AWS lambda function stops working after timed out error

Question

I have a simple lambda function that asynchronously makes an API calls and then returns data. 99% of the time this works great. When ever the API takes longer then the lambda co

Answer 1

You should look for how your function handle works with a specific context.callbackWaitsForEmptyEventLoop

If that boolean-type is false, the setTimeout won't be ever fired, because you might've answered/handled the lambda invocation earlier. But if the value of callbackWaitsForEmptyEventLoop is true - then your code will do what you are looking for.

Also - it's probably easier to handle everything via callbacks directly, without the need for "hand-written" timeouts, changing configuration timeouts and so on...

E.g.

function doneFactory(cb) { // closure factory returning a callback function which knows about res (response)
  return function(err, res) {
    if (err) {
      return cb(JSON.stringify(err));
    }
    return cb(null, res);
  };
}

// you're going to call this Lambda function from your code
exports.handle = function(event, context, handleCallback) {

  // allows for using callbacks as finish/error-handlers
  context.callbackWaitsForEmptyEventLoop = false;

  doSomeAsyncWork(event, context, doneFactory(handleCallback));
};