Add built-in execution timeout and cancellation support for long-running agent actions

[poniescollie]

Language Implementation

• Python
• TypeScript

Feature Type

• Action Provider Template
• Wallet Provider Template
• Framework Extension
• Core Requirements
• Other

🚀 The feature, motivation and pitch

AgentKit agents may execute long-running or multi-step actions (onchain calls, polling, retries, external API requests). Currently, there is no first-class way to apply execution timeouts or cancel in-progress actions, which can lead to stalled agents and wasted resources.

Problem Description

In real-world deployments:

• An action may hang due to slow RPC responses or external service delays.
• Agents may need to stop execution when a user cancels a task or a higher-level timeout is reached.
• Developers must manually implement cancellation logic using custom flags or wrappers.

Alternatives

Proposed Solution

• Add optional execution timeout configuration at two levels:
  • global default during AgentKit initialization
  • per-action override when invoking an action
• Support cancellation using a standard mechanism such as AbortSignal.
• Propagate cancellation and timeout signals to:
  • retries
  • polling loops
  • underlying RPC or external API calls
• Emit a distinct, typed error for timeout and cancellation events.

Acceptance Criteria

• Long-running actions terminate automatically when the timeout is reached.
• Manual cancellation cleanly stops all in-progress work.
• Consumers receive clear, typed timeout or cancellation errors.
• Existing agents continue to work unchanged when no timeout is configured.
• Unit tests cover timeout expiration and cancellation paths.

Additional context

Example code

import { AgentKit } from "@coinbase/agentkit";

const agent = new AgentKit({
  // desired: global timeout / cancellation config
});

await agent.evm.sendTransaction({
  network: "base",
  to: "0x...",
  value: "0",
  data: "0x",
  // desired: per-action timeout
});