missing required value timeout. Timeout cannot be less than

Error message

missing required value timeout. Timeout cannot be less than %v

What it means

The service check defines no `timeout` (zero value); validateCommon requires a timeout of at least the minimum duration so checks cannot hang indefinitely.

Source

Thrown at nomad/structs/services.go:293

		if checkPath.IsAbs() {
			return fmt.Errorf("http type must have relative http path")
		}
	case ServiceCheckScript:
		if sc.Command == "" {
			return fmt.Errorf("script type must have a valid script path")
		}
	}

	// validate interval
	if sc.Interval == 0 {
		return fmt.Errorf("missing required value interval. Interval cannot be less than %v", minCheckInterval)
	} else if sc.Interval < minCheckInterval {
		return fmt.Errorf("interval (%v) cannot be lower than %v", sc.Interval, minCheckInterval)
	}

	// validate timeout
	if sc.Timeout == 0 {
		return fmt.Errorf("missing required value timeout. Timeout cannot be less than %v", minCheckInterval)
	} else if sc.Timeout < minCheckTimeout {
		return fmt.Errorf("timeout (%v) is lower than required minimum timeout %v", sc.Timeout, minCheckInterval)
	}

	// validate the initial status
	switch sc.InitialStatus {
	case "":
	case api.HealthPassing:
	case api.HealthWarning:
	case api.HealthCritical:
	default:
		return fmt.Errorf(`invalid initial check state (%s), must be one of %q, %q, %q or empty`, sc.InitialStatus, api.HealthPassing, api.HealthWarning, api.HealthCritical)
	}

	// validate address_mode
	switch sc.AddressMode {
	case "", AddressModeHost, AddressModeDriver, AddressModeAlloc, AddressModeAllocIPv6:
		// Ok

View on GitHub (pinned to 482b49bf1a)

Solutions

Set timeout on the check to at least the minimum (e.g. a few seconds above the expected probe time)

Defensive patterns

Strategy: validation

When it happens

Trigger: Thrown at nomad/structs/services.go:293 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 hashicorp/nomad@482b49bf1a (2026-09-04). Data as JSON: /api/errors/75826b18db3d6114. Report an issue: GitHub.