feat(timeout): add tools/execute seam + tool-timeout policy plugin

Model-facing tool-call budgets were tangled into each capability's schema
(bash timeoutMs, web_fetch timeout_ms) with no shared home. Add a
tools/execute around-dispatch waterfall to dsh-tools whose base next() is
the dispatch-with-normalization thunk, and a new @deepseek-ai/dsh-timeout-policy
plugin (packages/timeout/) that arms a per-tool deadline on exec.signal and
returns a structured TOOL_TIMEOUT when it wins. Migrate web_fetch (drop the
model-facing timeout_ms) and web_search onto it; the fetch provider keeps its
timeout only as a resource backstop for direct callers. bash and hook command
execution keep BASH_TIMEOUT unchanged.

Named the plugin timeout-policy (not the RFC's tool-timeout) so it does not
trip the gen-tool-catalog packages/*/tool-* completeness guard, and replace
exec.signal by in-place mutation before next() since cordis waterfall next()
ignores passed arguments. RFC moved to implemented/ recording both deviations.

docs/architecture.md

@@ -78,7 +78,7 @@ forever:
       'assistant/message'
       each tool call:
         'tool/call'
-        tools/pre-execute -> dispatch -> tools/post-execute
+        tools/pre-execute -> tools/execute -> tools/post-execute
         'tool/result'
       append post-tool context and steering
       'step/end'

docs/cordis-catalog/events.md

@@ -307,11 +307,23 @@ A tool was registered or unregistered (the available tool set changed).
 'tools/change'(): void
 ```
 
+Source: [`packages/core/tools/src/index.ts:108`](../../packages/core/tools/src/index.ts)
+
+### `tools/execute` — waterfall
+
+Around-dispatch waterfall wrapping the registry's core tool dispatch, between the `tools/pre-execute` gate and the `tools/post-execute` seam. A listener receives `(exec, next)`: call `next()` to delegate to dispatch (returning its ToolExecutionResult, optionally wrapped), or return a replacement result without calling `next()` to short-circuit dispatch. The base `next()` IS the dispatch-with-normalization thunk — a thrown tool (or unknown tool) is already normalized to an `isError` result by the time a listener's `await next()` returns, so a wrapper never sees a raw throw from the tool body. This is the seam a timeout/retry/metrics plugin wraps: it can mutate `exec` (e.g. replace `exec.signal` with a per-call deadline) BEFORE `next()` and inspect the result AFTER. (Cordis `next()` ignores any passed arguments and re-invokes downstream with the shared payload, so a wrapper mutates `exec` in place rather than passing a new object to `next()`.) Multiple listeners compose by registration order — an outer one wraps the inner ones plus dispatch.
+
+```ts cordis-catalog
+'tools/execute'(this: ToolRegistry, exec: ToolExecution, next: () => Promise<ToolExecutionResult>): Promise<ToolExecutionResult>
+```
+
+Types: [ToolExecution](../core-data-structures/tools.md) · [ToolExecutionResult](../core-data-structures/tools.md)
+
 Source: [`packages/core/tools/src/index.ts:87`](../../packages/core/tools/src/index.ts)
 
 ### `tools/post-execute` — waterfall
 
-Waterfall AFTER a tool runs — where hook plugins inspect the result and accept it (optionally REPLACING the model-facing content, and/or attaching `additionalContext` for the next request) or block it with corrective `feedback` (Claude Code's `PostToolUse`). Listeners receive `(exec, result, next)`: call `next()` to delegate to the default (accept unchanged), or return a PostToolDecision to override. The core tool dispatch sits between the two waterfalls as plain code, all inside `execute`'s outer try/catch (and the tool body keeps its own inner try/catch, so a thrown tool still reaches `post-execute` as an `isError` result).
+Waterfall AFTER a tool runs — where hook plugins inspect the result and accept it (optionally REPLACING the model-facing content, and/or attaching `additionalContext` for the next request) or block it with corrective `feedback` (Claude Code's `PostToolUse`). Listeners receive `(exec, result, next)`: call `next()` to delegate to the default (accept unchanged), or return a PostToolDecision to override. Core tool dispatch runs earlier as the base `next()` of the `tools/execute` waterfall, all inside `execute`'s outer try/catch (and the tool body keeps its own inner try/catch, so a thrown tool still reaches `post-execute` as an `isError` result).
 
 ```ts cordis-catalog
 'tools/post-execute'(this: ToolRegistry, exec: ToolExecution, result: ToolExecutionResult, next: () => Promise<PostToolDecision>): Promise<PostToolDecision>
@@ -319,7 +331,7 @@ Waterfall AFTER a tool runs — where hook plugins inspect the result and accept
 
 Types: [ToolExecution](../core-data-structures/tools.md) · [ToolExecutionResult](../core-data-structures/tools.md)
 
-Source: [`packages/core/tools/src/index.ts:82`](../../packages/core/tools/src/index.ts)
+Source: [`packages/core/tools/src/index.ts:103`](../../packages/core/tools/src/index.ts)
 
 ### `tools/pre-execute` — waterfall
 
@@ -331,7 +343,7 @@ Waterfall BEFORE a tool runs — the gate where sandbox, permission, and hook pl
 
 Types: [ToolExecution](../core-data-structures/tools.md)
 
-Source: [`packages/core/tools/src/index.ts:66`](../../packages/core/tools/src/index.ts)
+Source: [`packages/core/tools/src/index.ts:67`](../../packages/core/tools/src/index.ts)
 
 ## Inherited events (cordis core + loader/hmr/timer)
 

docs/cordis-catalog/services.md

@@ -193,7 +193,7 @@ Source: [`packages/core/system-prompt/src/index.ts:198`](../../packages/core/sys
 
