fix(chat): preserve null timeouts and attribute worker expiry

AGENTS.md

@@ -386,6 +386,16 @@ exist on the post.
 
 ## CI gates
 
+Do not classify an upstream TimeoutError as proof that a local deadline expired.
+Use the owning timer's expiration state and keep shutdown cancellation distinct
+from failure settlement. Test upstream failure, actual timer expiry, and shutdown
+independently; exception names alone do not identify the terminating boundary.
+
+For optional model timeouts, verify omission, explicit null, and explicit seconds
+through factories and transport. Dropping a null keyword can silently restore a
+downstream default; keep null intact and distinguish remaining worker limits
+from a client's default. Null transport timeouts do not prove socket cancellation.
+
 `.github/workflows/tests.yml` runs the full suite on every PR to `main`.
 Do not weaken, skip, or `continue-on-error` a failing check -- fix the
 underlying cause or, for a genuine false positive in a third-party scanner,

backend/app/global_ask_queue.py

@@ -537,6 +537,7 @@ async def process_global_ask_job(
         )
     if row is None:
         return
+    answer_timeout: asyncio.Timeout | None = None
     try:
         async with pool.acquire() as conn:
             (
@@ -554,8 +555,8 @@ async def process_global_ask_job(
             raise _SafeJobError(
                 "Ask Agent is unavailable: set ORCHESTRATOR_BASE_URL / ORCHESTRATOR_API_KEY"
             )
-        payload = await asyncio.wait_for(
-            compute_global_ask_answer(
+        async with asyncio.timeout(JOB_DEADLINE_SECONDS) as answer_timeout:
+            payload = await compute_global_ask_answer(
                 pool,
                 question_text=str(row["question_text"]),
                 corporate_entity_ids=entity_ids,
@@ -567,9 +568,7 @@ async def process_global_ask_job(
                 verify_external=bool(row["verify_external_requested"]),
                 claim_verification_client=claim_verification_factory(),
                 knowledge_cutoff=row["knowledge_cutoff"],
-            ),
-            timeout=JOB_DEADLINE_SECONDS,
-        )
+            )
     except asyncio.CancelledError:
         # Shutdown: leave the row `running`; the recovery sweep re-queues
         # it after the orphan window on the next process start.
@@ -587,7 +586,11 @@ async def process_global_ask_job(
             # Raised locally with a pre-authored, safe message (permission
             # state / missing config) — never a provider-boundary leak.
             detail = str(exc)
-        elif isinstance(exc, asyncio.TimeoutError):
+        elif (
+            isinstance(exc, asyncio.TimeoutError)
+            and answer_timeout is not None
+            and answer_timeout.expired()
+        ):
             detail = f"job exceeded the {JOB_DEADLINE_SECONDS}s deadline"
         else:
             # Provider responses/exceptions can carry credentials, gateway

backend/app/main.py

@@ -323,8 +323,8 @@ async def lifespan(app: FastAPI):
         app.state.post_content_worker = content_worker
         # Late-bound lambda so tests that monkeypatch _post_chat_client reach
         # the worker too (the name resolves in module globals at call time).
-        # Only this worker gets the long answer timeout; the per-post chat
-        # endpoint keeps the client's interactive default.
+        # This worker still has an explicit answer socket limit; per-post
+        # chat retains the default null transport timeout.
         global_ask_worker = asyncio.create_task(
             run_global_ask_worker(
                 valkey,
@@ -508,19 +508,16 @@ def _post_structure_client():
 def _post_chat_client(timeout: float | None = None):
     """Live orchestrator client when configured; otherwise the unavailable null.
 
-    ``timeout`` overrides the client's socket timeout. Only the Ask worker
-    passes the long answer timeout — the synchronous per-post chat endpoint
-    keeps the client default so an interactive request never hangs a reader
-    for the worker's full budget.
+    Preserve an omitted or explicit null timeout through the transport boundary.
+    The Ask worker still supplies its separately configured answer socket limit.
     """
     settings = load_settings()
     if not (settings.orchestrator_base_url and settings.orchestrator_api_key):
         return NullPostChatClient()
-    kwargs = {} if timeout is None else {"timeout": timeout}
     return ContextualOrchestratorPostChatClient(
         base_url=settings.orchestrator_base_url,
         api_key=settings.orchestrator_api_key,
-        **kwargs,
+        timeout=timeout,
     )
 
