Summary

Allow users to configure the exec tool's timeout limit via openclaw.json, rather than being constrained by the embedded agent run timeout (default 600s).

Problem

When an exec command (e.g., a long-running build, download, or data processing task) takes longer than the embedded agent run timeout (600s), the entire agent turn is aborted — killing the exec process mid-execution. This is a frequent pain point for:

• Long-running downloads (e.g., large model files, datasets)
• Build/compile tasks
• Data processing pipelines
• Any shell command exceeding ~10 minutes

Current behavior

1. Agent starts a turn → calls exec with timeout: 600
2. The exec tool itself defaults to defaultTimeoutSec = 1800 (30 min)
3. But the embedded agent run has its own timeout (600s) that kills the entire turn
4. Result: exec process is SIGKILL'd even though exec tool would have allowed more time

Workarounds (all fragile)

• Use background: true + yieldMs — but background processes still get killed when the agent turn times out
• Use sessions_spawn to offload to sub-agents — adds complexity
• Manually set timeoutSeconds: 0 on cron jobs — not applicable to interactive sessions

Proposed solution

Add a configurable tools.exec.timeoutSec field in openclaw.json:

{
  "tools": {
    "exec": {
      "timeoutSec": 3600
    }
  }
}

Additionally, consider exposing the embedded agent run timeout as agents.defaults.runTimeoutSeconds so users can override the 600s default for long-running sessions.

Implementation notes

Based on code analysis:

• defaultTimeoutSec is already configurable via tools.exec.timeoutSec (line 2948 in pi-embedded-bukGSgEe.js)
• The 600s limit comes from the embedded agent run timeout, not the exec tool itself
• runTimeoutSeconds is already supported for sub-agents and cron agent turns
• The fix should allow agents.defaults.runTimeoutSeconds to also apply to main session turns

Impact

• Affected: All users running long exec commands (>10 min)
• Severity: Medium — causes data loss and wasted API calls
• Frequency: Daily for users doing build/download/data tasks
• Backwards compatible: Yes — defaults remain unchanged

Related issues

• [Bug]: Embedded run timeout fails to clean up session/lane state when tool execution is in-flight #14228 — Embedded run timeout fails to clean up session/lane state
• Session context lost after agent run timeout — background exec results injected into new session without history #20436 — Session context lost after agent run timeout
• Background exec sessions silently killed after ~30 minutes (SIGTERM on compaction) #23303 — Background exec sessions silently killed after ~30 minutes
• [Feature]: Configurable Exec Approval timeout #51287 — Configurable Exec Approval timeout (different but related)