 ## `ctx.tools` — `ToolRegistry`
 
-Tool registry (`ctx.tools`): tool plugins register definitions; the agent loop executes calls through the `tools/pre-execute` → dispatch → `tools/post-execute` pipeline. The registry contributes its schemas into the system-prompt assembly.
+Tool registry (`ctx.tools`): tool plugins register definitions; the agent loop executes calls through the `tools/pre-execute` → `tools/execute` → `tools/post-execute` pipeline. The registry contributes its schemas into the system-prompt assembly.
 
 ```ts cordis-catalog
 register(definition: ToolDefinition): () => void
@@ -204,7 +204,7 @@ async execute(exec: ToolExecution): Promise<ToolExecutionResult>
 
 Types: [ToolDefinition](../core-data-structures/tools.md) · [ToolExecution](../core-data-structures/tools.md) · [ToolExecutionResult](../core-data-structures/tools.md)
 
-Source: [`packages/core/tools/src/index.ts:268`](../../packages/core/tools/src/index.ts)
+Source: [`packages/core/tools/src/index.ts:289`](../../packages/core/tools/src/index.ts)
 
 ## `ctx.web` — `WebService`
 

docs/event-producer-consumer.md

@@ -31,8 +31,9 @@ This matrix shows which packages dispatch each harness-owned event and which pac
 | `subagent/start` | `emit` | [`packages/subagent/subagent/src/index.ts:91`](../packages/subagent/subagent/src/index.ts) | [`subagent`](../packages/subagent/subagent) (`events.dispatch`) | [`hooks-claude`](../packages/hooks/hooks-claude) |
 | `system-prompt/assemble` | `waterfall` | [`packages/core/system-prompt/src/index.ts:38`](../packages/core/system-prompt/src/index.ts) | [`system-prompt`](../packages/core/system-prompt) (`waterfall`) | - |
 | `system-prompt/change` | `emit` | [`packages/core/system-prompt/src/index.ts:44`](../packages/core/system-prompt/src/index.ts) | [`system-prompt`](../packages/core/system-prompt) (`emit`) | - |
-| `tools/change` | `emit` | [`packages/core/tools/src/index.ts:87`](../packages/core/tools/src/index.ts) | [`tools`](../packages/core/tools) (`emit`) | - |
-| `tools/post-execute` | `waterfall` | [`packages/core/tools/src/index.ts:82`](../packages/core/tools/src/index.ts) | [`tools`](../packages/core/tools) (`waterfall`) | [`hooks-claude`](../packages/hooks/hooks-claude), [`hooks-codex`](../packages/hooks/hooks-codex) |
-| `tools/pre-execute` | `waterfall` | [`packages/core/tools/src/index.ts:66`](../packages/core/tools/src/index.ts) | [`tools`](../packages/core/tools) (`waterfall`) | [`hooks-claude`](../packages/hooks/hooks-claude), [`hooks-codex`](../packages/hooks/hooks-codex) |
+| `tools/change` | `emit` | [`packages/core/tools/src/index.ts:108`](../packages/core/tools/src/index.ts) | [`tools`](../packages/core/tools) (`emit`) | - |
+| `tools/execute` | `waterfall` | [`packages/core/tools/src/index.ts:87`](../packages/core/tools/src/index.ts) | [`tools`](../packages/core/tools) (`waterfall`) | [`timeout-policy`](../packages/timeout/timeout-policy) |
+| `tools/post-execute` | `waterfall` | [`packages/core/tools/src/index.ts:103`](../packages/core/tools/src/index.ts) | [`tools`](../packages/core/tools) (`waterfall`) | [`hooks-claude`](../packages/hooks/hooks-claude), [`hooks-codex`](../packages/hooks/hooks-codex) |
+| `tools/pre-execute` | `waterfall` | [`packages/core/tools/src/index.ts:67`](../packages/core/tools/src/index.ts) | [`tools`](../packages/core/tools) (`waterfall`) | [`hooks-claude`](../packages/hooks/hooks-claude), [`hooks-codex`](../packages/hooks/hooks-codex) |
 
 Maintenance mode: hybrid generated: Cordis event declarations and most producer/listener edges are AST-scanned; dynamic dispatch sites are classified in `scripts/gen-doc-graphs.ts`.

docs/module-graph.md

@@ -55,6 +55,9 @@ flowchart TD
     pkg_web_search_exa["web-search-exa"]
     pkg_web_search_perplexity["web-search-perplexity"]
   end
+  subgraph group_timeout["packages/timeout"]
+    pkg_timeout_policy["timeout-policy"]
+  end
   subgraph group_todo["packages/todo"]
     pkg_tool_todo["tool-todo"]
   end
@@ -146,6 +149,9 @@ flowchart TD
   pkg_tool_web --> pkg_system_prompt
   pkg_tool_web --> pkg_tools
   pkg_tool_web --> pkg_web
+  pkg_timeout_policy --> pkg_llm
+  pkg_timeout_policy --> pkg_timeout
+  pkg_timeout_policy --> pkg_tools
   pkg_tool_todo --> pkg_agent
   pkg_tool_todo --> pkg_session
   pkg_tool_todo --> pkg_tools
@@ -240,6 +246,7 @@ flowchart TD
 | [`tool-fs`](../packages/fs/tool-fs) | `fs` | [`fs`](../packages/fs/fs), [`llm`](../packages/llm/llm), [`session`](../packages/core/session), [`system-prompt`](../packages/core/system-prompt), [`tools`](../packages/core/tools) |
 | [`subagent`](../packages/subagent/subagent) | `subagent` | [`agent`](../packages/core/agent), [`llm`](../packages/llm/llm), [`tools`](../packages/core/tools) |
 | [`tool-web`](../packages/web/tool-web) | `web` | [`llm`](../packages/llm/llm), [`system-prompt`](../packages/core/system-prompt), [`tools`](../packages/core/tools), [`web`](../packages/web/web) |
+| [`timeout-policy`](../packages/timeout/timeout-policy) | `timeout` | [`llm`](../packages/llm/llm), [`timeout`](../packages/util/timeout), [`tools`](../packages/core/tools) |
 | [`tool-todo`](../packages/todo/tool-todo) | `todo` | [`agent`](../packages/core/agent), [`session`](../packages/core/session), [`tools`](../packages/core/tools) |
 | [`hooks-codex`](../packages/hooks/hooks-codex) | `hooks` | [`agent`](../packages/core/agent), [`hook-protocol`](../packages/hooks/hook-protocol), [`llm`](../packages/llm/llm), [`session`](../packages/core/session), [`tools`](../packages/core/tools) |
 | [`acp`](../packages/ui/acp) | `ui` | [`agent`](../packages/core/agent), [`llm`](../packages/llm/llm), [`session`](../packages/core/session), [`session-persistence`](../packages/session-persistence/session-persistence), [`tools`](../packages/core/tools) |

docs/rfc/INDEX.md

@@ -120,6 +120,7 @@ Generated by `pnpm run gen-rfc-index` from the RFC tree — never edit by hand;
 | [Every LLM request is reconstructable from the session log](implemented/architecture/2026-07-05-reconstructable-requests.md) | 2026-07-05 |
 | [Subagent provider-lifecycle events — `subagent/provider-added` / `subagent/provider-removed`](implemented/architecture/2026-07-05-subagent-provider-lifecycle-events.md) | 2026-07-05 |
 | [A shared timeout/deadline primitive, with hard-kill left to each capability](implemented/architecture/2026-07-06-timeout-deadline-library.md) | 2026-07-06 |
+| [Tool-call timeout policy as a plugin](implemented/architecture/2026-07-07-tool-call-timeout-policy.md) | 2026-07-07 |
 
 ### Process
 

docs/rfc/implemented/architecture/2026-07-07-tool-call-timeout-policy.md

@@ -0,0 +1,111 @@
+# RFC: Tool-call timeout policy as a plugin
+
+Status: implemented
+
+## Problem
+
+The [timeout/deadline RFC](2026-07-06-timeout-deadline-library.md) extracted the timing-and-classification primitive into `@deepseek-ai/dsh-timeout`, but timeout policy was still attached to individual capabilities and model-facing schemas. `bash` exposed `timeoutMs`; `web_fetch` exposed `timeout_ms`; `web_search` had no model-facing timeout even though providers already honor `exec.signal`; a future grep/glob tool would either import the timeout library directly or invent its own timeout policy. That is the wrong authoring shape for a plugin SDK: a tool author should normally forward `exec.signal` to the implementation it calls, and deployment policy should decide the budget.
+
+At the same time, not every timeout in the repo is a model-facing tool-call budget. Hooks execute command hooks by calling `ctx.bash` directly, not through `ctx.tools.execute()`, and the `bash` model tool multiplexes foreground execution, background start, background polling, and hook reuse through the same backend. Moving every timeout into a tool plugin in one step would conflate those paths and risk breaking hook timeout semantics.
+
+## Decision
+
+Tool-call timeout is a policy that applies only to model-facing tool execution, in three parts:
+
+- `@deepseek-ai/dsh-timeout` remains the shared library that owns `deadline()` and `timeoutOf()`.
+- `@deepseek-ai/dsh-tools` has an around-dispatch waterfall, `tools/execute`, between `tools/pre-execute` and `tools/post-execute`.
+- `@deepseek-ai/dsh-timeout-policy` reads deployment config and wraps configured tool calls by deriving a new `exec.signal`.
+
+The execution pipeline is:
+
+```text
+ctx.tools.execute(exec)
+  -> tools/pre-execute
+  -> tools/execute
+       -> registry dispatch (the base next())
+            -> tool.execute(args, exec)
+            -> thrown tool errors normalize to ToolExecutionResult
+  -> tools/post-execute
+```
+
+The default behavior is conservative: an unconfigured tool receives no `TOOL_TIMEOUT` deadline from the plugin.
+
+### The `tools/execute` around seam
+
+`@deepseek-ai/dsh-tools` declares a `tools/execute` waterfall whose base `next()` is the dispatch-with-normalization thunk — the same inner `try`/`catch` that turns a thrown tool (or unknown tool) into an `isError` `ToolExecutionResult`. A listener receives `(exec, next)`: it calls `next()` to delegate to dispatch (returning its result, optionally wrapped) or returns a replacement result to short-circuit dispatch. The whole pipeline still sits inside `execute`'s outer try/catch, so a throwing listener becomes an `isError` result, never a turn failure.
+
+That the catch is the base `next` — not something outside the waterfall — is load-bearing: when a provider sees the timeout signal and throws its own upstream-abort error, registry dispatch first converts it to a normal error result, and only then can `timeout-policy` replace the final result with `TOOL_TIMEOUT`.
+
+### The `timeout-policy` plugin
+
+The plugin is `@deepseek-ai/dsh-timeout-policy`, a function/namespace plugin (`name` / `Config` / `apply`) in the `packages/timeout/` group. Its config is per tool, with no global default and no model override:
+
+```yaml
+- id: timeout-policy
+  name: '@deepseek-ai/dsh-timeout-policy'
+  config:
+    tools:
+      web_fetch:
+        timeoutMs: 30000
+      web_search:
+        timeoutMs: 30000
+```
+
+`timeoutMs` is required for every configured tool and must be positive finite (validated at `apply`). For a configured tool the listener arms `deadline(exec.signal, timeoutMs, 'TOOL_TIMEOUT')`, swaps the derived signal onto `exec` for the downstream dispatch, restores the caller's own signal afterward, and returns a structured `TOOL_TIMEOUT` result when `timeoutOf(d.signal, 'TOOL_TIMEOUT')` matches. An unconfigured tool delegates unchanged.
+
+Signal replacement is by **in-place mutation of `exec.signal`**, not by passing a new object to `next()`. Cordis's waterfall `next()` ignores any arguments handed to it and re-invokes downstream listeners with the shared payload array (`vendor/cordis/src/events.ts`), so the documented cordis idiom — mutate the shared object, then delegate — is the only mechanism that reaches dispatch. The plugin restores `exec.signal` to the caller's original in a `finally` so `tools/post-execute` never sees this plugin's (possibly already-aborted) deadline signal.
+
+`timeout-policy` owns both uses of the `TOOL_TIMEOUT` code: the internal deadline code passed to `deadline()`/`timeoutOf()` (scoped so a nested outer deadline reads as an ordinary cancel) and the structured tool-result error code. Its replacement result is:
+
+```ts ignore-check
+function toolTimeoutResult(callId: CallId, timeoutMs: number): ToolExecutionResult {
+  return {
+    callId,
+    content: [{ type: 'text', text: `Error: tool call timed out after ${timeoutMs}ms` }],
+    isError: true,
+    error: { name: 'ToolTimeoutError', code: 'TOOL_TIMEOUT' },
+  }
+}
+```
+
+This is a cooperative deadline. It does not kill arbitrary work by racing the tool promise; the tool or the capability it calls must honor `exec.signal` and reach quiescence. "Configured" therefore MEANS "cooperative with `exec.signal`", which the plugin README states as its contract.
+
+No new session event is needed for reconstructability: `TOOL_TIMEOUT` is the final model-facing `tool/result` for that call, so the existing session log already records the content and structured `{ name, code }` error the next model request sees.
+
+### Existing tool adaptation
+
+`web_fetch` and `web_search` are migrated. `dsh-tool-web` keeps ownership of their model-facing schemas, and those schemas expose no timeout knob: `web_fetch` dropped its `timeout_ms` parameter to match the reference-agent shape, and `web_search` stays query-only. The tool bodies do not import `@deepseek-ai/dsh-timeout`; they forward `exec.signal` to `ctx.web`.
+
+`dsh-web-fetch-local` keeps a provider-level timeout (`timeoutMs`/`maxTimeoutMs`) as a large resource backstop for direct `ctx.web.fetch()` callers and misconfigured deployments; it owns no model-facing timeout. When a `TOOL_TIMEOUT` signal reaches the fetch provider first, provider-scoped classification treats it as upstream `WEB_ABORTED`, and the outer `tools/execute` wrapper replaces the final tool result with `TOOL_TIMEOUT`. A shipped web-tool deployment configures the provider backstop above the `timeout-policy` budget so the tool-call policy normally wins for model calls.
+
+`bash` stays on the current backend timeout path. `dsh-tool-bash` continues to expose `timeoutMs` and `run_in_background`; `dsh-bash-local` continues to use `@deepseek-ai/dsh-timeout` for `BASH_TIMEOUT`; hook bridges continue to call `runHook()` and pass `timeoutMs` through `ctx.bash`. This keeps foreground/background/hook behavior stable.
+
+`read`, `write`, `edit`, `todo_write`, `bash_output`, and `bash_kill` do not opt into tool-call timeout: they are local filesystem or short registry/session operations where a deadline would be best-effort only or unnecessary.
+
+A future model-facing grep/glob tool can be implemented on top of `ctx.bash` without importing `@deepseek-ai/dsh-timeout`: it forwards `exec.signal` to `ctx.bash`, and a deployment configures `timeout-policy` for its budget. If bash-local's backend timeout becomes a problem for such a tool, the bash seam can later add a caller-owned-deadline mode; that is outside this cut.
+
+## Alternatives considered
+
+**Name the plugin `tool-timeout`.** The literal RFC name matched the `gen-tool-catalog` completeness guard's `packages/*/tool-*` glob, which requires every match to register a model-facing tool. This plugin registers none — it is a `tools/execute` wrapper — so a `tool-*` name would either fail `verify-tool-catalog` or force a misleading boot entry. The package is `@deepseek-ai/dsh-timeout-policy` in a new `packages/timeout/` group; the cordis.yml `id` can still be `timeout-policy`.
+
+**Keep per-tool timeout handling only.** This was the shape for `bash` and `web_fetch`, and it matches Claude Code and Codex for shell commands. It loses for web-style tools because every new timeout-capable tool must choose validation, cap semantics, docs, snapshots, and classification. The plugin centralizes policy and classification while leaving each tool's schema focused on business input.
+
+**Move all timeout policy out of bash-local immediately.** Cleaner long-term — bash-local would become a pure subprocess executor and all callers would own their deadlines. It loses as the first step because hooks call `ctx.bash` directly and the bash model tool has foreground/background semantics that are not the same tool-call lifetime. Keeping `BASH_TIMEOUT` preserves those paths while tool-call timeout proves itself on simpler tools.
+
+**Use a global default budget for every tool.** Convenient, but it surprises tool authors: any tool that accidentally runs longer than the global budget would start failing once the plugin loads. Per-tool config makes adoption deliberate.
+
+**Expose a model-facing `timeout_ms` override.** Claude Code's `WebFetch`/`WebSearch` and Codex's web tools keep timeout out of the model-call shape. A model override would make timeout part of prompt semantics and force schema/argument-stripping rules into `timeout-policy`. Web timeout stays deployment policy only.
+
+**Let `timeout-policy` match tool arguments itself.** A rule engine such as "disable timeout when `bash.run_in_background` is true" would make the policy plugin know tool-specific argument semantics. Avoided by not migrating bash to tool-call timeout.
+
+**Use `tools/pre-execute` plus `tools/post-execute` instead of a new around seam.** A pre listener could arm a deadline and mutate `exec.signal`; a post listener could classify and replace. That loses because the deadline lifetime would cross two independent waterfalls: a call-id map, cleanup on every pre-deny/tool-throw/post-throw/dispose path, and ordering rules with every other listener. `tools/pre-execute` is also the allow/deny gate, not an execution wrapper. `tools/execute` gives the timeout one lexical scope: arm, delegate, classify, dispose.
+
+**Use `Promise.race` to enforce timeouts for non-cooperative tools.** Rejected for the same reason as the timeout-library RFC: it returns control to the caller while the underlying process, fetch, or provider operation may still be running. The plugin only sends a signal; termination remains the implementation's responsibility.
+
+## Consequences
+
+- `@deepseek-ai/dsh-tools` gains an around-dispatch surface after the interception seams deliberately split pre/post tool hooks. Its contract is narrow — wrap registry dispatch, not replace the pre-gate or post-result policy — and the base `next()` is dispatch-with-normalization so a wrapper never sees a raw tool throw.
+- Multiple `tools/execute` listeners compose by ordinary Cordis waterfall order: a listener that calls `next()` wraps downstream listeners plus dispatch; one that returns without `next()` short-circuits them. A deployment combining timeout with a future retry/sandbox/metrics wrapper chooses semantics by registration order ("timeout covers the whole retry" vs "timeout covers each attempt").
+- Config-only opt-in is a deliberate misconfiguration risk: a deployment can configure a timeout for a tool that does not honor `exec.signal`, and that tool will not stop on timeout. The plugin contract states that "configured" means cooperative; the web tools prove the pattern on tools that already forward the signal.
+- During the transition `bash` and the migrated web tools use different timeout paths on purpose: `TOOL_TIMEOUT` is the model-facing tool-call budget, while `BASH_TIMEOUT` remains the bash backend timeout used by bash and hooks.
+- Deviation from the literal proposal, recorded per the implemented-RFC rule: the plugin package is `@deepseek-ai/dsh-timeout-policy` (not `tool-timeout`), and signal replacement is in-place `exec.signal` mutation before `next()` (not `next({ ...exec, signal })`, which cordis ignores). Both are described in `## Decision` above.

docs/tool-catalog/tools.md

@@ -289,10 +289,6 @@ Fetch the content of a specific HTTP(S) URL and return it decoded to text.
     "url": {
       "type": "string",
       "description": "The HTTP(S) URL to fetch."
-    },
-    "timeout_ms": {
-      "type": "number",
-      "description": "Optional fetch timeout in milliseconds (capped by the provider)."
     }
   },
   "required": [

docs/tool-execution-pipeline.md

@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@
 
 # Tool Execution Pipeline
 
-This graph shows where policy, hooks, sandboxing, filesystem guards, result rewriting, and UI rendering fit without changing the loop. The key extension points are the `tools/pre-execute` and `tools/post-execute` waterfalls.
+This graph shows where policy, hooks, sandboxing, filesystem guards, result rewriting, and UI rendering fit without changing the loop. The key extension points are the `tools/pre-execute`, `tools/execute`, and `tools/post-execute` waterfalls.
 
