Fix: Claude Code Tool Execution Timed Out Error

You’re running a command and suddenly:

Error: Tool execution timed out after 120000ms

The operation took too long and Claude gave up.

Why This Happens

Claude Code has timeouts to prevent hanging:

Operation	Default Timeout
Bash commands	120 seconds
File reads	30 seconds
Network requests	30 seconds

If an operation exceeds its timeout, it’s killed.

Common Causes

1. Long-running commands

# These can timeout
npm install     # Large dependencies
npm run build   # Complex builds
npm test        # Full test suites

2. Large file operations

# May timeout on huge files
cat very-large-file.log

3. Network-dependent operations

# Can timeout on slow networks
npm install from-remote-registry
curl slow-api.example.com

4. Infinite loops

Code that never completes:

while true; do echo "forever"; done

Solutions

1. Run commands directly

For long operations, run them yourself:

# In your terminal (not through Claude)
npm install
npm run build
npm test

Then return to Claude:

The build completed successfully. Now let's review the output.

2. Break up large operations

# Instead of
Run all tests

# Do this
Run tests for the auth module only

3. Use background execution

Run npm test in the background

Claude will start it and move on without waiting.

4. Request streaming output

Run npm install and show output as it happens

Sometimes seeing progress helps identify where it’s stuck.

Increasing Timeouts

Per-command timeout

Some commands support custom timeouts in CLAUDE.md:

## Long-running commands
- `npm install` may take up to 5 minutes
- `npm run build` may take up to 10 minutes

Settings configuration

In .claude/settings.json:

{
  "timeouts": {
    "bash": 300000,
    "read": 60000
  }
}

This increases bash timeout to 5 minutes.

Preventing Timeouts

1. Use faster alternatives

# Instead of npm install
npm ci  # Faster for CI, uses lockfile

# Instead of full test suite
npm test -- --bail  # Stop on first failure

2. Limit scope

# Instead of
find / -name "*.log"

# Do this
find ./logs -name "*.log"

3. Add progress indicators

For scripts, add output:

#!/bin/bash
echo "Starting build..."
npm run build
echo "Build complete"

The output keeps the connection alive.

4. Split into steps

# Instead of
Build and deploy everything

# Do this
Step 1: Run npm run build
Step 2: Run npm test
Step 3: Run ./deploy.sh

Each step gets its own timeout.

Handling Timeout Gracefully

Check if operation completed

After a timeout:

Check if npm install completed successfully

Sometimes it finishes but times out reporting.

Resume from where it stopped

The build timed out at the test phase.
Resume from running tests.

Manual intervention

For operations that always timeout:

This command will take too long for Claude.
Please run in your terminal:

npm run full-test-suite

Then tell me the results.

Debug Long Operations

Find what’s slow

# Time each step
time npm install
time npm run build
time npm test

Check for hangs

# Run with verbose output
npm install --verbose

Monitor progress

# Watch for activity
npm run build 2>&1 | tee build.log

Quick Fixes

Problem	Solution
npm install timeout	Run directly in terminal
Test suite timeout	Run tests in batches
Build timeout	Use incremental builds
File read timeout	Read smaller chunks
Script timeout	Add progress output

Settings Reference

{
  "timeouts": {
    "bash": 120000,
    "read": 30000,
    "write": 30000,
    "network": 30000
  }
}

All values in milliseconds.

When Timeouts Are Good

Timeouts protect you from:

• Runaway processes
• Infinite loops
• Hung network requests
• Resource exhaustion

Don’t set timeouts too high. Better to run long operations manually than risk hanging Claude.