Say a timeout is not a failure, and where the controller keeps the answer (hq issue 265)

2026-10-06 01:14:59 +02:00
parent 9730bd89c3
commit fce3dcb98d
3 changed files with 33 additions and 3 deletions
@@ -117,6 +117,9 @@ var (
 	timedOut = regexp.MustCompile(`(?i)timeout`)
 )

+// controllerSeat is the seat whose holder keeps what came of every call (novox/hq issue 265).
+const controllerSeat = "mesh-controller"
+
 // whyItFailed says why a call failed, so the remedy is in the words.
 func whyItFailed(key string, err error) string {
 	if err == nil {
@@ -135,8 +138,18 @@ func whyItFailed(key string, err error) string {
 		return "this account may not call " + key + ". What it may call was fixed when it was issued — a " +
 			"person's by `operator issue`, the console's by its manifest."
 	case timedOut.MatchString(msg):
-		return key + " did not answer in time. Something is serving it, so this is the tool being slow " +
-			"rather than absent."
+		// **A timeout is not a failure** (novox/hq issue 265). Something took the call, so it may
+		// still be running and may already have done what was asked: a push said this while it pushed.
+		said := key + " did not answer within " + bus.RequestTimeout.String() + ". That is not a failure: " +
+			"something is serving it, so it may still be running and may already have done what was " +
+			"asked — check before repeating a call that changes the mesh."
+		if strings.HasPrefix(strings.TrimPrefix(key, "seat:"), controllerSeat+".") {
+			// The controller answers every call within seconds, with an id while it runs, so silence
+			// from it is an answer lost on the way — which it keeps.
+			said += " The controller answers every call within seconds, so its answer was lost on the " +
+				"way; " + controllerSeat + ".calls lists its recent calls and what came of each."
+		}
+		return said
 	}
 	return key + " failed: " + msg
 }