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@pixeebot pixeebot bot commented May 19, 2025

Many developers will be surprised to learn that requests library calls do not include timeouts by default. This means that an attempted request could hang indefinitely if no connection is established or if no data is received from the server.

The requests documentation suggests that most calls should explicitly include a timeout parameter. This codemod adds a default timeout value in order to set an upper bound on connection times and ensure that requests connect or fail in a timely manner. This value also ensures the connection will timeout if the server does not respond with data within a reasonable amount of time.

While timeout values will be application dependent, we believe that this codemod adds a reasonable default that serves as an appropriate ceiling for most situations.

Our changes look like the following:

 import requests
 
- requests.get("http://example.com")
+ requests.get("http://example.com", timeout=60)
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I have additional improvements ready for this repo! If you want to see them, leave the comment:

@pixeebot next

... and I will open a new PR right away!

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Feedback | Community | Docs | Codemod ID: pixee:python/add-requests-timeouts

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Auto Pull Request Review from LlamaPReview

1. Overview

1.1 Core Changes

  • Primary purpose and scope: This PR addresses a critical vulnerability and reliability issue in code that uses the Python requests library without specifying a timeout. The primary goal is to prevent indefinite hangs by adding a timeout=60 parameter to requests.get calls, ensuring that these operations fail within a maximum of 60 seconds.
  • Key components modified: The PR modifies three Python files: BeautifulSoup/scrape.py, Python-Unit-Testing/employee.py, and Python/Threading/download-images.py.
  • Cross-component impacts: The change is localized to specific lines calling the requests library and does not alter the fundamental relationships between components or introduce new dependencies.
  • Business value alignment: The PR improves the application's robustness, resource management, and resilience against external service failures, addressing CWE-1088.

1.2 Technical Architecture

  • System design modifications: Minimal. The change affects the behavior of specific network calls but does not alter the overall structure, design patterns, or flow of the applications/scripts.
  • Component interaction changes: The modified files are independent scripts or modules demonstrating specific Python functionalities. The change is applied directly to the implementation code.
  • Integration points impact: The change improves the robustness of the external interaction layer.
  • Dependency changes and implications: The change does not introduce new dependencies but improves the handling of existing requests library calls.

2. Critical Findings

2.1 Must Fix (P0🔴)

Issue: Lack of error handling for requests.exceptions.Timeout

  • Analysis Confidence: High
  • Impact: If the request takes longer than 60 seconds, requests.exceptions.Timeout is raised, and the current code does not catch it, leading to a program crash. This can result in application downtime and user frustration.
  • Resolution: Wrap the requests.get call in a try...except requests.exceptions.Timeout block. Additionally, catch the broader requests.exceptions.RequestException for other network-related errors.

2.2 Should Fix (P1🟡)

Issue: Hardcoded timeout value

  • Analysis Confidence: High
  • Impact: The choice of 60 seconds is presented as a "reasonable default," but it is hardcoded. The optimal timeout value is highly dependent on the specific external service being called, network conditions, and application requirements. A hardcoded value lacks flexibility.
  • Suggested Solution: Define the timeout value as a constant or configurable parameter to allow for easier adjustments based on different environments or service level agreements (SLAs) of external dependencies.

2.3 Consider (P2🟢)

Area: Logging and monitoring

  • Analysis Confidence: Medium
  • Improvement Opportunity: Implement logging for timeout and other request exceptions to facilitate monitoring and debugging. This can help in identifying issues with external dependencies and improving the overall reliability of the application.

2.4 Summary of Action Items

  • Must Fix (P0🔴): Implement error handling for requests.exceptions.Timeout and requests.exceptions.RequestException (High priority, immediate action required).
  • Should Fix (P1🟡): Define the timeout value as a constant or configurable parameter (Medium priority, should be addressed before merging).
  • Consider (P2🟢): Implement logging for timeout and other request exceptions (Low priority, consider for future improvements).