 ```mermaid
 flowchart TD
@@ -12,6 +12,7 @@ flowchart TD
   presentCall["UI pending card<br/>presentCall(args)"]
   pre["<code>tools/pre-execute</code> waterfall<br/>hooks, permission, sandbox"]
   denied["deny or ask<br/>tool body skipped"]
+  around["<code>tools/execute</code> waterfall<br/>timeout, retry, metrics (around dispatch)"]
   toolBody["Registered tool execute() body"]
   fsGate["<code>fs/write-intent</code> or <code>fs/edit-intent</code><br/>tool-fs mutations only"]
   owned["Tool-owned session events<br/><code>todo/write</code>, <code>fs/observed</code>, <code>hook/invoked</code>, <code>hook/result</code>"]
@@ -22,18 +23,20 @@ flowchart TD
   model --> toolCall
   toolCall --> presentCall
   toolCall --> pre
-  pre -->|allow| toolBody
+  pre -->|allow| around
+  around --> toolBody
   pre -->|deny or ask| denied
   denied --> post
   toolBody --> fsGate
   fsGate --> toolBody
   toolBody --> owned
-  toolBody --> post
+  toolBody --> around
+  around --> post
   post --> context
   post --> toolResult
   toolResult --> presentResult
 ```
 
-Filesystem read-before-edit checks live below `tool-fs` on the `fs/*` event gate, while hook bridges and future permission prompts live on the generic tool waterfalls. That split lets the same hooks observe bash, fs, web, todo, and subagent calls without coupling those tools to one policy service.
+Filesystem read-before-edit checks live below `tool-fs` on the `fs/*` event gate; hook bridges and future permission prompts live on the generic pre/post tool waterfalls; and around-dispatch concerns like the tool-call timeout policy (`@deepseek-ai/dsh-timeout-policy`) wrap core dispatch on `tools/execute`. That split lets the same hooks observe bash, fs, web, todo, and subagent calls without coupling those tools to one policy service.
 
 Maintenance mode: curated Mermaid flow; exact tool schemas and event signatures live in generated catalogs.

packages/README.md

@@ -15,6 +15,7 @@ Packages are grouped by modular role at `packages/<group>/<pkg>/`. The group dir
 | [`compact/`](compact/README.md) | Compaction capability family: the abstract seam + a basic backend (tool deferred) | Product — stable surface |
 | [`subagent/`](subagent/README.md) | Subagent capability family: the provider-registry seam and the model-facing delegation tool | Product — stable surface |
 | [`web/`](web/README.md) | Web capability family: the abstract seam, search/fetch provider impls, and the model-facing web tools | Product — stable surface |
+| [`timeout/`](timeout/README.md) | Tool-call timeout policy: a `tools/execute` wrapper arming a per-tool deadline on `exec.signal` | Product — stable surface |
 | [`todo/`](todo/README.md) | Todo/planning family: the model-facing `todo_write` tool (whole-list task tracking on the session log) | Product — stable surface |
 | [`hooks/`](hooks/README.md) | Hook bridges + the shared Claude Code / Codex wire-protocol library | Product — stable surface |
 | [`session-persistence/`](session-persistence/README.md) | Persistence capability family: the seam + JSONL/SQLite backends | Product — stable surface |

packages/core/tools/README.md

@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 # dsh-tools
 
-Tool registry and execution pipeline. Tool plugins register their schemas and executors; the agent loop executes each call through `tools/pre-execute` (the allow/deny gate) → core dispatch → `tools/post-execute` (inspect/replace the result, attach context).
+Tool registry and execution pipeline. Tool plugins register their schemas and executors; the agent loop executes each call through `tools/pre-execute` (the allow/deny gate) → `tools/execute` (an around-dispatch wrapper for timeout/retry/metrics plugins) → `tools/post-execute` (inspect/replace the result, attach context).
 
 ## Service: `ToolRegistry` (ctx key: `tools`)
 
@@ -9,7 +9,7 @@ Tool registry and execution pipeline. Tool plugins register their schemas and ex
 - `ctx.tools.register(definition: ToolDefinition): () => void` Register a tool. Disposed with the calling fiber.
 - `ctx.tools.get(name: string): ToolDefinition | undefined`
 - `ctx.tools.schemas(): ToolSchema[]` Schemas of all registered tools (without the `execute` functions). The shipped tools' schemas are catalogued in [docs/tool-catalog/tools.md](../../../docs/tool-catalog/tools.md), generated by booting each tool plugin and harvesting this method (see [the tool-schema-catalog RFC](../../../docs/rfc/implemented/process/2026-07-02-tool-schema-catalog.md)).
-- `ctx.tools.execute(exec: ToolExecution): Promise<ToolExecutionResult>` Execute one tool call through the `tools/pre-execute` → dispatch → `tools/post-execute` pipeline.
+- `ctx.tools.execute(exec: ToolExecution): Promise<ToolExecutionResult>` Execute one tool call through the `tools/pre-execute` → `tools/execute` → `tools/post-execute` pipeline.
 
 ### Injected services
 
@@ -20,6 +20,7 @@ Tool registry and execution pipeline. Tool plugins register their schemas and ex
 | Event | Mode | Purpose |
 |---|---|---|
 | `tools/pre-execute` | waterfall | Allow/deny gate BEFORE a tool runs (sandbox, permission, hooks); returns `PreToolDecision` |
+| `tools/execute` | waterfall | Around-dispatch wrapper (timeout, retry, metrics): `(exec, next)` → the dispatched `ToolExecutionResult`; `next()` is dispatch-with-normalization |
 | `tools/post-execute` | waterfall | Inspect/replace the result AFTER a tool runs, attach context; returns `PostToolDecision` |
 | `tools/change` | emit | A tool was registered or unregistered |
 
@@ -35,7 +36,7 @@ Tool registry and execution pipeline. Tool plugins register their schemas and ex
 ### Extension points
 
 - Tool plugins call `ctx.tools.register()` — schemas flow into the assembly automatically.
-- `tools/pre-execute` is the allow/deny gate (sandbox, permission, hooks): listeners receive `(exec, next)` and call `next()` to delegate to the default (allow) or return a `PreToolDecision` to short-circuit; a `deny`/`ask` skips dispatch and yields an `isError` result. `tools/post-execute` is the inspect/transform seam: `(exec, result, next)` → a `PostToolDecision` that can replace content, block with feedback, or attach `additionalContext`. Core dispatch sits between them as plain code; the tool body keeps its own try/catch so a thrown tool still reaches `post-execute` as an `isError`. Both follow the typed-Decision idiom shared with the `agent/*` interception seams (see [`dsh-agent`](../agent/README.md)).
+- `tools/pre-execute` is the allow/deny gate (sandbox, permission, hooks): listeners receive `(exec, next)` and call `next()` to delegate to the default (allow) or return a `PreToolDecision` to short-circuit; a `deny`/`ask` skips dispatch and yields an `isError` result. `tools/execute` is the around-dispatch seam (timeout, retry, metrics): listeners receive `(exec, next)` and call `next()` to delegate to core dispatch (returning its `ToolExecutionResult`, optionally wrapped), or return a replacement result to short-circuit dispatch; the base `next()` IS dispatch-with-normalization, so `await next()` already yields an `isError` result for a thrown/unknown tool (never a raw throw). A wrapper mutates `exec` in place before `next()` — e.g. replacing `exec.signal` with a per-call deadline — because cordis `next()` ignores passed arguments. `tools/post-execute` is the inspect/transform seam: `(exec, result, next)` → a `PostToolDecision` that can replace content, block with feedback, or attach `additionalContext`. Core dispatch is the base of the `tools/execute` waterfall; the tool body keeps its own try/catch so a thrown tool still reaches `post-execute` as an `isError`. All follow the typed-Decision idiom shared with the `agent/*` interception seams (see [`dsh-agent`](../agent/README.md)); `@deepseek-ai/dsh-timeout-policy` is the reference `tools/execute` wrapper.
 - MCP servers: one plugin per server, discover tools, call `ctx.tools.register()` with the server's schemas.
 
 ### Typed tool parameter schemas

packages/core/tools/src/index.ts

@@ -1,9 +1,10 @@
 /**
  * Tool registry and execution pipeline. Plugins register tools; the registry
  * feeds schemas into the system prompt, and `execute()` dispatches each call
- * through `tools/pre-execute` (the allow/deny gate) → core dispatch →
- * `tools/post-execute` (inspect/replace the result, attach context) for
- * sandbox, permission, and hook plugins to gate or transform a call.
+ * through `tools/pre-execute` (the allow/deny gate) → `tools/execute` (an
+ * around-dispatch wrapper for timeout/retry/metrics plugins) → `tools/post-execute`
+ * (inspect/replace the result, attach context) for sandbox, permission, and hook
+ * plugins to gate or transform a call.
  *
  * @module @deepseek-ai/dsh-tools
  */
@@ -64,17 +65,37 @@ declare module 'cordis' {
      * @mode waterfall
      */
     'tools/pre-execute'(this: ToolRegistry, exec: ToolExecution, next: () => Promise<PreToolDecision>): Promise<PreToolDecision>
+    /**
+     * Around-dispatch waterfall wrapping the registry's core tool dispatch,
+     * between the `tools/pre-execute` gate and the `tools/post-execute` seam. A
+     * listener receives `(exec, next)`: call `next()` to delegate to dispatch
+     * (returning its {@link ToolExecutionResult}, optionally wrapped), or return a
+     * replacement result without calling `next()` to short-circuit dispatch. The
+     * base `next()` IS the dispatch-with-normalization thunk — a thrown tool (or
+     * unknown tool) is already normalized to an `isError` result by the time a
+     * listener's `await next()` returns, so a wrapper never sees a raw throw from
+     * the tool body. This is the seam a timeout/retry/metrics plugin wraps: it can
+     * mutate `exec` (e.g. replace `exec.signal` with a per-call deadline) BEFORE
+     * `next()` and inspect the result AFTER. (Cordis `next()` ignores any passed
+     * arguments and re-invokes downstream with the shared payload, so a wrapper
+     * mutates `exec` in place rather than passing a new object to `next()`.)
+     * Multiple listeners compose by registration order — an outer one wraps the
+     * inner ones plus dispatch.
+     * @param exec - the allowed call about to dispatch (name, parsed arguments, caller agent, signal).
+     * @mode waterfall
+     */
+    'tools/execute'(this: ToolRegistry, exec: ToolExecution, next: () => Promise<ToolExecutionResult>): Promise<ToolExecutionResult>
     /**
      * Waterfall AFTER a tool runs — where hook plugins inspect the result and
      * accept it (optionally REPLACING the model-facing content, and/or attaching
      * `additionalContext` for the next request) or block it with corrective
      * `feedback` (Claude Code's `PostToolUse`). Listeners receive
      * `(exec, result, next)`: call `next()` to delegate to the default (accept
-     * unchanged), or return a {@link PostToolDecision} to override. The core tool
-     * dispatch sits between the two waterfalls as plain code, all inside
-     * `execute`'s outer try/catch (and the tool body keeps its own inner
-     * try/catch, so a thrown tool still reaches `post-execute` as an `isError`
-     * result).
+     * unchanged), or return a {@link PostToolDecision} to override. Core tool
+     * dispatch runs earlier as the base `next()` of the `tools/execute`
+     * waterfall, all inside `execute`'s outer try/catch (and the tool body keeps
+     * its own inner try/catch, so a thrown tool still reaches `post-execute` as an
+     * `isError` result).
      * @param exec - the call that just ran (name, parsed arguments, caller agent).
      * @param result - the dispatch outcome a listener may accept, replace, or block.
      * @mode waterfall
@@ -261,7 +282,7 @@ function errorInfo(error: unknown): ToolErrorInfo | undefined {
 
 /**
