openai/codex · error · CodexErr

timeout waiting for child process to exit

Error message

timeout waiting for child process to exit

What it means

Error "timeout waiting for child process to exit" thrown in openai/codex.

Source

Thrown at codex-rs/protocol/src/error.rs:105

    /// Returned by ResponsesClient when the SSE stream disconnects or errors out **after** the HTTP
    /// handshake has succeeded but **before** it finished emitting `response.completed`.
    ///
    /// The Session loop treats this as a transient error and will automatically retry the turn.
    #[error("stream disconnected before completion: {0}")]
    Stream(String),
    #[error(
        "Codex ran out of room in the model's context window. Start a new thread or clear earlier history before retrying."
    )]
    ContextWindowExceeded,
    #[error("no thread with id: {0}")]
    ThreadNotFound(ThreadId),
    #[error("agent thread limit reached")]
    AgentLimitReached { max_threads: usize },
    #[error("session configured event was not the first event in the stream")]
    SessionConfiguredNotFirstEvent,
    /// Returned by run_command_stream when the spawned child process timed out (10s).
    #[error("timeout waiting for child process to exit")]
    Timeout,
    #[error("request timed out")]
    RequestTimeout,
    /// Returned by run_command_stream when the child could not be spawned (its stdout/stderr pipes
    /// could not be captured). Analogous to the previous `CodexError::Spawn` variant.
    #[error("spawn failed: child stdout/stderr not captured")]
    Spawn,
    /// Returned by run_command_stream when the user pressed Ctrl-C (SIGINT). Session uses this to
    /// surface a polite FunctionCallOutput back to the model instead of crashing the CLI.
    #[error("interrupted (Ctrl-C). Something went wrong? Hit `/feedback` to report the issue.")]
    Interrupted,
    /// Unexpected HTTP status code.
    #[error("{0}")]
    UnexpectedStatus(UnexpectedResponseError),
    /// Invalid request.
    #[error("{0}")]
    InvalidRequest(String),
    /// Multiple registered tools share the same effective name.

View on GitHub (pinned to 339751715c)

When it happens

Trigger: Thrown at codex-rs/protocol/src/error.rs:105 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 openai/codex@339751715c (2026-08-25). Data as JSON: /api/errors/43451427f52acdfc. Report an issue: GitHub.