bridge-timeout-performance-tuning-and-verification

When to Use

When a service or bridge consistently times out during resource-intensive operations (large payloads, repeated gate invocations, heavy background tasks), and the timeout appears to be a hard limit rather than a genuine hang or deadlock.

Procedure

1. Locate timeout configuration — Find the service's environment configuration (.env, systemd unit, or config file) and grep for timeout variables. Note any historical comments on past tuning.

2. Assess workload and timeout adequacy — Review the service's operational history. Classify the node by workload (lightweight/standard/heavy). Determine if the current timeout is insufficient for typical operation patterns.

3. Back up configuration — Create a timestamped backup (e.g., .env.bak-timeout-<newvalue>-<date>) before making changes. Verify backup is readable.

4. Verify restart safety — Check the service manifest to confirm it supports graceful restart without data loss. Ensure no locks or persistent semaphores will block restart.

5. Apply configuration change — Edit the timeout value. Add a comment justifying the new value (e.g., "Increased to N hours for heavy operations"). Do not apply without backup or approval in production.

6. Restart service — Use the native restart mechanism (systemd, etc.). Record PID before and after to confirm restart completed.

7. Verify configuration loaded — Inspect the new process's environment variables (e.g., cat /proc/<new-pid>/environ). Confirm the timeout setting now reflects the new value. Monitor service for ≥1 operational cycle.

Safety

• Always back up before production configuration changes.
• Verify the service supports restart without data/message loss.
• Configuration alone does not propagate to running processes; restart is required to load the new value.
• In clustered services, coordinate restarts to maintain quorum/availability.

Verification

• PID change confirms restart occurred.
• Environment variable inspection confirms new value is loaded into the process.
• Monitor for timeout events over 1–2 operational cycles to confirm the increase is adequate.
• If timeouts persist despite the increase, investigate whether the true issue is a genuine hang (not just a timeout limit); escalate to debug-long-running-agent-tasks if needed.