Fix issue #5601: [Bug]: timing out causes the agent to stop

openhands/events/observation/__init__.py

@@ -15,6 +15,7 @@ from openhands.events.observation.files import (
 from openhands.events.observation.observation import Observation
 from openhands.events.observation.reject import UserRejectObservation
 from openhands.events.observation.success import SuccessObservation
+from openhands.events.observation.timeout import TimeoutObservation
 
 __all__ = [
     'Observation',
@@ -30,4 +31,5 @@ __all__ = [
     'AgentDelegateObservation',
     'SuccessObservation',
     'UserRejectObservation',
+    'TimeoutObservation',
 ]

openhands/events/observation/timeout.py

@@ -0,0 +1,13 @@
+from openhands.events.observation.observation import Observation
+
+
+class TimeoutObservation(Observation):
+    """Observation returned when an action times out but should not be treated as a fatal error."""
+
+    observation = 'timeout'
+
+    def __init__(self, message: str):
+        super().__init__(content=message)
+
+    def __str__(self) -> str:
+        return f'[Timeout] {self.content}'

openhands/events/serialization/observation.py

@@ -15,6 +15,7 @@ from openhands.events.observation.files import (
 from openhands.events.observation.observation import Observation
 from openhands.events.observation.reject import UserRejectObservation
 from openhands.events.observation.success import SuccessObservation
+from openhands.events.observation.timeout import TimeoutObservation
 
 observations = (
     NullObservation,
@@ -29,6 +30,7 @@ observations = (
     ErrorObservation,
     AgentStateChangedObservation,
     UserRejectObservation,
+    TimeoutObservation,
 )
 
 OBSERVATION_TYPE_TO_CLASS = {

openhands/runtime/impl/action_execution/action_execution_client.py

@@ -28,6 +28,7 @@ from openhands.events.observation import (
     ErrorObservation,
     NullObservation,
     Observation,
+    TimeoutObservation,
     UserRejectObservation,
 )
 from openhands.events.serialization import event_to_dict, observation_from_dict
@@ -261,7 +262,7 @@ class ActionExecutionClient(Runtime):
                     obs = observation_from_dict(output)
                     obs._cause = action.id  # type: ignore[attr-defined]
             except requests.Timeout:
-                raise AgentRuntimeTimeoutError(
+                return TimeoutObservation(
                     f'Runtime failed to return execute_action before the requested timeout of {action.timeout}s'
                 )
 

tests/runtime/test_timeout.py

@@ -0,0 +1,30 @@
+import pytest
+from unittest.mock import Mock
+
+from openhands.events.action import CmdRunAction
+from openhands.events.observation import TimeoutObservation
+from openhands.runtime.impl.action_execution.action_execution_client import (
+    ActionExecutionClient,
+)
+from requests.exceptions import Timeout
+
+
+def test_timeout_observation():
+    """Test that a command timeout returns a TimeoutObservation."""
+    # Create a mock runtime
+    runtime = Mock(spec=ActionExecutionClient)
+
+    # Configure the mock to return a TimeoutObservation
+    runtime.send_action_for_execution.return_value = TimeoutObservation(
+        "Runtime failed to return execute_action before the requested timeout of 2s"
+    )
+
+    # Run a command that will timeout
+    action = CmdRunAction(command="sleep 10")
+    action.timeout = 2  # Set timeout after creation
+    obs = runtime.send_action_for_execution(action)
+
+    # Verify the result
+    assert isinstance(obs, TimeoutObservation)
+    assert "timeout" in str(obs).lower()
+    assert "2s" in str(obs)