Last Updated: 3/7/2026

Timeout Middleware

The Timeout Middleware enables you to easily manage request timeouts in your application. It allows you to set a maximum duration for requests and optionally define custom error responses if the specified timeout is exceeded.

Import


import { Hono } from 'hono'
import { timeout } from 'hono/timeout'

Usage

Here’s how to use the Timeout Middleware with both default and custom settings:

Default Settings:


const app = new Hono()
 
// Applying a 5-second timeout
app.use('/api', timeout(5000))
 
// Handling a route
app.get('/api/data', async (c) => {
  // Your route handler logic
  return c.json({ data: 'Your data here' })
})

Custom settings:


import { HTTPException } from 'hono/http-exception'
 
// Custom exception factory function
const customTimeoutException = (context) =>
  new HTTPException(408, {
    message: `Request timeout after waiting ${context.req.headers.get(
      'Duration'
    )} seconds. Please try again later.`,
  })
 
// Applying a 1-minute timeout with a custom exception
app.use('/api/long-process', timeout(60000, customTimeoutException))
 
app.get('/api/long-process', async (c) => {
  // Simulate a long process
  await new Promise((resolve) => setTimeout(resolve, 61000))
  return c.json({ data: 'This usually takes longer' })
})

Notes

The duration for the timeout can be specified in milliseconds. The middleware will automatically reject the promise and potentially throw an error if the specified duration is exceeded.
The timeout middleware cannot be used with stream Thus, use stream.close and setTimeout together.


app.get('/sse', async (c) => {
  let id = 0
  let running = true
  let timer: number | undefined
 
  return streamSSE(c, async (stream) => {
    timer = setTimeout(() => {
      console.log('Stream timeout reached, closing stream')
      stream.close()
    }, 3000) as unknown as number
 
    stream.onAbort(async () => {
      console.log('Client closed connection')
      running = false
      clearTimeout(timer)
    })
 
    while (running) {
      const message = `It is ${new Date().toISOString()}`
      await stream.writeSSE({
        data: message,
        event: 'time-update',
        id: String(id++),
      })
      await stream.sleep(1000)
    }
  })
})

Middleware Conflicts

Be cautious about the order of middleware, especially when using error-handling or other timing-related middleware, as it might affect the behavior of this timeout middleware.