  * Tool registry (`ctx.tools`): tool plugins register definitions; the agent
- * loop executes calls through the `tools/pre-execute` → dispatch →
+ * loop executes calls through the `tools/pre-execute` → `tools/execute` →
  * `tools/post-execute` pipeline. The registry contributes its schemas into the
  * system-prompt assembly.
  */
@@ -335,18 +356,20 @@ export class ToolRegistry extends Service {
   }
 
   /**
-   * Execute one tool call through the `tools/pre-execute` → dispatch →
-   * `tools/post-execute` pipeline. The two waterfalls are the gate (allow/deny)
-   * and the inspect/transform seam; core dispatch sits between them as plain
-   * code. The whole thing is wrapped in one outer try/catch so a throwing
-   * listener (in either waterfall) becomes an `isError` result instead of
-   * failing the turn; the tool body ALSO keeps its own inner try/catch, so a
-   * thrown tool becomes an `isError` result that `post-execute` listeners can
-   * still inspect. If the tool is not registered, the result is an `isError`
-   * carrying a `UNKNOWN_TOOL` structured error. A thrown {@link HarnessError}
-   * surfaces its `{ name, code }` on the result.
+   * Execute one tool call through the `tools/pre-execute` → `tools/execute`
+   * (around dispatch) → `tools/post-execute` pipeline. `pre-execute` is the gate
+   * (allow/deny), `tools/execute` wraps core dispatch (a timeout/retry/metrics
+   * seam), and `post-execute` is the inspect/transform seam; core dispatch sits
+   * as the base `next()` of the `tools/execute` waterfall. The whole thing is
+   * wrapped in one outer try/catch so a throwing listener (in any waterfall)
+   * becomes an `isError` result instead of failing the turn; the tool body ALSO
+   * keeps its own inner try/catch, so a thrown tool becomes an `isError` result
+   * that `tools/execute` and `post-execute` listeners can still inspect. If the
+   * tool is not registered, the result is an `isError` carrying a `UNKNOWN_TOOL`
+   * structured error. A thrown {@link HarnessError} surfaces its `{ name, code }`
+   * on the result.
    * @param exec - the call to run (name, parsed arguments, caller agent, signal).
-   * @returns the final result after both waterfalls; failures resolve as
+   * @returns the final result after every waterfall; failures resolve as
    *   `isError` results, never rejections.
    */
   async execute(exec: ToolExecution): Promise<ToolExecutionResult> {
@@ -372,23 +395,30 @@ export class ToolRegistry extends Service {
         return await this.postExecute(exec, denied)
       }
 
-      // --- Core dispatch (plain code between the waterfalls). The tool body's
-      // own try/catch turns a throw into an isError result so post-execute can
-      // inspect it; an unknown tool routes through the same catch. ---
-      let result: ToolExecutionResult
-      try {
-        const tool = this.store.get(exec.name)
-        if (!tool) throw new ToolNotFoundError(exec.name)
-        // Normalize the two `execute` return shapes: a bare ContentBlock[] (no
-        // meta) or a { content, meta } object (a tool attaching a private
-        // presentation payload). An array IS the content; the object carries it.
-        const returned = await tool.execute(exec.arguments, exec)
-        const content = Array.isArray(returned) ? returned : returned.content
-        const meta = Array.isArray(returned) ? undefined : returned.meta
-        result = { callId: exec.callId, content, isError: false, ...meta !== undefined ? { meta } : {} }
-      } catch (error: unknown) {
-        result = toolErrorResult(exec.callId, error)
-      }
+      // --- Around-dispatch: tools/execute. The base `next` is the dispatch-
+      // with-normalization thunk — the tool body's own try/catch turns a throw
+      // into an isError result so a wrapper (and post-execute) can inspect it;
+      // an unknown tool routes through the same catch. A `tools/execute` listener
+      // (e.g. a timeout plugin) wraps this thunk: it may mutate `exec` before
+      // delegating and inspect the normalized result after. ---
+      const result = await this.ctx.waterfall(
+        this, 'tools/execute', exec,
+        async (): Promise<ToolExecutionResult> => {
+          try {
+            const tool = this.store.get(exec.name)
+            if (!tool) throw new ToolNotFoundError(exec.name)
+            // Normalize the two `execute` return shapes: a bare ContentBlock[] (no
+            // meta) or a { content, meta } object (a tool attaching a private
+            // presentation payload). An array IS the content; the object carries it.
+            const returned = await tool.execute(exec.arguments, exec)
+            const content = Array.isArray(returned) ? returned : returned.content
+            const meta = Array.isArray(returned) ? undefined : returned.meta
+            return { callId: exec.callId, content, isError: false, ...meta !== undefined ? { meta } : {} }
+          } catch (error: unknown) {
+            return toolErrorResult(exec.callId, error)
+          }
+        },
+      )
 
       return await this.postExecute(exec, result)
     } catch (error: unknown) {

packages/core/tools/tests/tools.spec.ts

@@ -272,6 +272,148 @@ describe('ToolRegistry', () => {
     expect(order).toEqual(['pre:before', 'pre:after', 'post:before', 'post:after'])
   })
 
+  it('runs tools/execute after an allowed pre-execute, around dispatch, and before post-execute', async () => {
+    const ctx = await setup()
+    const order: string[] = []
+    ctx.tools.register(defineTool({
+      name: 'traced',
+      description: 'echo',
+      parameters: { text: { type: 'string' } },
+      async execute(args) {
+        order.push('dispatch')
+        return [{ type: 'text' as const, text: args.text ?? '' }]
+      },
+    }))
+
+    ctx.on('tools/pre-execute', async (_exec, next) => { order.push('pre'); return next() })
+    ctx.on('tools/execute', async (_exec, next) => {
+      order.push('execute:before')
+      const result = await next()
+      order.push('execute:after')
+      return result
+    })
+    ctx.on('tools/post-execute', async (_exec, _result, next) => { order.push('post'); return next() })
+
+    const result = await ctx.tools.execute({ callId: CallId('c1'), name: 'traced', arguments: { text: 'hi' } })
+    expect(result).toEqual({ callId: CallId('c1'), content: [{ type: 'text', text: 'hi' }], isError: false })
+    // The around seam wraps dispatch; pre gates before it, post runs over its result.
+    expect(order).toEqual(['pre', 'execute:before', 'dispatch', 'execute:after', 'post'])
+  })
+
+  it('a pre-execute deny short-circuits before tools/execute (the seam never runs)', async () => {
+    const ctx = await setup()
+    ctx.tools.register(echoTool)
+
+    let entered = false
+    ctx.on('tools/pre-execute', async (_exec, _next): Promise<PreToolDecision> => ({ kind: 'deny', reason: 'nope' }))
+    ctx.on('tools/execute', async (_exec, next) => { entered = true; return next() })
+
+    const result = await ctx.tools.execute({ callId: CallId('c1'), name: 'echo', arguments: { text: 'hi' } })
+    expect(result.isError).toBe(true)
+    expect(result.content[0]).toMatchObject({ text: 'Error: nope' })
+    expect(entered).toBe(false) // a denied call never enters the around-dispatch seam
+  })
+
+  it('a thrown tool is normalized to an isError result BEFORE a tools/execute listener sees next()', async () => {
+    const ctx = await setup()
+    ctx.tools.register({
+      ...echoTool,
+      name: 'boom',
+      async execute() { throw new HarnessError('kaboom', 'BOOM') },
+    })
+
+    let seen: { isError: boolean; error?: unknown } | undefined
+    ctx.on('tools/execute', async (_exec, next) => {
+      const result = await next()
+      // The base next() IS dispatch-with-normalization: the wrapper sees the
+      // normalized isError result, never a raw throw from the tool body.
+      seen = { isError: result.isError, error: result.error }
+      return result
+    })
+
+    const result = await ctx.tools.execute({ callId: CallId('c1'), name: 'boom', arguments: {} })
+    expect(seen).toEqual({ isError: true, error: { name: 'HarnessError', code: 'BOOM' } })
+    expect(result.isError).toBe(true)
+    expect(result.content[0]).toMatchObject({ text: 'Error: kaboom' })
+  })
+
+  it('a thrown tool normalized inside tools/execute still reaches post-execute', async () => {
+    const ctx = await setup()
+    ctx.tools.register({
+      ...echoTool,
+      name: 'boom',
+      async execute() { throw new Error('exploded') },
+    })
+
+    let postSaw: boolean | undefined
+    ctx.on('tools/execute', async (_exec, next) => next())
+    ctx.on('tools/post-execute', async (_exec, result, next) => {
+      postSaw = result.isError
+      return next()
+    })
+
+    const result = await ctx.tools.execute({ callId: CallId('c1'), name: 'boom', arguments: {} })
+    expect(postSaw).toBe(true) // the normalized isError still flows through post-execute
+    expect(result.isError).toBe(true)
+    expect(result.content[0]).toMatchObject({ text: 'Error: exploded' })
+  })
+
+  it('a tools/execute listener can replace exec.signal for the dispatched tool (deadline pattern)', async () => {
+    const ctx = await setup()
+    let seenSignal: AbortSignal | undefined
+    ctx.tools.register({
+      ...echoTool,
+      name: 'signal-probe',
+      async execute(_args, exec) {
+        seenSignal = exec.signal
+        return [{ type: 'text' as const, text: 'ok' }]
+      },
+    })
+
+    const upstream = new AbortController().signal
+    const replacement = new AbortController().signal
+    ctx.on('tools/execute', async (exec, next) => {
+      expect(exec.signal).toBe(upstream)
+      // Cordis next() ignores passed arguments, so a wrapper mutates exec in
+      // place (the documented "mutate the shared object, then delegate" idiom).
+      exec.signal = replacement
+      return next()
+    })
+
+    await ctx.tools.execute({ callId: CallId('c1'), name: 'signal-probe', arguments: {}, signal: upstream })
+    expect(seenSignal).toBe(replacement) // dispatch saw the wrapper's replacement, not the upstream
+  })
+
+  it('a tools/execute listener can short-circuit dispatch by returning a result without next()', async () => {
+    const ctx = await setup()
+    let dispatched = false
+    ctx.tools.register({
+      ...echoTool,
+      name: 'never-runs',
+      async execute() { dispatched = true; return [] },
+    })
+
+    ctx.on('tools/execute', async (exec, _next): Promise<import('@deepseek-ai/dsh-tools').ToolExecutionResult> =>
+      ({ callId: exec.callId, content: [{ type: 'text', text: 'short-circuited' }], isError: false }))
+
+    const result = await ctx.tools.execute({ callId: CallId('c1'), name: 'never-runs', arguments: {} })
+    expect(dispatched).toBe(false) // returning without next() skips core dispatch
+    expect(result.content[0]).toMatchObject({ text: 'short-circuited' })
+  })
+
+  it('returns an isError result when a tools/execute listener throws', async () => {
+    const ctx = await setup()
+    ctx.tools.register(echoTool)
+    ctx.on('tools/execute', async () => { throw new Error('wrapper broke') })
+
+    const result = await ctx.tools.execute({ callId: CallId('c1'), name: 'echo', arguments: { text: 'hi' } })
+    expect(result).toEqual({
+      callId: CallId('c1'),
+      content: [{ type: 'text', text: 'Error: wrapper broke' }],
+      isError: true,
+    })
+  })
+
   it('returns an isError result when a tools/pre-execute listener throws', async () => {
     const ctx = await setup()
     ctx.tools.register(echoTool)

packages/timeout/README.md

@@ -0,0 +1,9 @@
+# timeout/ — tool-call timeout policy
+