3. Technical Analysis

3.1 Code Logic Analysis

📁 BeautifulSoup/scrape.py - scrape.py

  • Submitted PR Code:
    source = requests.get('http://coreyms.com', timeout=60).text
  • Analysis:
    • Current logic and potential issues: The addition of timeout=60 correctly utilizes the requests library's built-in timeout mechanism. However, the code does not handle requests.exceptions.Timeout or other requests.exceptions.RequestException types, which can lead to unhandled exceptions and program crashes.
    • Edge cases and error handling: The code does not handle scenarios where the request fails due to timeout or other network-related errors.
    • Cross-component impact: The change is localized to this specific file and does not affect other components.
    • Business logic considerations: The core business logic within the script (scraping) remains correct if the network request succeeds. The change primarily impacts the reliability and failure modes of obtaining the necessary external data.
  • LlamaPReview Suggested Improvements:
    from bs4 import BeautifulSoup
    import requests
    import csv
    import logging  # Add logging import

    # P1 Improvement: Define timeout as a constant
    REQUEST_TIMEOUT_SECONDS = 60

    # Configure basic logging (optional but recommended for error reporting)
    logging.basicConfig(level=logging.ERROR, format='%(asctime)s - %(levelname)s - %(message)s')

    source = None  # Initialize source to None

    try:
        # Original line modified by PR, now wrapped in try block
        source = requests.get('http://coreyms.com', timeout=REQUEST_TIMEOUT_SECONDS).text
        # Note: .text might raise exceptions too, consider handling those if necessary
    except requests.exceptions.Timeout:
        # P0 Improvement: Handle timeout specifically
        logging.error(f"Request to http://coreyms.com timed out after {REQUEST_TIMEOUT_SECONDS} seconds.")
        # Decide on action: e.g., continue with no data, exit, retry
        # For this script, maybe log and exit, or log and continue without scraping
        # Example: Log and exit
        # import sys
        # sys.exit("Exiting due to request timeout.")
        pass  # Example: Log and continue (source remains None)
    except requests.exceptions.RequestException as e:
        # P0 Improvement: Handle other requests errors (connection, etc.)
        logging.error(f"An error occurred during the request to http://coreyms.com: {e}")
        # Example: Log and exit
        # import sys
        # sys.exit(f"Exiting due to request error: {e}")
        pass  # Example:
  • Improvement rationale:
    • Technical benefits: Improved stability, predictable failure modes, easier debugging of network issues.
    • Business value: Increased application availability and reliability. Prevents service interruptions caused by unhandled external dependency failures.

📁 Python-Unit-Testing/employee.py - employee.py

  • Submitted PR Code:
    response = requests.get(f'http://company.com/{self.last}/{month}', timeout=60)
  • Analysis:
    • Current logic and potential issues: The addition of timeout=60 correctly utilizes the requests library's built-in timeout mechanism. However, the code does not handle requests.exceptions.Timeout or other requests.exceptions.RequestException types, which can lead to unhandled exceptions and program crashes.
    • Edge cases and error handling: The code does not handle scenarios where the request fails due to timeout or other network-related errors.
    • Cross-component impact: The change is localized to this specific file and does not affect other components.
    • Business logic considerations: The core business logic within the script (getting employee data) remains correct if the network request succeeds. The change primarily impacts the reliability and failure modes of obtaining the necessary external data.
  • LlamaPReview Suggested Improvements:
    import requests
    import logging  # Add logging import

    # P1 Improvement: Define timeout as a constant
    REQUEST_TIMEOUT_SECONDS = 60

    # Configure basic logging (optional but recommended for error reporting)
    logging.basicConfig(level=logging.ERROR, format='%(asctime)s - %(levelname)s - %(message)s')

    def monthly_schedule(self, month):
        response = None  # Initialize response to None
        try:
            # Original line modified by PR, now wrapped in try block
            response = requests.get(f'http://company.com/{self.last}/{month}', timeout=REQUEST_TIMEOUT_SECONDS)
            if response.ok:
                return response.text
            else:
                return 'Bad Response!'
        except requests.exceptions.Timeout:
            # P0 Improvement: Handle timeout specifically
            logging.error(f"Request to http://company.com/{self.last}/{month} timed out after {REQUEST_TIMEOUT_SECONDS} seconds.")
            # Decide on action: e.g., continue with no data, exit, retry
            # For this script, maybe log and exit, or log and continue without scraping
            # Example: Log and exit
            # import sys
            # sys.exit("Exiting due to request timeout.")
            return 'Request timed out.'
        except requests.exceptions.RequestException as e:
            # P0 Improvement: Handle other requests errors (connection, etc.)
            logging.error(f"An error occurred during the request to http://company.com/{self.last}/{month}: {e}")
            # Example: Log and exit
            # import sys
            # sys.exit(f"Exiting due to request error: {e}")
            return f'Request error: {e}'
  • Improvement rationale:
    • Technical benefits: Improved stability, predictable failure modes, easier debugging of network issues.
    • Business value: Increased application availability and reliability. Prevents service interruptions caused by unhandled external dependency failures.

