AgentforceIntermediatetimeoutactionsreliability
Debug agent action timeout causing silent conversation abandonment
Real World Scenario
Customer waits 90 seconds during order lookup action then chat ends with generic error; Apex call succeeds but agent already timed out.
Expected Answer
• Align agent action timeout with Apex and integration SLAs
• Async pattern: action returns job Id, agent polls or notifies when complete
• Progress messages to user during long operations
• Circuit breaker when downstream consistently slow
• Monitor p95 action latency per action type
• Optimize Apex query and remove synchronous callouts in hot path
• Graceful message offering human help on timeout not silent drop
Follow-Up Questions & Answers
Click to expand — each follow-up includes a direct, interview-ready answer
Direct answer: Align agent action timeout with Apex and integration SLAs Also consider: Async pattern: action returns job Id, agent polls or notifies when complete In practice: Progress messages to user during long operations Balance speed of delivery with maintainability.
Architect Perspective
Long synchronous actions kill conversational UX — async with status updates is default pattern.