+The tool-call timeout policy plugin. A single **product** package: it is a deployment-policy consumer of the `tools/execute` around-dispatch seam (owned by [`dsh-tools`](../core/tools)) and the pure [`dsh-timeout`](../util/timeout) library — not a swappable capability with an interface/implementation split, so it needs no seam trio.
+
+| Package | Role | ctx key |
+|---|---|---|
+| `timeout-policy/` | A `tools/execute` wrapper: for each configured tool it arms a per-call deadline on `exec.signal` and returns a structured `TOOL_TIMEOUT` result when that deadline wins | (registers a `tools/execute` listener; injects nothing) |
+
+Timeout is split across three layers: [`dsh-timeout`](../util/timeout) owns the pure timing/classification primitive (`deadline`/`timeoutOf`), each capability owns termination (bash kills its process group, the fetch provider tears down its socket), and this package owns the *model-facing tool-call budget as deployment policy* — no model-facing timeout argument, no global default. It is the middleware the [timeout-library RFC](../../docs/rfc/implemented/architecture/2026-07-06-timeout-deadline-library.md) foresaw. `bash` and hook command execution keep their own `BASH_TIMEOUT` backend timeout and do not route through this policy.

packages/timeout/timeout-policy/README.md

@@ -0,0 +1,46 @@
+# dsh-timeout-policy
+
+Tool-call timeout policy: a single `tools/execute` around-dispatch listener that arms a per-call cooperative deadline on `exec.signal` for each configured tool and returns a structured `TOOL_TIMEOUT` result when that deadline wins. It is the reference `tools/execute` wrapper and the deployment-owned home for model-facing tool-call budgets (the timeout-library RFC's foreseen middleware).
+
+## Plugin (namespace: `timeout-policy`)
+
+A function/namespace plugin (`name` / `Config` / `apply`), not a service. It registers no tool and injects nothing — it consumes `ctx.tools`'s `tools/execute` waterfall, which the `dsh-tools` registry always provides.
+
+### Config
+
+Per-tool policy, keyed by the model-facing tool name. There is deliberately **no global default** (a global budget would silently start failing any tool that runs long once the plugin loads) and **no model-facing override** (timeout is deployment policy, not prompt semantics) in this version.
+
+```yaml
+- id: timeout-policy
+  name: '@deepseek-ai/dsh-timeout-policy'
+  config:
+    tools:
+      web_fetch:
+        timeoutMs: 30000
+      web_search:
+        timeoutMs: 30000
+```
+
+| Key | Type | Meaning |
+|---|---|---|
+| `tools` | `Record<string, { timeoutMs }>` | Per-tool timeout policy; an unlisted tool gets no deadline. `timeoutMs` is required per configured tool and must be positive finite. |
+
+### Behavior
+
+For a **configured** tool the listener:
+
+1. Arms `deadline(exec.signal, timeoutMs, 'TOOL_TIMEOUT')` — one signal fusing the caller's abort with this plugin's timer (`@deepseek-ai/dsh-timeout`).
+2. Swaps that derived signal onto `exec` for the downstream dispatch, then restores the caller's own signal afterward (cordis `next()` ignores passed arguments, so the wrapper mutates the shared `exec` in place; restoring keeps `tools/post-execute` seeing the caller's signal).
+3. After dispatch, if `timeoutOf(d.signal, 'TOOL_TIMEOUT')` matches — this plugin's own timer fired — replaces the result with a structured `TOOL_TIMEOUT` tool result: `{ isError: true, error: { name: 'ToolTimeoutError', code: 'TOOL_TIMEOUT' }, content: 'Error: tool call timed out after <ms>ms' }`.
+
+An **unconfigured** tool delegates untouched (no deadline).
+
+The base `next()` of `tools/execute` is the registry's dispatch-with-normalization thunk, so when the timeout signal reaches a provider that throws its own upstream-abort error, dispatch first turns it into a normal error result, and this wrapper then replaces that with `TOOL_TIMEOUT`. That ordering is why the replacement is keyed off the signal (`timeoutOf`), not off the dispatched result's shape.
+
+### Cooperative, not a hard kill
+
+The derived signal only **notifies**; termination stays with the tool and the capability it forwards `exec.signal` to (the `dsh-timeout` library owns no kill). **"Configured" therefore means "cooperative with `exec.signal`"**: a tool that ignores the signal will not stop on timeout. A deployment must only configure tools that forward the signal to their implementation — the shipped `web_fetch`/`web_search` (which forward through `ctx.web` to providers) are the reference. `TOOL_TIMEOUT` needs no session event for reconstructability: it is the final model-facing `tool/result`, already logged by the loop.
+
+### Composing with other `tools/execute` wrappers
+
+Multiple `tools/execute` listeners compose by cordis registration order. Combined with a future retry/sandbox/metrics wrapper, registration order chooses the semantics — "timeout covers the whole retry operation" (timeout registered outer) versus "timeout covers each attempt" (timeout registered inner).

packages/timeout/timeout-policy/package.json

@@ -0,0 +1,39 @@
+{
+  "name": "@deepseek-ai/dsh-timeout-policy",
+  "description": "Tool-call timeout policy: a tools/execute wrapper that arms a per-tool deadline on exec.signal and returns TOOL_TIMEOUT when it wins",
+  "version": "0.0.1",
+  "private": true,
+  "type": "module",
+  "main": "lib/index.js",
+  "types": "lib/types/index.d.ts",
+  "exports": {
+    ".": {
+      "types": "./lib/types/index.d.ts",
+      "default": "./lib/index.js"
+    },
+    "./src/*": "./src/*",
+    "./package.json": "./package.json"
+  },
+  "files": [
+    "lib/index.js",
+    "lib/types/**/*.d.ts",
+    "lib/types/**/*.d.ts.map",
+    "src"
+  ],
+  "license": "BSD-3-Clause",
+  "peerDependencies": {
+    "@deepseek-ai/dsh-llm": "^0.0.1",
+    "@deepseek-ai/dsh-timeout": "^0.0.1",
+    "@deepseek-ai/dsh-tools": "^0.0.1",
+    "cordis": "^4.0.0-rc.6"
+  },
+  "dependencies": {
+    "schemastery": "^3.18.0"
+  },
+  "devDependencies": {
+    "@deepseek-ai/dsh-llm": "workspace:^",
+    "@deepseek-ai/dsh-timeout": "workspace:^",
+    "@deepseek-ai/dsh-tools": "workspace:^",
+    "cordis": "^4.0.0-rc.6"
+  }
+}

packages/timeout/timeout-policy/src/index.ts

@@ -0,0 +1,137 @@
+/**
+ * `@deepseek-ai/dsh-timeout-policy`: the tool-call timeout policy plugin. It
+ * registers ONE `tools/execute` around-dispatch listener that, for each
+ * configured tool, arms a per-call deadline on `exec.signal` and returns a
+ * structured `TOOL_TIMEOUT` result when that deadline wins.
+ *
+ * This is a COOPERATIVE deadline, not a hard kill: the derived signal only
+ * NOTIFIES. A configured tool (and the capability it forwards `exec.signal` to)
+ * must honor that signal and reach quiescence — the plugin never races the tool
+ * promise or terminates work itself (see the timeout-library RFC's rejection of
+ * `Promise.race`). "Configured" therefore MEANS "cooperative with `exec.signal`":
+ * a tool that ignores the signal will not stop on timeout, so a deployment must
+ * only list tools that forward it (the shipped web tools are the reference).
+ *
+ * Ownership of the `TOOL_TIMEOUT` code is entirely here: it is both the internal
+ * {@link deadline} code (so {@link timeoutOf} scopes the classification to THIS
+ * plugin's own timer, reading a foreign/nested outer deadline as an ordinary
+ * cancel) and the structured `{ name, code }` on the replacement tool result.
+ * No new session event is needed for reconstructability: the `TOOL_TIMEOUT`
+ * result IS the final model-facing `tool/result`, already logged by the loop.
+ *
+ * Why a `tools/execute` around seam and not a `pre`/`post` pair: the deadline
+ * needs ONE lexical scope — arm on `exec.signal`, delegate to dispatch, classify
+ * the result, dispose the timer — which the around seam gives directly. A
+ * pre/post split would spread one deadline's lifetime across two independent
+ * waterfalls (a call-id map, cleanup on every deny/throw/dispose path).
+ *
+ * @module @deepseek-ai/dsh-timeout-policy
+ */
+
+import type { Context } from 'cordis'
+import z from 'schemastery'
+import type { CallId } from '@deepseek-ai/dsh-llm'
+import { deadline, timeoutOf } from '@deepseek-ai/dsh-timeout'
+import type { ToolExecutionResult } from '@deepseek-ai/dsh-tools'
+
+/**
+ * The code owned by this plugin, used BOTH as the internal {@link deadline}
+ * classification code AND as the structured error `code` on the replacement
+ * tool result. Scoping {@link timeoutOf} to it keeps a nested outer deadline
+ * (another `tools/execute` wrapper's timer that fired first) from being misread
+ * as this plugin's own timeout — it reads as an ordinary upstream cancel.
+ */
+export const TOOL_TIMEOUT = 'TOOL_TIMEOUT'
+
+/** Cordis plugin name used by loader diagnostics. */
+export const name = 'timeout-policy'
+
+/** Per-tool timeout policy. `timeoutMs` is required and must be positive finite. */
+export interface ToolTimeoutPolicy {
+  /** The per-call cooperative deadline for this tool, in milliseconds. */
+  timeoutMs: number
+}
+
+/**
+ * Plugin config: per-tool timeout policy, keyed by the model-facing tool name.
+ * There is deliberately NO global default (a global budget would silently start
+ * failing any tool that happens to run long once the plugin loads) and NO model
+ * override (timeout is deployment policy, not prompt semantics) in this version.
+ */
+export interface Config {
+  /** Timeout policy per tool name; an unlisted tool gets no deadline from this plugin. */
+  tools?: Record<string, ToolTimeoutPolicy>
+}
+
+export const Config: z<Config> = z.object({
+  tools: z.dict(z.object({ timeoutMs: z.number() })).default({}),
+})
+
+/** The shape after schemastery fills `tools` with its `{}` default. */
+type ResolvedConfig = Required<Config>
+
+/** A per-tool timeout must be a positive finite number (0 is not a "disable" value). */
+function assertPositiveFinite(toolName: string, value: number): void {
+  if (!Number.isFinite(value) || value <= 0) {
+    throw new Error(`timeout-policy: tools.${toolName}.timeoutMs must be a positive finite number`)
+  }
+}
+
+/**
+ * The structured result substituted when this plugin's deadline wins. `content`
+ * is the model-facing message; `error.code` is the same {@link TOOL_TIMEOUT}
+ * this plugin owns, so a retry/sandbox plugin (and replay) can route on it.
+ */
+export function toolTimeoutResult(callId: CallId, timeoutMs: number): ToolExecutionResult {
+  return {
+    callId,
+    content: [{ type: 'text', text: `Error: tool call timed out after ${timeoutMs}ms` }],
+    isError: true,
+    error: { name: 'ToolTimeoutError', code: TOOL_TIMEOUT },
+  }
+}
+
+/**
+ * Register the tool-call timeout policy. For a configured tool the listener arms
+ * a {@link deadline} on the caller's `exec.signal`, swaps it onto `exec` for the
+ * downstream dispatch (cordis `next()` ignores passed arguments, so a wrapper
+ * mutates the shared `exec` in place), restores the original signal afterward so
+ * `tools/post-execute` sees the caller's own signal, and replaces the result
+ * with {@link toolTimeoutResult} when its own timer fired. An unconfigured tool
+ * delegates untouched.
+ */
+export function apply(ctx: Context, config: Config): void {
+  // schemastery (Config) has already filled `tools` with its {} default.
+  const resolved = config as ResolvedConfig
+  for (const [toolName, policy] of Object.entries(resolved.tools)) {
+    assertPositiveFinite(toolName, policy.timeoutMs)
+  }
+
+  ctx.on('tools/execute', async (exec, next): Promise<ToolExecutionResult> => {
+    const timeoutMs = resolved.tools[exec.name]?.timeoutMs
+    // Unconfigured tool: no deadline, delegate unchanged.
+    if (timeoutMs === undefined) return next()
+
+    using d = deadline(exec.signal, timeoutMs, TOOL_TIMEOUT)
+    // Swap the derived deadline onto exec for dispatch, then restore the
+    // caller's own signal so post-execute listeners never see this plugin's
