unslothai/unsloth · error · RuntimeError

Timed out while installing the pinned {source_name} source

Error message

Timed out while installing the pinned {source_name} source

What it means

Raised by _git() when the git subprocess exceeds its hard 300-second timeout (subprocess.TimeoutExpired). The installer runs each git operation with timeout=300, so a slow clone, a hung network connection, or an LFS-heavy fetch that cannot finish in five minutes aborts with this error naming the pinned source.

Source

Thrown at studio/backend/utils/third_party_source.py:137

    env["GIT_TERMINAL_PROMPT"] = "0"
    env["GIT_LFS_SKIP_SMUDGE"] = "1"
    env["GIT_NO_REPLACE_OBJECTS"] = "1"
    try:
        return subprocess.run(
            ["git", *_GIT_LONG_PATHS, *arguments],
            check = True,
            capture_output = True,
            text = True,
            encoding = "utf-8",
            errors = "replace",
            timeout = 300,
            env = env,
            **_windows_hidden_subprocess_kwargs(),
        )
    except FileNotFoundError as error:
        raise RuntimeError(f"Git is required to install the pinned {source_name} source") from error
    except subprocess.TimeoutExpired as error:
        raise RuntimeError(f"Timed out while installing the pinned {source_name} source") from error
    except subprocess.CalledProcessError as error:
        detail = (error.stderr or error.stdout or "").strip()
        message = f"Could not install the pinned {source_name} source"
        raise RuntimeError(f"{message}: {detail}" if detail else message) from error


def _git_bytes(
    arguments: list[str], *, source_name: str, input_data: bytes
) -> subprocess.CompletedProcess:
    env = child_env_without_native_path_secret()
    env["GIT_TERMINAL_PROMPT"] = "0"
    env["GIT_LFS_SKIP_SMUDGE"] = "1"
    env["GIT_NO_REPLACE_OBJECTS"] = "1"
    try:
        return subprocess.run(
            ["git", *_GIT_LONG_PATHS, *arguments],
            check = True,
            capture_output = True,

View on GitHub (pinned to 203007d190)

Solutions

Check network throughput to the git host and retry — most timeouts are transient stalls.
Pre-clone the pinned source manually (git clone with generous time) into the expected cache location so the installer finds it and only runs cheap checkout operations.
If on a proxy, ensure git's http.proxy is configured for the backend's environment.
As a maintainer, raise the 300s timeout for large repos; as a user, retry when the network is less loaded.

Defensive patterns

Strategy: retry

Try / catch

try:
    install_pinned_source(source)
except RuntimeError as e:
    if 'Timed out while installing' in str(e):
        log.warning('git fetch timed out (300s cap); retrying once')
        install_pinned_source(source)
    else:
        raise

Prevention

Pre-clone large pinned repos manually into the cache so the installer only does checkouts.
Ensure stable, unthrottled network (or a configured git proxy) before starting installs.
Remember every git op has a hard 300s ceiling — plan payloads and bandwidth accordingly.

When it happens

Trigger: Cloning/fetching a large pinned repository over a slow or stalled link where the git command does not complete within 300s; GIT_LFS_SKIP_SMUDGE=1 is set so LFS content is skipped, so timeouts usually mean a big working tree or a wedged connection.

Common situations: Slow/high-latency networks, proxied corporate environments, GitHub throttling, or very large pinned sources. Recurs if the repository genuinely needs more than five minutes on the available bandwidth.

Understand the failure class

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

Related errors

AI-assisted analysis of unslothai/unsloth@203007d190 (2026-08-15). Data as JSON: /api/errors/71fe8bc50c8d77b0. Report an issue: GitHub.