📁 Python/Threading/download-images.py - download-images.py

  • Submitted PR Code:
    img_bytes = requests.get(img_url, timeout=60).content
  • Analysis:
    • Current logic and potential issues: The addition of timeout=60 correctly utilizes the requests library's built-in timeout mechanism. However, the code does not handle requests.exceptions.Timeout or other requests.exceptions.RequestException types, which can lead to unhandled exceptions and program crashes.
    • Edge cases and error handling: The code does not handle scenarios where the request fails due to timeout or other network-related errors.
    • Cross-component impact: The change is localized to this specific file and does not affect other components.
    • Business logic considerations: The core business logic within the script (downloading images) remains correct if the network request succeeds. The change primarily impacts the reliability and failure modes of obtaining the necessary external data.
  • LlamaPReview Suggested Improvements:
    import requests
    import logging  # Add logging import

    # P1 Improvement: Define timeout as a constant
    REQUEST_TIMEOUT_SECONDS = 60

    # Configure basic logging (optional but recommended for error reporting)
    logging.basicConfig(level=logging.ERROR, format='%(asctime)s - %(levelname)s - %(message)s')

    def download_image(img_url):
        img_bytes = None  # Initialize img_bytes to None
        try:
            # Original line modified by PR, now wrapped in try block
            img_bytes = requests.get(img_url, timeout=REQUEST_TIMEOUT_SECONDS).content
            img_name = img_url.split('/')[3]
            img_name = f'{img_name}.jpg'
            with open(img_name, 'wb') as img_file:
                img_file.write(img_bytes)
                print(f'{img_name} was downloaded...')
        except requests.exceptions.Timeout:
            # P0 Improvement: Handle timeout specifically
            logging.error(f"Request to {img_url} timed out after {REQUEST_TIMEOUT_SECONDS} seconds.")
            # Decide on action: e.g., continue with no data, exit, retry
            # For this script, maybe log and exit, or log and continue without scraping
            # Example: Log and exit
            # import sys
            # sys.exit("Exiting due to request timeout.")
            pass  # Example: Log and continue (img_bytes remains None)
        except requests.exceptions.RequestException as e:
            # P0 Improvement: Handle other requests errors (connection, etc.)
            logging.error(f"An error occurred during the request to {img_url}: {e}")
            # Example: Log and exit
            # import sys
            # sys.exit(f"Exiting due to request error: {e}")
            pass  # Example:
  • Improvement rationale:
    • Technical benefits: Improved stability, predictable failure modes, easier debugging of network issues.
    • Business value: Increased application availability and reliability. Prevents service interruptions caused by unhandled external dependency failures.

3.2 Key Quality Aspects

  • System scalability considerations: The change improves scalability by preventing resource bottlenecks caused by hung network requests, particularly in concurrent or high-throughput scenarios.
  • Performance bottlenecks and optimizations: The change itself does not introduce performance bottlenecks. However, the lack of error handling for timeouts can lead to unhandled exceptions and potential crashes, which can impact performance.
  • Testing strategy and coverage: The PR does not include any changes to test files. Given the nature of the repository ("code_snippets"), it's possible there are no comprehensive tests. However, in a real project, tests should be added or updated to verify that timeouts occur correctly and that the application handles the resulting exceptions gracefully.
  • Documentation needs: The PR description clearly explains the why behind the change and references relevant documentation and CWE. This is good. The code itself lacks comments explaining the choice of 60 seconds or the expected behavior on timeout (because the handling is missing).

4. Overall Evaluation

  • Technical assessment: The PR addresses a critical vulnerability and reliability issue by adding a timeout to requests calls. However, the lack of error handling for timeouts and other network-related errors is a significant oversight.
  • Business impact: The change improves the application's robustness, resource management, and resilience against external service failures. However, the lack of error handling can lead to application crashes and downtime, which can negatively impact business operations.
  • Risk evaluation: The primary risk is the lack of error handling for timeouts and other network-related errors, which can lead to unhandled exceptions and program crashes. This risk should be mitigated by implementing the suggested error handling improvements.
  • Notable positive aspects and good practices: The PR clearly explains the purpose and value of the change, and it references relevant documentation and CWE. The change itself is simple and easy to understand.
  • Implementation quality: The core change is well-implemented, but the lack of error handling and the hardcoded timeout value reduce the overall quality of the implementation.
  • Final recommendation: Request Changes. The PR should be updated to include error handling for timeouts and other network-related errors, and the timeout value should be defined as a constant or configurable parameter. Once these changes are made, the PR can be approved for merging.

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