+    // (possibly already-aborted) timeout signal. `undefined` is not assignable to
+    // the optional `signal` under exactOptionalPropertyTypes, so branch on it.
+    const upstream = exec.signal
+    exec.signal = d.signal
+    try {
+      const result = await next()
+      // If OUR timer fired (scoped by code — a nested outer deadline reads as
+      // undefined here), the tool/capability saw the abort and reached
+      // quiescence; replace whatever it returned (its own abort result) with the
+      // structured TOOL_TIMEOUT the model sees.
+      if (timeoutOf(d.signal, TOOL_TIMEOUT) !== undefined) {
+        return toolTimeoutResult(exec.callId, timeoutMs)
+      }
+      return result
+    } finally {
+      if (upstream === undefined) delete exec.signal
+      else exec.signal = upstream
+    }
+  })
+}

packages/timeout/timeout-policy/tests/timeout-policy.spec.ts

@@ -0,0 +1,241 @@
+/**
+ * Unit + real-load-path coverage for @deepseek-ai/dsh-timeout-policy. The
+ * timeout-wins cases drive the deadline under fake timers (deterministic — no
+ * wall-clock race) and use a COOPERATIVE tool that settles only when its
+ * `exec.signal` aborts, mirroring how a real capability forwards the signal and
+ * reaches quiescence.
+ */
+
+import { afterEach, beforeEach, describe, expect, it, vi } from 'vitest'
+import { Context } from 'cordis'
+import Loader from '@cordisjs/plugin-loader'
+import { CallId, HarnessError } from '@deepseek-ai/dsh-llm'
+import SystemPrompt from '@deepseek-ai/dsh-system-prompt'
+import ToolRegistry, { defineTool, type ToolExecution, type ToolExecutionResult, type PostToolDecision } from '@deepseek-ai/dsh-tools'
+import * as timeoutPolicy from '@deepseek-ai/dsh-timeout-policy'
+import { TOOL_TIMEOUT, toolTimeoutResult } from '@deepseek-ai/dsh-timeout-policy'
+
+/** Mount the registry + the timeout-policy plugin with the given per-tool config. */
+async function setup(tools: Record<string, { timeoutMs: number }> = {}) {
+  const ctx = new Context()
+  await ctx.plugin(SystemPrompt)
+  await ctx.plugin(ToolRegistry)
+  await ctx.plugin(timeoutPolicy, { tools })
+  return ctx
+}
+
+/** A fast tool: returns immediately, ignoring the signal. */
+const fastTool = defineTool({
+  name: 'fast',
+  description: 'returns at once',
+  parameters: {},
+  async execute() { return [{ type: 'text' as const, text: 'ok' }] },
+})
+
+/** A cooperative tool that settles ONLY when its exec.signal aborts (returns text). */
+const cooperativeTool = defineTool({
+  name: 'slow',
+  description: 'stops when aborted',
+  parameters: {},
+  execute(_args, exec): Promise<{ type: 'text'; text: string }[]> {
+    const done = [{ type: 'text' as const, text: 'stopped cooperatively' }]
+    if (exec.signal?.aborted) return Promise.resolve(done)
+    return new Promise((resolve) => {
+      exec.signal?.addEventListener('abort', () => { resolve(done) })
+    })
+  },
+})
+
+/** A cooperative tool that THROWS its own upstream-abort error when aborted (web-provider shape). */
+const abortThrowingTool = defineTool({
+  name: 'aborter',
+  description: 'throws WEB_ABORTED when aborted',
+  parameters: {},
+  execute(_args, exec): Promise<never> {
+    if (exec.signal?.aborted) return Promise.reject(new HarnessError('web fetch aborted', 'WEB_ABORTED'))
+    return new Promise((_resolve, reject) => {
+      exec.signal?.addEventListener('abort', () => { reject(new HarnessError('web fetch aborted', 'WEB_ABORTED')) })
+    })
+  },
+})
+
+describe('timeout-policy config validation', () => {
+  it('rejects a non-positive timeout at apply', async () => {
+    const ctx = new Context()
+    await ctx.plugin(SystemPrompt)
+    await ctx.plugin(ToolRegistry)
+    await expect(ctx.plugin(timeoutPolicy, { tools: { web_fetch: { timeoutMs: 0 } } }))
+      .rejects.toThrow('tools.web_fetch.timeoutMs must be a positive finite number')
+  })
+
+  it('rejects a non-finite timeout at apply', async () => {
+    const ctx = new Context()
+    await ctx.plugin(SystemPrompt)
+    await ctx.plugin(ToolRegistry)
+    await expect(ctx.plugin(timeoutPolicy, { tools: { web_fetch: { timeoutMs: Infinity } } }))
+      .rejects.toThrow('must be a positive finite number')
+  })
+
+  it('mounts with no config (empty tools default) and delegates every call', async () => {
+    const ctx = await setup()
+    ctx.tools.register(fastTool)
+    const result = await ctx.tools.execute({ callId: CallId('c1'), name: 'fast', arguments: {} })
+    expect(result).toEqual({ callId: CallId('c1'), content: [{ type: 'text', text: 'ok' }], isError: false })
+  })
+})
+
+describe('timeout-policy delegation (unconfigured / fast)', () => {
+  it('delegates an UNCONFIGURED tool unchanged and does not touch exec.signal', async () => {
+    const ctx = await setup({ other: { timeoutMs: 50 } })
+    let seenSignal: AbortSignal | undefined
+    ctx.tools.register({ ...fastTool, name: 'probe', async execute(_a, exec) { seenSignal = exec.signal; return [{ type: 'text' as const, text: 'ok' }] } })
+
+    const upstream = new AbortController().signal
+    const result = await ctx.tools.execute({ callId: CallId('c1'), name: 'probe', arguments: {}, signal: upstream })
+    expect(result.isError).toBe(false)
+    expect(seenSignal).toBe(upstream) // no deadline derived for an unconfigured tool
+  })
+
+  it('a configured tool that returns fast keeps its own result (no timeout)', async () => {
+    const ctx = await setup({ fast: { timeoutMs: 10_000 } })
+    ctx.tools.register(fastTool)
+    const result = await ctx.tools.execute({ callId: CallId('c1'), name: 'fast', arguments: {} })
+    expect(result).toEqual({ callId: CallId('c1'), content: [{ type: 'text', text: 'ok' }], isError: false })
+  })
+
+  it('a configured tool receives the DERIVED deadline signal (not the caller signal) during dispatch', async () => {
+    const ctx = await setup({ probe: { timeoutMs: 10_000 } })
+    let seenSignal: AbortSignal | undefined
+    ctx.tools.register({ ...fastTool, name: 'probe', async execute(_a, exec) { seenSignal = exec.signal; return [{ type: 'text' as const, text: 'ok' }] } })
+
+    const upstream = new AbortController().signal
+    await ctx.tools.execute({ callId: CallId('c1'), name: 'probe', arguments: {}, signal: upstream })
+    expect(seenSignal).toBeDefined()
+    expect(seenSignal).not.toBe(upstream) // the plugin swapped in its fused deadline signal
+  })
+})
+
+describe('timeout-policy signal restoration', () => {
+  it('restores the caller signal for post-execute after wrapping', async () => {
+    const ctx = await setup({ fast: { timeoutMs: 10_000 } })
+    ctx.tools.register(fastTool)
+    let postSignal: AbortSignal | undefined | 'unset' = 'unset'
+    ctx.on('tools/post-execute', async (exec, _result, next): Promise<PostToolDecision> => {
+      postSignal = exec.signal
+      return next()
+    })
+
+    const upstream = new AbortController().signal
+    await ctx.tools.execute({ callId: CallId('c1'), name: 'fast', arguments: {}, signal: upstream })
+    expect(postSignal).toBe(upstream) // restored to the caller's own signal, not the deadline
+  })
+
+  it('deletes exec.signal again when the caller passed none', async () => {
+    const ctx = await setup({ fast: { timeoutMs: 10_000 } })
+    ctx.tools.register(fastTool)
+    let hadSignal: boolean | undefined
+    ctx.on('tools/post-execute', async (exec, _result, next): Promise<PostToolDecision> => {
+      hadSignal = 'signal' in exec && exec.signal !== undefined
+      return next()
+    })
+
+    await ctx.tools.execute({ callId: CallId('c1'), name: 'fast', arguments: {} })
+    expect(hadSignal).toBe(false) // no caller signal → exec.signal absent again after wrapping
+  })
+})
+
+describe('timeout-policy TOOL_TIMEOUT replacement (deadline wins)', () => {
+  beforeEach(() => { vi.useFakeTimers() })
+  afterEach(() => { vi.useRealTimers() })
+
+  it('replaces a cooperative tool result with TOOL_TIMEOUT when its own deadline fires', async () => {
+    const ctx = await setup({ slow: { timeoutMs: 100 } })
+    ctx.tools.register(cooperativeTool)
+
+    const pending = ctx.tools.execute({ callId: CallId('c1'), name: 'slow', arguments: {} })
+    await vi.advanceTimersByTimeAsync(150) // past the 100ms deadline: the timer fires, the tool settles
+    const result = await pending
+
+    expect(result).toEqual({
+      callId: CallId('c1'),
+      content: [{ type: 'text', text: 'Error: tool call timed out after 100ms' }],
+      isError: true,
+      error: { name: 'ToolTimeoutError', code: 'TOOL_TIMEOUT' },
+    })
+  })
+
+  it('replaces a provider-owned abort ERROR result with TOOL_TIMEOUT (not WEB_ABORTED) when the signal was ours', async () => {
+    const ctx = await setup({ aborter: { timeoutMs: 100 } })
+    ctx.tools.register(abortThrowingTool)
+
+    const pending = ctx.tools.execute({ callId: CallId('c1'), name: 'aborter', arguments: {} })
+    await vi.advanceTimersByTimeAsync(150)
+    const result = await pending
+
+    // Dispatch first normalized the thrown WEB_ABORTED into an isError result;
+    // the plugin then replaced THAT with TOOL_TIMEOUT because its own timer won.
+    expect(result.isError).toBe(true)
+    expect(result.error).toEqual({ name: 'ToolTimeoutError', code: 'TOOL_TIMEOUT' })
+    expect(result.content[0]).toMatchObject({ text: 'Error: tool call timed out after 100ms' })
+  })
+
+  it('does NOT replace when the caller aborts first (upstream cancel, not our timeout)', async () => {
+    const ctx = await setup({ slow: { timeoutMs: 100 } })
+    ctx.tools.register(cooperativeTool)
+
+    const upstream = new AbortController()
+    const pending = ctx.tools.execute({ callId: CallId('c1'), name: 'slow', arguments: {}, signal: upstream.signal })
+    upstream.abort('user cancelled') // fires before the 100ms timer
+    await vi.advanceTimersByTimeAsync(0)
+    const result = await pending
+
+    // Our timer never fired, so timeoutOf(code) is undefined: the tool's own
+    // cooperative result stands, not a TOOL_TIMEOUT.
+    expect(result.isError).toBe(false)
+    expect(result.content[0]).toMatchObject({ text: 'stopped cooperatively' })
+  })
+})
+
+describe('toolTimeoutResult', () => {
+  it('builds the structured TOOL_TIMEOUT result', () => {
+    expect(toolTimeoutResult(CallId('c9'), 250)).toEqual({
+      callId: CallId('c9'),
+      content: [{ type: 'text', text: 'Error: tool call timed out after 250ms' }],
+      isError: true,
+      error: { name: 'ToolTimeoutError', code: 'TOOL_TIMEOUT' },
+    } satisfies ToolExecutionResult)
+  })
+
+  it('exposes the owned code constant', () => {
+    expect(TOOL_TIMEOUT).toBe('TOOL_TIMEOUT')
+  })
+})
+
+describe('dsh-timeout-policy real-load-path guard', () => {
+  it('has no default export and keeps name/Config through unwrapExports', () => {
+    expect('default' in timeoutPolicy).toBe(false)
+
+    const loader = Object.create(Loader.prototype) as Loader
+    const unwrapped = loader.unwrapExports(timeoutPolicy) as Record<string, unknown>
+    expect(unwrapped).toBe(timeoutPolicy)
+    expect(unwrapped.name).toBe('timeout-policy')
+    expect(typeof unwrapped.apply).toBe('function')
+    expect(unwrapped.Config).toBeDefined()
+  })
+
+  it('boots over ctx.tools through the unwrapped module and wraps a configured tool', async () => {
+    const ctx = new Context()
+    await ctx.plugin(SystemPrompt)
+    await ctx.plugin(ToolRegistry)
+    ctx.tools.register(fastTool)
+
+    const loader = Object.create(Loader.prototype) as Loader
+    const unwrapped = loader.unwrapExports(timeoutPolicy) as Parameters<Context['plugin']>[0]
+    const fiber = await ctx.plugin(unwrapped, { tools: { fast: { timeoutMs: 5_000 } } })
+    // A configured fast tool still succeeds (deadline never fires); this proves
+    // the wrapper is live through the real Loader path.