 

docs/adr/0083-orchestrator-runtime-commit-pin.md

@@ -47,3 +47,25 @@ The runtime contract is:
 - Rebuilding the image is required after the upstream pin changes.
 - Protected-branch review and merge remain external gates; this pin does not
   bypass upstream review.
+
+## Proposed amendment: post-chat transport timeout (2026-09-07)
+
+Status: Proposed; the Accepted runtime pin decision above is unchanged.
+
+The post-chat client silently supplies 180 seconds when a caller omits a limit.
+The factory also drops an explicit null, restoring that limit. This contradicts
+the requested default-null model lifetime even when the upstream owner has no
+implicit limit. Increasing the constant merely postpones the same failure; a
+second per-model policy store would duplicate contextual-orchestrator.
+
+Use null as the post-chat transport default and pass it unchanged through the
+factory and shared HTTP transport. Preserve explicit caller limits while their
+separate migration is pending. This avoids client abandonment by default but can
+leave a synchronous chat waiting until transport/provider termination. Do not
+claim cancellation of a blocking socket merely because an async task is cancelled.
+
+Confirm omitted/null/explicit values at the client and factory boundaries. The
+Ask worker's explicit 570-second setting, 600-second execution deadline, and
+age-based recovery remain unresolved. Other model clients and upstream model
+administration require separate owner-aligned verification. No runtime pin is
+changed and no open upstream PR becomes a released contract.

docs/product-technical-gap-baseline.md

@@ -932,3 +932,40 @@ The ONET rows stacked into base branches (#743/#745/#746/#740/#732) reached
 `main` together through the #759 promotion; their per-base merge records are
 historical evidence only. The job-architecture artifact ship originally via
 #749 is now re-verified on `main` from the promotion.
+
+### Ask timeout attribution repair (2026-09-07)
+
+The queue worker treated every `asyncio.TimeoutError` as proof its 600-second
+execution deadline expired. A provider that terminated immediately therefore
+produced an incorrect durable deadline explanation. A paired synthetic regression
+reproduced that mismatch (provider case failed; actual zero-duration worker timer
+passed). The worker now uses the standard asyncio timeout context's expiration
+state to attribute only its own expiry. Other failures retain ADR 0123's existing
+bounded unavailable message; provider exception content is not persisted.
+
+The focused queue/service suite passed 22 tests in 1.59 s, including provider
+failure, actual timer expiry, and shutdown cancellation with no failed settlement.
+Compilation and diff checks passed. This does not remove the execution deadline,
+change model policy, or repair age-based orphan recovery: default-null execution
+still requires worker liveness and claim fencing. No database migration, new
+container, provider call, deployment, or protected merge was performed.
+
+Python Software Foundation. (2026). *Coroutines and tasks: Timeouts*.
+https://docs.python.org/3/library/asyncio-task.html#timeouts
+
+### Post-chat null timeout propagation (2026-09-07; proposed ADR 0083 amendment)
+
+Three synthetic assertions reproduced an implicit 180-second limit: direct
+construction with no timeout, factory construction with no timeout, and factory
+construction with explicit null. The post-chat client now defaults to null and
+the factory passes the value unchanged. The shared HTTP request and JSON POST
+annotations accept the native transport's null timeout without a new adapter.
+Explicit caller seconds remain intact. The runtime pin is unchanged.
+
+Focused post-chat, HTTP, queue, and service tests passed 69 cases with two
+real-provider cases skipped in 13.84 s. The existing local HTTP server test covers
+both null and numeric limits. Compilation and diff checks passed. These results
+do not prove blocking-socket cancellation, upstream policy enforcement, or
+unlimited Ask execution: the explicit 570-second Ask socket setting, 600-second
+worker deadline, and age-based recovery remain unresolved. The policy amendment
+is Proposed, not a protected acceptance or release claim.

lineageweave/http_client.py

@@ -148,7 +148,7 @@ def _request(
     *,
     body: bytes | None,
     headers: dict[str, str],
-    timeout: float,
+    timeout: float | None,
     maximum_response_bytes: int | None = None,
     expected_response_media_type: str | None = None,
 ) -> tuple[int, bytes]:
@@ -248,7 +248,7 @@ def post_json(
     payload: dict,
     *,
     headers: dict[str, str],
-    timeout: float,
+    timeout: float | None,
     service_peer_name: str = "contextual-orchestrator",
 ) -> dict:
     """POST ``payload`` as JSON to ``url`` and return the decoded object.

lineageweave/post_chat.py

@@ -377,7 +377,7 @@ class ContextualOrchestratorPostChatClient:
     available = True
 
     def __init__(
-        self, base_url: str, api_key: str, *, reasoning_effort: str = "auto", timeout: float = 180.0
+        self, base_url: str, api_key: str, *, reasoning_effort: str = "auto", timeout: float | None = None
     ) -> None:
         self._base_url = base_url.rstrip("/")
         self._api_key = api_key

tests/test_global_ask_queue.py

@@ -6,6 +6,8 @@
 from contextlib import asynccontextmanager
 from datetime import UTC, datetime
 
+import pytest
+
 from backend.app import global_ask_queue
 from backend.app.global_ask_queue import load_job_visibility
 from lineageweave import claim_verification as cv
@@ -435,25 +437,39 @@ async def _fake_compute_global_ask_answer(*_args, **_kwargs):
     assert settle_args[-1] == "account lacks the post_read permission"
 
