Bolt deployment

Vercel Serverless Function Timeout - API Routes Taking Too Long

API routes that work fine locally timeout on Vercel. Long-running tasks like file processing, bulk database operations, or external API calls exceed the timeout limit.

Requests return 504 Gateway Timeout and logs show the function was killed.

Error Messages You Might See

504 - Gateway Timeout FETCH_ERROR: request timeout Function timeout after 30s Vercel Serverless Function Error: timed out
504 - Gateway TimeoutFETCH_ERROR: request timeoutFunction timeout after 30sVercel Serverless Function Error: timed out

Common Causes

  1. Function execution time exceeds timeout (default 30s, max 60s on Pro)
  2. Waiting for slow external API calls without timeout
  3. Database query not optimized or hitting connection limits
  4. Large file processing happening synchronously
  5. Missing async/await causing hanging requests

How to Fix It

Upgrade to Vercel Pro for 60s limit (free tier is 30s max)

Add timeout to external calls: fetch(url, { timeout: 10000 })

Use background jobs for long tasks - trigger async processing, return immediately

Optimize DB queries: add indexes, use pagination for large result sets

Consider moving heavy lifting to cron jobs or separate worker services

Real developers can help you.

Anthony Akpan Anthony Akpan Developer with 8 years of experience building softwares fro startups Jacek Rozanski Jacek Rozanski Senior PHP/Symfony developer and DevOps engineer with 20+ years of professional experience, running opcode.pl (web development agency, est. 2004). Day job: I'm the sole backend developer at merketing company where I own and maintain 11 PHP/Symfony microservices on AWS (ECS Fargate, RDS, S3, CloudFront), handle the full CI/CD pipeline (Bitbucket Pipelines, Docker), and manage monitoring with Sentry and CloudWatch. These services handle high request volumes in production every month. What I bring to AI-built apps: - I audit and fix security issues (OWASP methodology), performance bottlenecks, and architectural problems in codebases generated by Cursor, Claude Code, Lovable, Bolt, and v0 - I refactor AI-generated prototypes into production-grade applications with proper error handling, testing, and clean architecture (SOLID, DDD, hexagonal architecture) - I set up the infrastructure AI tools don't touch: AWS hosting, CI/CD pipelines, automated deployments, database optimization, monitoring, and alerting - I integrate external services: payment providers, email systems, partner APIs, SSO/auth Tech stack: PHP 8.x, Symfony, React, Next.js, PostgreSQL, MySQL, Docker, AWS (ECS, RDS, S3, SQS/SNS, CloudFront), Terraform, Supabase. I also use AI tools daily (Claude Code, Cursor) in my own workflow, so I understand both the strengths and the gaps in AI-generated code. Based in Poland (CET timezone). Available for async work and calls during EU/US business hours. legrab legrab I'll fill this later Richard McSorley Richard McSorley Full-Stack Software Engineer with 8+ years building high-performance applications for enterprise clients. Shipped production systems at Walmart (4,000+ stores), Cigna (20M+ users), and Arkansas Blue Cross. 5 patents in retail/supply chain tech. Currently focused on AI integrations, automation tools, and TypeScript-first architectures. Tejas Chokhawala Tejas Chokhawala Full-stack engineer with 5 years experience building production web apps using React, Next.js and TypeScript. Focused on performance, clean architecture and shipping fast. Experienced with Supabase/Postgres backends, Stripe billing, and building AI-assisted developer tools. Sage Fulcher Sage Fulcher Hey I'm Sage! Im a Boston area software engineer who grew up in South Florida. Ive worked at a ton of cool places like a telehealth kidney care startup that took part in a billion dollar merger (Cricket health/Interwell health), a boutique design agency where I got to work on a ton of exciting startups including a photography education app, a collegiate Esports league and more (Philosophie), a data analytics as a service startup in Cambridge (MA) as well as at Phillips and MIT Lincoln Lab where I designed and developed novel network security visualizations and analytics. I've been writing code and furiously devoted to using computers to make people’s lives easier for about 17 years. My degree is in making computers make pretty lights and sounds. Outside of work I love hip hop, the Celtics, professional wrestling, magic the gathering, photography, drumming, and guitars (both making and playing them) Basel Issmail Basel Issmail ’m a Senior Full-Stack Developer and Tech Lead with experience designing and building scalable web platforms. I work across the full development lifecycle, from translating business requirements into technical architecture to delivering reliable production systems. My work focuses on modern web technologies, including TypeScript, Angular, Node.js, and cloud-based architectures. I enjoy solving complex technical problems and helping teams turn product ideas and prototypes into working platforms that can grow and scale. In addition to development, I often collaborate closely with product managers, business analysts, designers, and QA teams to ensure that solutions align with both technical and business goals. I enjoy working with startups and product teams where I can contribute both as a hands-on engineer and as a technical partner in designing and delivering impactful software. ISHANTDEEP SINGH ISHANTDEEP SINGH Senior Software Engineer with 7+ years of experience in React, JavaScript, TypeScript, Next.js, and Node.js. I’ve also worked as a tech lead for startups, owning end-to-end technical execution including architecture, development, scaling, and delivery. I bring a strong mix of hands-on coding, product thinking, and technical leadership, and I’m comfortable building products from scratch as well as improving and scaling existing systems. Victor Denisov Victor Denisov Developer Yovel Cohen Yovel Cohen I got a lot of experience in building Long-horizon AI Agents in production, Backend apps that scale to millions of users and frontend knowledge as well.

You don't need to be technical. Just describe what's wrong and a verified developer will handle the rest.

Get Help

Frequently Asked Questions

What's the maximum timeout on Vercel?

Free: 30s. Pro: 60s. Enterprise: up to 5min

How do I handle long-running tasks?

Trigger them asynchronously. Save a job record to DB, return immediately, process in background

Should I wait for all async tasks?

No! Return response to user, then run cleanup/processing. Use background jobs for long tasks

Related Bolt Issues

Can't fix it yourself?
Real developers can help.

You don't need to be technical. Just describe what's wrong and a verified developer will handle the rest.

Get Help