+    const result = await ctx.tools.execute({ callId: CallId('c1'), name: 'fast', arguments: {} } satisfies ToolExecution)
+    expect(result.isError).toBe(false)
+    await fiber.dispose()
+  })
+})

packages/timeout/timeout-policy/tsconfig.json

@@ -0,0 +1,16 @@
+{
+  "extends": "../../../tsconfig.base.json",
+  "compilerOptions": {
+    "rootDir": "src",
+    "outDir": "lib/types"
+  },
+  "include": ["src"],
+  "references": [
+    { "path": "../../../vendor/cosmokit" },
+    { "path": "../../../vendor/cordis" },
+    { "path": "../../../vendor/schemastery" },
+    { "path": "../../llm/llm" },
+    { "path": "../../util/timeout" },
+    { "path": "../../core/tools" }
+  ]
+}

packages/web/tool-web/README.md

@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 # @deepseek-ai/dsh-tool-web
 
-The model-facing web tool suite — `web_search` and `web_fetch` — over the [web capability seam](../web/README.md) (`ctx.web`). It owns model-facing concerns only: tool names, JSON schemas, snake_case argument names, prompt sections, the result-count bound, result formatting, HTML→markdown presentation, and `presentCall`. All web access goes through `ctx.web`; this package never imports a concrete provider.
+The model-facing web tool suite — `web_search` and `web_fetch` — over the [web capability seam](../web/README.md) (`ctx.web`). It owns model-facing concerns only: tool names, JSON schemas, snake_case argument names, prompt sections, the result-count bound, result formatting, HTML→markdown presentation, and `presentCall`. All web access goes through `ctx.web`; this package never imports a concrete provider. Neither tool exposes a model-facing timeout — the tool-call budget is deployment policy owned by [`@deepseek-ai/dsh-timeout-policy`](../../timeout/timeout-policy/README.md) (a `tools/execute` wrapper); each tool just forwards `exec.signal` to the seam.
 
 Each tool is registered independently; a product that wants only one disables the other via config (`{ search: false }` / `{ fetch: false }`).
 
@@ -9,7 +9,7 @@ Each tool is registered independently; a product that wants only one disables th
 | Tool | Args | Behavior |
 |---|---|---|
 | `web_search` | `query` (string) | Discovery. Returns an optional answer plus source URLs. `max_results` is **not** model-facing — the tool sets the bound (the `searchMaxResults` config, default 8) and passes it to the seam. |
-| `web_fetch` | `url` (string), `timeout_ms` (number, optional) | Retrieves a specific URL. HTML bodies are rendered to markdown-ish text; text bodies pass through. A non-2xx status is reported, not an error. |
+| `web_fetch` | `url` (string) | Retrieves a specific URL. HTML bodies are rendered to markdown-ish text; text bodies pass through. A non-2xx status is reported, not an error. The tool-call timeout is deployment policy (`dsh-timeout-policy`), not a model argument. |
 
 ## Config
 

packages/web/tool-web/package.json

@@ -37,6 +37,7 @@
     "@deepseek-ai/dsh-session": "workspace:^",
     "@deepseek-ai/dsh-system-prompt": "workspace:^",
     "@deepseek-ai/dsh-tools": "workspace:^",
+    "@deepseek-ai/dsh-timeout-policy": "workspace:^",
     "@deepseek-ai/dsh-web": "workspace:^",
     "@deepseek-ai/dsh-web-fetch-local": "workspace:^",
     "@deepseek-ai/dsh-web-search-exa": "workspace:^",

packages/web/tool-web/src/fetch.ts

@@ -3,6 +3,12 @@
  * Execution goes through `ctx.web` — this module owns the model-facing schema,
  * argument validation, and PRESENTATION (HTML→markdown, truncation formatting),
  * while the fetch provider owns safe retrieval (transport, redirects, caps).
+ *
+ * The model-facing schema exposes NO timeout knob: the tool-call budget is
+ * deployment policy owned by `@deepseek-ai/dsh-timeout-policy` (a `tools/execute`
+ * wrapper), matching the reference-agent `WebFetch` shape. This tool just
+ * forwards the (possibly deadline-derived) `exec.signal` to `ctx.web`; the
+ * provider keeps its own timeout only as a resource backstop for direct callers.
  */
 
 import type { Context } from 'cordis'
@@ -15,12 +21,9 @@ import type {} from '@deepseek-ai/dsh-system-prompt'
 import { htmlToMarkdown } from './html.ts'
 
 /** Validate value constraints the schema DSL can't express. */
-export function parseFetchArgs(args: { url: string; timeout_ms?: number }): { url: string; timeoutMs?: number } {
+export function parseFetchArgs(args: { url: string }): { url: string } {
   if (args.url.trim().length === 0) throw new Error('url must be a non-empty string')
-  if (args.timeout_ms !== undefined && (!Number.isFinite(args.timeout_ms) || args.timeout_ms <= 0)) {
-    throw new Error('timeout_ms must be a positive number')
-  }
-  return { url: args.url, ...args.timeout_ms !== undefined ? { timeoutMs: args.timeout_ms } : {} }
+  return { url: args.url }
 }
 
 /** Render a fetched body to model-facing markdown text. */
@@ -44,7 +47,7 @@ export function formatFetchOutput(result: WebFetchResult): string {
 }
 
 /** Pending-call presentation: a fetch card titled by the URL. */
-export function presentFetchCall(args: { url: string; timeout_ms?: number }): GenericCallView {
+export function presentFetchCall(args: { url: string }): GenericCallView {
   return { card: 'generic', title: args.url, kind: 'fetch', rawInput: args.url }
 }
 
@@ -61,12 +64,11 @@ export function applyWebFetchTool(ctx: Context): void {
     description: 'Fetch the content of a specific HTTP(S) URL and return it decoded to text.',
     parameters: {
       url: { type: 'string', required: true, description: 'The HTTP(S) URL to fetch.' },
-      timeout_ms: { type: 'number', description: 'Optional fetch timeout in milliseconds (capped by the provider).' },
     },
     async execute(args, exec): Promise<ContentBlock[]> {
       const input = parseFetchArgs(args)
       const result = await ctx.web.fetch(
-        { url: input.url, ...input.timeoutMs !== undefined ? { timeoutMs: input.timeoutMs } : {} },
+        { url: input.url },
         exec.signal ? { signal: exec.signal } : undefined,
       )
       return [{ type: 'text', text: formatFetchOutput(result) }]

packages/web/tool-web/tests/integration.spec.ts

@@ -1,10 +1,11 @@
 /**
  * Integration: the real fetch backend (`dsh-web-fetch-local`) + a real search
  * provider (`dsh-web-search-exa`) + the real seam (`dsh-web`) + the model tool
- * (`dsh-tool-web`), exercised through `ctx.tools.execute()` — nothing bypasses
- * the tool registry. Fetch hits a real loopback HTTP server (verifying the
- * WORLD); search runs the real Exa provider over a stubbed global `fetch` (the
- * network is the one boundary we mock).
+ * (`dsh-tool-web`) + the tool-call timeout policy (`dsh-timeout-policy`),
+ * exercised through `ctx.tools.execute()` — nothing bypasses the tool registry.
+ * Fetch hits a real loopback HTTP server (verifying the WORLD); search runs the
+ * real Exa provider over a stubbed global `fetch` (the network is the one
+ * boundary we mock).
  */
 
 import { afterEach, beforeEach, describe, expect, it, vi } from 'vitest'
@@ -18,6 +19,7 @@ import WebService from '@deepseek-ai/dsh-web'
 import * as WebFetchLocal from '@deepseek-ai/dsh-web-fetch-local'
 import * as WebSearchExa from '@deepseek-ai/dsh-web-search-exa'
 import * as ToolWeb from '@deepseek-ai/dsh-tool-web'
+import * as TimeoutPolicy from '@deepseek-ai/dsh-timeout-policy'
 
 type Handler = (req: IncomingMessage, res: ServerResponse) => void
 
@@ -39,6 +41,9 @@ beforeEach(async () => {
   await ctx.plugin(WebService, { searchProvider: WebSearchExa.EXA_PROVIDER_ID, fetchProvider: WebFetchLocal.LOCAL_FETCH_PROVIDER_ID })
   await ctx.plugin(WebFetchLocal, {})
   await ctx.plugin(WebSearchExa, { apiKey: 'exa-key', baseURL: 'https://api.exa.test' })
+  // The shipped deployment shape: the tool-call budget is deployment policy over
+  // the model tools, set above the provider backstop so the policy normally wins.
+  await ctx.plugin(TimeoutPolicy, { tools: { web_fetch: { timeoutMs: 30_000 }, web_search: { timeoutMs: 30_000 } } })
   fiber = await ctx.plugin(ToolWeb)
 })
 
@@ -96,3 +101,69 @@ describe('web_search integration over the real Exa provider', () => {
     expect(out.content.map(b => b.text).join('')).toContain('[Result](https://result.test)')
   })
 })
+
+describe('tool-call timeout policy over the migrated web tools', () => {
+  it('neither model schema exposes a timeout parameter after the migration', () => {
+    const byName = new Map(ctx.tools.schemas().map(s => [s.name, s]))
+    const fetchParams = byName.get('web_fetch')!.parameters as { properties: Record<string, unknown> }
+    const searchParams = byName.get('web_search')!.parameters as { properties: Record<string, unknown> }
+    expect(Object.keys(fetchParams.properties)).toEqual(['url'])
+    expect('timeout_ms' in fetchParams.properties).toBe(false)
+    expect(Object.keys(searchParams.properties)).toEqual(['query'])
+  })
+})
+
+describe('tool-call timeout returns TOOL_TIMEOUT (deadline wins over a slow fetch)', () => {
+  let slowServer: Server
+  let slowBase: string
+  let openSockets: ServerResponse[]
+  let tctx: Context
+  let tfiber: Awaited<ReturnType<Context['plugin']>>
+
+  beforeEach(async () => {
+    // A server that never responds: it holds the connection open until the
+    // client aborts. The cooperative deadline (via exec.signal → the fetch
+    // provider → undici) is what ends the call.
+    openSockets = []
+    slowServer = createServer((_req, res) => { openSockets.push(res) })
+    await new Promise<void>(resolve => slowServer.listen(0, '127.0.0.1', resolve))
+    slowBase = `http://127.0.0.1:${(slowServer.address() as AddressInfo).port}`
+
+    tctx = new Context()
+    await tctx.plugin(SystemPrompt)
+    await tctx.plugin(ToolRegistry)
+    await tctx.plugin(WebService, { fetchProvider: WebFetchLocal.LOCAL_FETCH_PROVIDER_ID })
+    // Provider backstop well ABOVE the tool-call budget, so the policy wins.
+    await tctx.plugin(WebFetchLocal, { timeoutMs: 30_000, maxTimeoutMs: 60_000 })
+    await tctx.plugin(TimeoutPolicy, { tools: { web_fetch: { timeoutMs: 50 } } })
+    tfiber = await tctx.plugin(ToolWeb)
+  })
+
+  afterEach(async () => {
+    for (const res of openSockets) res.destroy()
+    await tfiber.dispose()
+    await new Promise<void>(resolve => slowServer.close(() => { resolve() }))
+  })
+
+  it('returns a structured TOOL_TIMEOUT (not the provider WEB_FETCH_TIMEOUT) when the tool-call budget wins', async () => {
+    const out = await tctx.tools.execute({ callId: CallId('slow-1'), name: 'web_fetch', arguments: { url: slowBase } })
+    expect(out.isError).toBe(true)
+    // The outer tool-call deadline won: TOOL_TIMEOUT, owned by dsh-timeout-policy,
+    // NOT the provider's own WEB_FETCH_TIMEOUT (its 30s backstop never fired).
+    expect(out.error?.code).toBe('TOOL_TIMEOUT')
+    const text = out.content.map(b => (b.type === 'text' ? b.text : '')).join('')
+    expect(text).toContain('timed out after 50ms')
+  })
+
+  it('the provider backstop still protects a DIRECT ctx.web.fetch() call (no tool-call policy in that path)', async () => {
+    // A direct seam caller does not go through tools/execute, so the tool-call
+    // policy never applies; the provider's OWN timeout is the only budget. A
+    // short per-request hint proves the provider backstop is intact and classifies
+    // as WEB_FETCH_TIMEOUT (the provider-owned code), never TOOL_TIMEOUT.
+    const err = await tctx.web.fetch({ url: slowBase, timeoutMs: 50 }).then(
+      () => undefined,
+      (e: unknown) => e as { code?: string },
+    )
+    expect(err?.code).toBe('WEB_FETCH_TIMEOUT')
+  })
+})

packages/web/tool-web/tests/tool-web.spec.ts

@@ -110,10 +110,9 @@ describe('fetch formatting', () => {
     expect(renderBody({ kind: 'html', content: '<p>y</p>' })).toBe('y')
   })
 
