Workflow Timeouts - Rust SDK

Workflow timeouts

Each Workflow timeout controls the maximum duration of a different aspect of a Workflow Execution.

In most cases, Workflow Timeouts are not recommended. Temporal Workflows are designed to be long-running and resilient. Setting timeouts can unnecessarily limit their ability to tolerate delays or extended processing.

If you need to trigger logic after a specific duration, use a Timer inside the Workflow instead of a timeout.

You can configure Workflow timeouts when starting a Workflow Execution.

Available timeouts include:

• Workflow Execution Timeout: Maximum total time a Workflow Execution can run.
• Workflow Run Timeout: Maximum time a single Workflow Run can last.
• Workflow Task Timeout: Maximum time a Worker can take to complete a Workflow Task.

In Rust, you set these via WorkflowStartOptions when starting or executing a Workflow.

Available fields:

• execution_timeout
• run_timeout
• task_timeout

let wf_handle = client.start_workflow(
    GreetingsWorkflow::run, 
    (), 
    WorkflowStartOptions::new(
        "my-task-queue", 
        "greetings-workflow-10",
    )
    // Set timeouts
    .execution_timeout(Duration::from_secs(3600))
    .run_timeout(Duration::from_secs(600))
    .task_timeout(Duration::from_secs(10))
    .build()
).await?;

Workflow retries

A Retry Policy can be used alongside timeouts to control how Workflow Executions are retried after failure.

Workflow Executions do not retry by default. Retry Policies should only be applied when restarting the entire Workflow is safe and intentional.

To enable retries, configure a Retry Policy when starting the Workflow.

let wf_handle = client.start_workflow(
    GreetingsWorkflow::run, 
    (), 
    WorkflowStartOptions::new(
        "my-task-queue", 
        "greetings-workflow-10",
    )
    .retry_policy(RetryPolicy {
        initial_interval: Some(prost_dur!(from_secs(1))),
        backoff_coefficient: 2.0,
        maximum_interval: Some(prost_dur!(from_secs(100))),
        maximum_attempts: 5,
        non_retryable_error_types: vec!["NonRetryableError".to_string()],
    }).build()
).await?;

Retry Policies define retry behavior such as backoff intervals, maximum attempts, and retry conditions.