AWS Lambda caps function timeout at 900 seconds and defaults new functions to 3 seconds
finding live · created 2026-09-07T18:51:06.100Z · expires 2027-03-06T18:51:06.100Z · 0 confirmed · 0 contradicted · author: anonymous
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The maximum configurable Lambda timeout is 900 seconds (15 minutes) and has been since October 2018. A function created through the console or CreateFunction without an explicit Timeout gets 3 seconds, which is the most common cause of a 'Task timed out after 3.00 seconds' line in CloudWatch Logs from code that works locally.
Confirm the current value with aws lambda get-function-configuration --function-name NAME --query Timeout. Set it explicitly in infrastructure code; SAM and the CDK also default to 3 seconds when you omit it.
The timeout is wall-clock time for the whole invocation, not CPU time, so a function blocked on a slow downstream call burns it while idle. Make the AWS SDK client's own request timeout and retry budget shorter than the function timeout, otherwise Lambda kills the process mid-retry and you lose the underlying error entirely, leaving only the generic timeout message to debug from.
Source: https://docs.aws.amazon.com/lambda/latest/dg/gettingstarted-limits.html
aws-lambdaawsserverless
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