-  it('validates url and timeout', () => {
+  it('validates url (non-empty), no timeout parameter', () => {
     expect(() => parseFetchArgs({ url: ' ' })).toThrow('non-empty')
-    expect(() => parseFetchArgs({ url: 'https://a.test', timeout_ms: -1 })).toThrow('positive')
-    expect(parseFetchArgs({ url: 'https://a.test', timeout_ms: 5 })).toEqual({ url: 'https://a.test', timeoutMs: 5 })
+    expect(parseFetchArgs({ url: 'https://a.test' })).toEqual({ url: 'https://a.test' })
   })
 
   it('presents a fetch call as a fetch-kind card titled by the url', () => {
@@ -249,7 +248,7 @@ describe('tool-web execution through the real registry', () => {
     expect('default' in ToolWeb).toBe(false)
   })
 
-  it('executes web_fetch, forwarding timeout_ms and the abort signal to the seam', async () => {
+  it('executes web_fetch, forwarding the url (no timeout param) and the abort signal to the seam', async () => {
     const seen: { request?: { url: string; timeoutMs?: number }; signal?: AbortSignal | undefined } = {}
     const fetchProvider = {
       id: 'stub-fetch',
@@ -262,13 +261,35 @@ describe('tool-web execution through the real registry', () => {
     }
     const { ctx, fiber } = await mountTools({ webConfig: { fetchProvider: 'stub-fetch' }, fetchProvider })
     const controller = new AbortController()
-    const out = await ctx.tools.execute({ callId: CallId('fetch-1'), name: 'web_fetch', arguments: { url: 'https://a.test', timeout_ms: 1234 }, signal: controller.signal })
+    const out = await ctx.tools.execute({ callId: CallId('fetch-1'), name: 'web_fetch', arguments: { url: 'https://a.test' }, signal: controller.signal })
     expect(out.isError).toBe(false)
-    expect(seen.request).toEqual({ url: 'https://a.test', timeoutMs: 1234 })
+    // The model schema exposes no timeout: the tool forwards only the url; the
+    // tool-call budget is owned by dsh-timeout-policy over exec.signal.
+    expect(seen.request).toEqual({ url: 'https://a.test' })
     expect(seen.signal).toBe(controller.signal)
     await fiber.dispose()
   })
 
+  it('executes web_fetch with no caller signal (forwards undefined to the seam)', async () => {
+    const seen: { signal?: AbortSignal | undefined; passedExec?: boolean } = {}
+    const fetchProvider = {
+      id: 'stub-fetch',
+      status: () => available,
+      fetch: (request: { url: string }, exec?: { signal?: AbortSignal }) => {
+        seen.passedExec = exec !== undefined
+        seen.signal = exec?.signal
+        return Promise.resolve({ providerId: 'stub-fetch', url: request.url, statusCode: 200, body: { kind: 'text' as const, content: 'ok' }, truncated: false })
+      },
+    }
+    const { ctx, fiber } = await mountTools({ webConfig: { fetchProvider: 'stub-fetch' }, fetchProvider })
+    // No signal on the execution: the tool passes `undefined` (not `{ signal: undefined }`).
+    const out = await ctx.tools.execute({ callId: CallId('fetch-2'), name: 'web_fetch', arguments: { url: 'https://a.test' } })
+    expect(out.isError).toBe(false)
+    expect(seen.passedExec).toBe(false)
+    expect(seen.signal).toBeUndefined()
+    await fiber.dispose()
+  })
+
   it('executes web_search, forwarding the abort signal to the seam', async () => {
     const seen: { signal?: AbortSignal | undefined } = {}
     const provider: WebSearchProvider = {

packages/web/tool-web/tsconfig.json

@@ -12,6 +12,7 @@
     { "path": "../../llm/llm" },
     { "path": "../../core/tools" },
     { "path": "../../core/system-prompt" },
+    { "path": "../../timeout/timeout-policy" },
     { "path": "../web" }
   ]
 }

packages/web/web-fetch-local/README.md

@@ -6,7 +6,9 @@ This is an **implementation** package: it registers a provider into `ctx.web`, i
 
 ## Responsibility split
 
-The provider owns **safe resource retrieval**: URL validation, HTTP transport, redirect policy, timeout, abort propagation, byte caps, charset decoding, content-type classification, and binary rejection. `@deepseek-ai/dsh-tool-web` owns **presentation** (HTML→markdown, truncation formatting). A non-2xx HTTP response is a *result* (status code + decoded body), not an error; `WebError` is reserved for failures to safely retrieve or represent the resource.
+The provider owns **safe resource retrieval**: URL validation, HTTP transport, redirect policy, a resource-backstop timeout, abort propagation, byte caps, charset decoding, content-type classification, and binary rejection. `@deepseek-ai/dsh-tool-web` owns **presentation** (HTML→markdown, truncation formatting). A non-2xx HTTP response is a *result* (status code + decoded body), not an error; `WebError` is reserved for failures to safely retrieve or represent the resource.
+
+The provider's `timeoutMs`/`maxTimeoutMs` is a **resource backstop** for direct `ctx.web.fetch()` callers and misconfigured deployments — it is NOT the model-facing tool-call budget. The tool-call budget for `web_fetch` is deployment policy owned by [`@deepseek-ai/dsh-timeout-policy`](../../timeout/timeout-policy/README.md), which arms a per-call deadline on `exec.signal`. A shipped web-tool deployment sets the provider backstop **above** the `tool-timeout` budget, so the tool-call policy normally wins for model calls (returning `TOOL_TIMEOUT`); when the outer deadline signal reaches this provider first, it classifies as `WEB_ABORTED` and the outer wrapper replaces the result with `TOOL_TIMEOUT`. The provider's own `WEB_FETCH_TIMEOUT` only fires for a direct seam caller whose own budget elapsed.
 
 ## Transport hygiene
 
@@ -24,8 +26,8 @@ The provider owns **safe resource retrieval**: URL validation, HTTP transport, r
 | `maxUrlLength` | `2048` | Maximum accepted request URL length. |
 | `maxResponseBytes` | `5_000_000` | Maximum response body size in bytes. |
 | `maxBodyChars` | `100_000` | Maximum decoded body length in characters. |
-| `timeoutMs` | `30_000` | Default fetch timeout. |
-| `maxTimeoutMs` | `120_000` | Upper bound for a per-request timeout override. |
+| `timeoutMs` | `30_000` | Default fetch timeout — a resource backstop for direct `ctx.web.fetch()` callers, not the model-facing tool-call budget (that is `dsh-timeout-policy`). |
+| `maxTimeoutMs` | `120_000` | Upper bound for a per-request timeout override (direct callers). |
 | `maxRedirects` | `5` | Maximum same-origin redirect hops (`0` follows none). |
 | `userAgent` | `deepseek-harness/…` | `User-Agent` header. |
 

pnpm-lock.yaml

@@ -800,6 +800,25 @@ importers:
         specifier: ^4.0.0-rc.6
         version: 4.0.0-rc.6(@cordisjs/plugin-include@1.0.4)(@cordisjs/plugin-loader@1.0.0-rc.4)
 
+  packages/timeout/timeout-policy:
+    dependencies:
+      schemastery:
+        specifier: ^3.18.0
+        version: 3.18.0
+    devDependencies:
+      '@deepseek-ai/dsh-llm':
+        specifier: workspace:^
+        version: link:../../llm/llm
+      '@deepseek-ai/dsh-timeout':
+        specifier: workspace:^
+        version: link:../../util/timeout
+      '@deepseek-ai/dsh-tools':
+        specifier: workspace:^
+        version: link:../../core/tools
+      cordis:
+        specifier: ^4.0.0-rc.6
+        version: 4.0.0-rc.6(@cordisjs/plugin-include@1.0.4)(@cordisjs/plugin-loader@1.0.0-rc.4)
+
   packages/todo/tool-todo:
     devDependencies:
       '@deepseek-ai/dsh-agent':
@@ -987,6 +1006,9 @@ importers:
       '@deepseek-ai/dsh-system-prompt':
         specifier: workspace:^
         version: link:../../core/system-prompt
+      '@deepseek-ai/dsh-timeout-policy':
+        specifier: workspace:^
+        version: link:../../timeout/timeout-policy
       '@deepseek-ai/dsh-tools':
         specifier: workspace:^
         version: link:../../core/tools

scripts/gen-doc-graphs.ts

@@ -621,7 +621,7 @@ function renderToolPipeline(): string {
   const maintenance = 'curated Mermaid flow; exact tool schemas and event signatures live in generated catalogs'
   return [
     ...generatedHeader('Tool Execution Pipeline'),
-    'This graph shows where policy, hooks, sandboxing, filesystem guards, result rewriting, and UI rendering fit without changing the loop. The key extension points are the `tools/pre-execute` and `tools/post-execute` waterfalls.',
+    'This graph shows where policy, hooks, sandboxing, filesystem guards, result rewriting, and UI rendering fit without changing the loop. The key extension points are the `tools/pre-execute`, `tools/execute`, and `tools/post-execute` waterfalls.',
     '',
     '```mermaid',
     'flowchart TD',
@@ -630,6 +630,7 @@ function renderToolPipeline(): string {
     '  presentCall["UI pending card<br/>presentCall(args)"]',
     `  pre["${mermaidCode('tools/pre-execute')} waterfall<br/>hooks, permission, sandbox"]`,
     '  denied["deny or ask<br/>tool body skipped"]',
+    `  around["${mermaidCode('tools/execute')} waterfall<br/>timeout, retry, metrics (around dispatch)"]`,
     '  toolBody["Registered tool execute() body"]',
     `  fsGate["${mermaidCode('fs/write-intent')} or ${mermaidCode('fs/edit-intent')}<br/>tool-fs mutations only"]`,
     `  owned["Tool-owned session events<br/>${mermaidCode('todo/write')}, ${mermaidCode('fs/observed')}, ${mermaidCode('hook/invoked')}, ${mermaidCode('hook/result')}"]`,
@@ -640,19 +641,21 @@ function renderToolPipeline(): string {
     '  model --> toolCall',
     '  toolCall --> presentCall',
     '  toolCall --> pre',
-    '  pre -->|allow| toolBody',
+    '  pre -->|allow| around',
+    '  around --> toolBody',
     '  pre -->|deny or ask| denied',
     '  denied --> post',
     '  toolBody --> fsGate',
     '  fsGate --> toolBody',
     '  toolBody --> owned',
-    '  toolBody --> post',
+    '  toolBody --> around',
+    '  around --> post',
     '  post --> context',
     '  post --> toolResult',
     '  toolResult --> presentResult',
     '```',
     '',
-    'Filesystem read-before-edit checks live below `tool-fs` on the `fs/*` event gate, while hook bridges and future permission prompts live on the generic tool waterfalls. That split lets the same hooks observe bash, fs, web, todo, and subagent calls without coupling those tools to one policy service.',
+    'Filesystem read-before-edit checks live below `tool-fs` on the `fs/*` event gate; hook bridges and future permission prompts live on the generic pre/post tool waterfalls; and around-dispatch concerns like the tool-call timeout policy (`@deepseek-ai/dsh-timeout-policy`) wrap core dispatch on `tools/execute`. That split lets the same hooks observe bash, fs, web, todo, and subagent calls without coupling those tools to one policy service.',
     '',
     ...maintenanceFooter(maintenance),
   ].join('\n')

scripts/gen-module-graph.ts

@@ -45,6 +45,7 @@ const GROUP_ORDER = [
   'compact',
   'subagent',
   'web',
+  'timeout',
   'todo',
   'hooks',
   'session-persistence',

tsconfig.base.json

@@ -47,6 +47,7 @@
         "./packages/compact/*/src",
         "./packages/subagent/*/src",
         "./packages/web/*/src",
+        "./packages/timeout/*/src",
         "./packages/todo/*/src",
         "./packages/hooks/*/src",
         "./packages/session-persistence/*/src",

tsconfig.build.json

@@ -39,6 +39,7 @@
     { "path": "./packages/web/web-search-deepseek" },
     { "path": "./packages/web/web-fetch-local" },
     { "path": "./packages/web/tool-web" },
+    { "path": "./packages/timeout/timeout-policy" },
     { "path": "./packages/support/invariants" },
     { "path": "./packages/ui/acp" },
     { "path": "./packages/ui/acp-agent" },

tsconfig.json

@@ -50,6 +50,7 @@
     { "path": "./packages/web/web-search-deepseek" },
     { "path": "./packages/web/web-fetch-local" },
     { "path": "./packages/web/tool-web" },
+    { "path": "./packages/timeout/timeout-policy" },
     { "path": "./packages/support/invariants" },
     { "path": "./packages/ui/acp" },
     { "path": "./packages/ui/acp-agent" },