deepseek-ai/deepseek-harness · error · Error

PTY shell did not reach readiness before startup timeout

Error message

PTY shell did not reach readiness before startup timeout

What it means

Error "PTY shell did not reach readiness before startup timeout" thrown in deepseek-ai/deepseek-harness.

Source

Thrown at packages/terminal/terminal-bash/src/session.ts:215

    terminal.output.once('error', this.onTerminalError)
    this.completion = terminal.done.then(
      outcome => this.onExit(outcome),
      (error: unknown) => { this.onTransportFailure(error) },
    )
  }

  /**
   * Capture startup output through the same readiness contract as later sends.
   * @param signal - optional cancellation while the shell reaches its first prompt.
   * @returns Resolves after startup readiness; rejects on exit or readiness timeout.
   */
  async initialize(signal?: AbortSignal): Promise<void> {
    this.initializing = true
    try {
      const operation = this.startSend({ text: '', submit: false, ...signal !== undefined ? { signal } : {} })
      const result = await operation.done
      if (result.waitReason === 'session_exit') throw new Error('PTY shell exited during startup')
      if (result.waitReason === 'timeout') throw new Error('PTY shell did not reach readiness before startup timeout')
      this.motd = result.viewport
    } catch (error: unknown) {
      signal?.throwIfAborted()
      throw error
    } finally {
      this.initializing = false
    }
  }

  startSend(request: TerminalSendRequest): TerminalSendOperation {
    if (this.closing) throw new Error('PTY session is closing')
    if (this.statusValue.kind === 'exited') throw new Error('PTY session has exited')
    if (this.active !== undefined) {
      const draining = this.activeWrite !== undefined
        ? ' or draining provider write'
        : this.interrupting !== undefined
          ? ' or draining foreground interrupt'
          : ''

View on GitHub (pinned to b150a551b8)

Solutions

1. Increase the startup timeout or remove slow shell startup steps.

When it happens

Trigger: Thrown at packages/terminal/terminal-bash/src/session.ts:215 when the library encounters an invalid state.

Common situations: See trigger scenarios.

Understand the failure class

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

AI-assisted analysis of deepseek-ai/deepseek-harness@b150a551b8 (2026-08-24). Data as JSON: /api/errors/aa90bd5bf83d1f54. Report an issue: GitHub.