GoogleChrome/lighthouse · error · LighthouseError

PROTOCOL_TIMEOUT

PROTOCOL_TIMEOUT

Error message

Waiting for DevTools protocol response has exceeded the allotted time. (Method: {protocolMethod})

What it means

Error "Waiting for DevTools protocol response has exceeded the allotted time. (Method: {protocolMethod})" thrown in GoogleChrome/lighthouse.

Source

Thrown at core/lib/lh-error.js:391

  },
  READ_FAILED: {
    code: 'READ_FAILED',
    message: UIStrings.internalChromeError,
    pattern: /Read failed/,
    lhrRuntimeError: true,
  },

  // URL parsing failures
  INVALID_URL: {
    code: 'INVALID_URL',
    message: UIStrings.urlInvalid,
  },

  /* Protocol timeout failures
   * Requires an additional `protocolMethod` field for translation.
   */
  PROTOCOL_TIMEOUT: {
    code: 'PROTOCOL_TIMEOUT',
    message: UIStrings.protocolTimeout,
    lhrRuntimeError: true,
  },

  // DNS failure on main document (no resolution, timed out, etc)
  DNS_FAILURE: {
    code: 'DNS_FAILURE',
    message: UIStrings.dnsFailure,
    lhrRuntimeError: true,
  },

  /** A timeout in the initial connection to the debugger protocol. */
  CRI_TIMEOUT: {
    code: 'CRI_TIMEOUT',
    message: UIStrings.criTimeout,
    lhrRuntimeError: true,
  },

View on GitHub (pinned to 9515cd4e58)

Solutions

1. Re-run Lighthouse; transient protocol timeouts often succeed on retry.
2. Increase the protocol timeout with the --max-wait-for-load flag or config setting.
3. Reduce load on the machine running Chrome, or close other tabs.

When it happens

Trigger: Raised when a DevTools protocol command does not receive a response within the protocol timeout.

Common situations: See trigger scenarios.

AI-assisted analysis of GoogleChrome/lighthouse@9515cd4e58 (2026-08-13). Data as JSON: /api/errors/59b91245e2115cc6. Report an issue: GitHub.