a tuple of two floats,

This timeout value represents the number of seconds to wait for the server to send a response.

If the server does not respond within the specified time, the request will be aborted and a requests.exceptions.Timeout exception will be raised.

Setting a timeout value is important to prevent hanging requests.

Which can potentially cause issues for both the client and the server.

The default value for the Python requests timeout parameter is None.

This means that the request will wait indefinitely for a response from the server.

You can use the timeout parameter to specify the number of seconds to wait for a server’s response before timing out.

Syntax of Python requests timeout

Here is an example of using the timeout parameter with the requests.get() method:

import requests

response = requests.get('https://www.example.com', timeout=5)

In this example, we have set the timeout parameter to 5 seconds.

It means that if the server does not respond within 5 seconds, your program will raise a requests.exceptions.Timeout exception.

You can also set the timeout parameter as a tuple.

By doing this, you can specify the separate values for connection timeout and read timeout.

The connection timeout specifies the number of seconds to wait for the server to respond when establishing a connection.

While the read timeout specifies the number of seconds to wait for the server to respond once connection is established but no data receive.

Set the Python requests timeout (connection and read timeout)

Here’s an example of using a tuple to set a connection timeout of 3 seconds and a read timeout of 5 seconds:

import requests

response = requests.get('https://www.example.com', timeout=(3, 5))

In this example, we have set the connection timeout to 3 seconds.

And we have set the read timeout to 5 seconds.

If the connection is not established within 3 seconds or if no data is received within 5 seconds of establishing the connection, a requests.exceptions.Timeout exception will be raised.

As we have discussed earlier, you can use the timeout parameter for any request type.

Let’s see how you use the timeout parameter with the requests module in Python.

Setting a requests timeout for a GET Request

A GET request is a type of HTTP request you can use to retrieve data from a server.

You can use requests timeout parameter while using a GET request.

import requests

# Set the timeout to 5 seconds
response = requests.get('https://www.example.com', timeout=5)

# If the server does not respond within 5 seconds, a Timeout exception will be raised

In this example, we made a GET request to https://www.example.com.

And set the timeout to 5 seconds using the timeout parameter.

If the server does not respond within 5 seconds, the program will raise a requests.exceptions.Timeout exception.

Setting a requests timeout for a POST Request

A POST request is a type of HTTP request that you can use to submit data to a server to create or update a resource.

import requests

# Set the timeout to 10 seconds
response = requests.post('https://www.example.com', data={'key': 'value'}, timeout=10)

# If the server does not respond within 10 seconds, a Timeout exception will be raised

In this example, we have made a POST request to https://www.example.com.

This request includes some data.

And we have set the timeout of the request to 10 seconds using the requests timeout parameter.

If the server does not respond within 10 seconds, the program will raise a requests.exceptions.Timeout exception.

Setting a Connection Timeout and Read Timeout

import requests

# Set the connection timeout to 3 seconds and the read timeout to 5 seconds
response = requests.get('https://www.example.com', timeout=(3, 5))

# If the server does not respond within 3 seconds of establishing a connection, a Timeout exception will be raised
# If a connection is established but no response is received within 5 seconds, a Timeout exception will be raised

In this example, we made a GET request to https://www.example.com.

We set the connection timeout to 3 seconds and read timeout to 5 seconds.

We set these timeouts by using the Python requests timeout parameter as a tuple.

If the server does not respond within 3 seconds of attempting to establish a connection, the program will raise a requests.exceptions.Timeout exception.

If a connection is established but no response is received within 5 seconds, a requests.exceptions.Timeout exception will be raised.

I hope these examples help illustrate how to use the timeout parameter with the requests module in Python.

What is the default timeout for request session in Python?

The default timeout for a request session in Python is None.

This means that the request will wait indefinitely for a response from the server.

However, it is generally a good practice to set a timeout for requests.

You should do this to avoid hanging requests that can potentially cause issues for both the client and server.

You can set a timeout value for a request session in Python using the timeout parameter when sending a request.

The timeout parameter is a float or tuple that specifies the timeout value in seconds.

If a timeout occurs before a response is received from the server, the program requests.exceptions.Timeout exception will be raised.

Here is an example of setting a timeout of 5 seconds for a request session:

import requests

response = requests.get('https://www.example.com', timeout=5)

What is the maximum HTTP request timeout?

There is no fixed maximum timeout value for HTTP requests in Python’s requests library.

As it depends on the specific timeout value set by the user.

However, it is important to set a reasonable timeout value that allows enough time for the server to respond.

While also preventing hanging requests and potential denial-of-service attacks.

Setting a very high timeout value can potentially cause issues, such as long response times, increased network congestion, or denial-of-service attacks.

It is generally recommended to set a timeout value that is appropriate for the specific use case and network conditions and to handle any timeout exceptions that may occur in the code.