Handling Timeout

Catching InteractionTimeoutException

try
{
    var response = await _publisher.PublishAndWaitAsync(request, ct);
    // Handle response normally
    await HandleResponse(response, ct);
}
catch (InteractionTimeoutException ex)
{
    _logger.LogWarning(
        "Interaction {InteractionId} timed out after {TimeoutMs}ms. CorrelationId: {CorrelationId}",
        ex.InteractionId, ex.TimeoutMs, request.CorrelationId);

    // Choose a timeout strategy:
    await HandleTimeout(request, ex, ct);
}
catch (InteractionBlockedException ex)
{
    // The interaction was blocked by a pre-send hook
    _logger.LogWarning("Interaction blocked: {Reason}", ex.Message);
    throw; // Let the caller know
}

Timeout Strategies

1. Escalate

private async Task HandleTimeout(InteractionRequest original, InteractionTimeoutException ex, CancellationToken ct)
{
    var manager = await _orgChart.GetManagerAsync(original.TargetUserId, ct);
    if (manager is null) { /* fail */ return; }

    // Re-send to manager with a shorter timeout
    var escalatedRequest = original with
    {
        TargetUserId = manager.UserId,
        Title = $"[ESCALATED] {original.Title}",
        TimeoutMs = 3_600_000, // 1 hour
        Metadata = original.Metadata
            .Append("escalatedFrom", original.TargetUserId)
            .ToDictionary()
    };

    var response = await _publisher.PublishAndWaitAsync(escalatedRequest, ct);
    await HandleResponse(response, ct);
}

2. Auto-Decide

// Auto-approve on timeout (when SLA pressure requires it)
catch (InteractionTimeoutException)
{
    await _workflow.ContinueWithApproval(
        correlationId: request.CorrelationId,
        approvedBy: "system:timeout-auto-approve",
        approvedAt: DateTimeOffset.UtcNow,
        note: "Auto-approved due to response timeout",
        ct: ct);
}

3. Fail the Workflow

// Fail the workflow branch when timeout is unacceptable
catch (InteractionTimeoutException ex)
{
    throw new WorkflowExecutionException(
        $"HIL interaction {ex.InteractionId} timed out — workflow cannot continue.",
        ex);
}

InteractionTimeoutException Properties