 
-def test_job_deadline_timeout_settles_with_a_specific_but_still_generic_detail(
-    monkeypatch,
+@pytest.mark.parametrize("timeout_source", ["provider", "worker", "shutdown"])
+def test_timeout_detail_identifies_only_an_expired_worker_deadline(
+    monkeypatch, timeout_source,
 ) -> None:
-    """A bare `asyncio.TimeoutError` (no message) still gets a useful,
-    non-empty detail rather than an empty string."""
+    """Provider timeout is not proof that the worker deadline expired."""
     connection = _Connection(_queued_row())
     pool = _Pool(connection)
 
     async def _fake_load_job_visibility(_conn, _job_id, _account_id):
         return {"corp-1"}, set(), False, True
 
     async def _fake_compute_global_ask_answer(*_args, **_kwargs):
-        raise asyncio.TimeoutError()
-
+        if timeout_source == "shutdown":
+            raise asyncio.CancelledError()
+        if timeout_source == "worker":
+            await asyncio.Event().wait()
+        raise asyncio.TimeoutError("synthetic private upstream detail")
+
+    if timeout_source == "worker":
+        monkeypatch.setattr(global_ask_queue, "JOB_DEADLINE_SECONDS", 0)
     monkeypatch.setattr(global_ask_queue, "load_job_visibility", _fake_load_job_visibility)
     monkeypatch.setattr(
         global_ask_queue, "compute_global_ask_answer", _fake_compute_global_ask_answer
     )
 
+    if timeout_source == "shutdown":
+        with pytest.raises(asyncio.CancelledError):
+            asyncio.run(global_ask_queue.process_global_ask_job(
+                pool, job_id="job-1", chat_factory=_AvailableClient,
+            ))
+        assert connection.executed == []
+        return
+
     asyncio.run(
         global_ask_queue.process_global_ask_job(
             pool,
@@ -463,7 +479,13 @@ async def _fake_compute_global_ask_answer(*_args, **_kwargs):
     )
 
     _settle_query, settle_args = connection.executed[-1]
-    assert settle_args[-1] == f"job exceeded the {global_ask_queue.JOB_DEADLINE_SECONDS}s deadline"
+    if timeout_source == "worker":
+        assert settle_args[-1] == "job exceeded the 0s deadline"
+    else:
+        assert settle_args[-1] == (
+            "Ask Agent is unavailable: contextual-orchestrator returned "
+            "no complete evidence object"
+        )
 
 
 def test_job_visibility_never_expands_past_queued_scope() -> None:

tests/test_http_client.py

@@ -130,15 +130,16 @@ def test_post_json_refuses_missing_hostname() -> None:
         post_json("https:///v1/embeddings", {}, headers={}, timeout=1.0)
 
 
-def test_post_json_posts_json_to_http_endpoint() -> None:
+@pytest.mark.parametrize("request_timeout", [None, 2.0])
+def test_post_json_posts_json_to_http_endpoint(request_timeout) -> None:
     _JsonHandler.received = {}
     server, base = _serve(_JsonHandler)
     try:
         body = post_json(
             f"{base}/v1/embeddings",
             {"model": "demo", "input": "hello"},
             headers={"authorization": "Bearer test-token"},
-            timeout=2.0,
+            timeout=request_timeout,
         )
     finally:
         server.shutdown()

tests/test_post_chat.py

@@ -469,3 +469,28 @@ def fake_post_json(url, payload, *, headers, timeout):
     assert observed["payload"]["reasoning_effort"] == "auto"
     assert observed["payload"]["mode"] == "auto"
     assert "CITED SOURCES" in observed["payload"]["messages"][0]["content"]
+
+
+@pytest.mark.parametrize("creation_path", ["direct", "factory"])
+@pytest.mark.parametrize("timeout_options, expected", [({}, None), ({"timeout": None}, None), ({"timeout": 7.5}, 7.5)])
+def test_post_chat_preserves_optional_transport_timeout(monkeypatch, timeout_options, expected, creation_path) -> None:
+    """Omitted or null limits stay null; explicit limits reach transport unchanged."""
+    observed = {}
+
+    def fake_post_json(_url, _payload, *, headers, timeout):
+        observed["timeout"] = timeout
+        return {"choices": [{"message": {"content": "Answer\nCITED SOURCES: 1"}}]}
+
+    monkeypatch.setattr("lineageweave.post_chat.post_json", fake_post_json)
+    if creation_path == "factory":
+        from types import SimpleNamespace
+        from backend.app import main
+
+        monkeypatch.setattr(main, "load_settings", lambda: SimpleNamespace(
+            orchestrator_base_url="https://orchestrator.test", orchestrator_api_key="synthetic-token",
+        ))
+        client = main._post_chat_client(**timeout_options)
+    else:
+        client = ContextualOrchestratorPostChatClient("https://orchestrator.test", "synthetic-token", **timeout_options)
+    client.answer("Question", _SOURCES)
+    assert observed["timeout"] == expected