Resolving webhook 604 timeout errors in AEM as a Cloud Service headless content publishing
This article explains how to resolve 604 timeout errors that occur during webhook delivery in Adobe Experience Manager (AEM) as a Cloud Service, particularly when publishing headless Content Fragments with nested references.
Description description
Environment
Adobe Experience Manager as a Cloud Service (all versions)
Issue/Symptoms
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Webhook deliveries for headless content publishing fail with 604 timeout errors.
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Multiple retry attempts are observed for the same webhook event.
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The issue is most common when publishing headless Page Content Fragments (CFs) that reference other Page CFs, creating nested content structures.
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Error messages may include:
- 604 Timeout
- InterruptedIOException(timeout)
- IOException(Canceled)
Cause
These timeouts are caused by synchronous webhook processing that triggers recursive hydration and overfetching of nested Page Content Fragments. This results in long processing times that exceed the platform’s timeout threshold (typically 10 seconds for webhook delivery).
Resolution resolution
Follow the steps below to resolve the issue:
- Review your webhook processing logic to identify if synchronous processing is causing delays due to recursive fetching of nested Page Content Fragments.
- Adjust your OpenAPI GET requests to use shallower hydration options. For example, instead of using
references=all-hydrated, use a less deep option such asreferences=direct-hydratedto limit the depth of nested fragment retrieval. This reduces the amount of data fetched and the processing time required. - Consider transforming or pruning the GET response payload before storing or further processing it. Remove unnecessary reference data to minimize processing time.
- Implement guardrails in your webhook handler to limit recursion depth or efficiently handle large payloads. For example, set a maximum depth for following nested references or track visited fragments to avoid redundant fetches.
- If possible, shift from synchronous to asynchronous or queued processing of webhook events. This allows longer-running operations to complete without hitting platform timeout limits and prevents timeouts from impacting authoring workflows.
- After making these changes, monitor webhook delivery success rates and processing times using your event monitoring tools. Adjust your processing logic as needed to further reduce timeout occurrences.
- To verify resolution, publish a headless Page Content Fragment with nested references and confirm that webhook deliveries complete successfully without repeated timeout errors.