Timeouts

Last updated 2026-10-21

This page explains how a per-task execution limit and its timeout callback behave.

Setting a Limit

_, err := c.Add("@every 1m", slowJob, "slow job", 3*time.Second, func() {
	log.Println("slow job timed out")
})
if err != nil {
	log.Fatal(err)
}

The time.Duration argument is the execution limit, not a start delay; the func() argument is called only when that limit is exceeded.

Behavior	Description
Timer start	When the action begins
On timeout	Task marked `TaskFailed`; timeout callback invoked
Action goroutine	Not interrupted; runs until it returns
Panic with a limit set	Not recovered: the action goroutine has no `recover`, so the process exits
No limit set	Action runs synchronously until it returns; a panic is recovered and the task is marked `TaskFailed`
Timeout error text	`task timeout: <limit in nanoseconds>` for tasks without dependencies, `task timeout <limit in nanoseconds>` for dependent tasks

See Configuration for the full list of Add options.