can1357/oh-my-pi · error · ToolError

Grep timed out after ${SEARCH_GREP_TIMEOUT_MS / 1000}s; narr

Error message

Grep timed out after ${SEARCH_GREP_TIMEOUT_MS / 1000}s; narrow paths or pattern, or scope with `glob` first

What it means

The grep operation exceeded the fixed internal timeout (SEARCH_GREP_TIMEOUT_MS) — usually because the pattern or path scope caused a very large scan. The tool converts the abort into an actionable error suggesting you narrow paths or pattern, or pre-filter with the `glob` option.

Source

Thrown at packages/coding-agent/src/tools/grep.ts:1244

									contextBefore: normalizedContextBefore,
									contextAfter: normalizedContextAfter,
									maxColumns: DEFAULT_MAX_COLUMN,
									mode: effectiveOutputMode,
									maxCountPerFile: nativeMaxCountPerFile,
									signal,
									timeoutMs: SEARCH_GREP_TIMEOUT_MS,
								},
								undefined,
							);
							skippedOversizedCount = result.skippedOversized ?? 0;
						}
					}
				} catch (err) {
					if (err instanceof Error && /^regex(?: parse)? error/i.test(err.message)) {
						throw new ToolError(err.message.replace(/^regex(?: parse)? error:?\s*/i, "Invalid regex: "));
					}
					if (err instanceof Error && err.message.includes("Aborted: Timeout")) {
						throw new ToolError(
							`Grep timed out after ${SEARCH_GREP_TIMEOUT_MS / 1000}s; narrow paths or pattern, or scope with \`glob\` first`,
						);
					}
					throw err;
				}
				let virtualResult: GrepResult;
				try {
					virtualResult = await searchVirtualResources(
						virtualResources,
						normalizedPattern,
						ignoreCase,
						effectiveMultiline,
						normalizedContextBefore,
						normalizedContextAfter,
						INTERNAL_TOTAL_CAP,
						signal,
					);
				} catch (err) {

View on GitHub (pinned to 9690622007)

Solutions

Narrow `path` to the specific directory or files you care about
Add a `glob` filter (e.g. "*.ts") to skip irrelevant files before scanning
Make the pattern more specific (anchor it, add required literals) instead of broad wildcards

Example fix

// before
await grep({ pattern: "config", path: "." });
// after
await grep({ pattern: "config", path: "src", glob: "*.ts" });

Defensive patterns

Strategy: fallback

Try / catch

try {
  return await grep({ pattern, path: "." });
} catch (err) {
  if (err instanceof ToolError && err.message.startsWith("Grep timed out")) {
    return await grep({ pattern, path: "src", glob: "*.ts" }); // narrower retry
  } else throw err;
}

Prevention

Always scope large-repo searches with path and/or glob (exclude node_modules, dist)
Prefer specific anchored patterns over broad wildcards to cut scan cost

When it happens

Trigger: grep over a huge directory tree (node_modules, dist, monorepo root) with a broad pattern like "e" or ".*"; pathological regex causing heavy backtracking over many files.

Common situations: Forgetting to exclude build/vendor directories in a large repo; searching the workspace root instead of a subdirectory; regex quantifier nesting that scales badly.

Understand the failure class

Timeouts: ETIMEDOUT, deadlines, and hung requests — what actually expires when a request times out.

Related errors

AI-assisted analysis of can1357/oh-my-pi@9690622007 (2026-08-31). Data as JSON: /api/errors/38860261c031184c. Report an issue: GitHub.