<!--- Please read this! Before opening a new issue, make sure to search for keywords in the issues filtered by the "regression" or "type::bug" label: - https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab/issues?label_name%5B%5D=regression - https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab/issues?label_name%5B%5D=type::bug and verify the issue you're about to submit isn't a duplicate. ---> ### Summary We have received several reports of customers experiencing intermittent timeout errors when fetching CI/CD configuration files, particularly when their configuration includes large numbers of includes. > Unable to run pipeline > * Request timed out when fetching configuration files. It’s also notable that this only started occurring recently without changes to the customers CI/CD configuration, which raises the possibility of a regression or a scaling-related issue rather than a problem with the customer’s configuration itself. #### Customer Reports (Internal) * https://gitlab.zendesk.com/agent/tickets/688455 * https://gitlab.zendesk.com/agent/tickets/688970 * https://gitlab.zendesk.com/agent/tickets/688907 * https://gitlab.zendesk.com/agent/tickets/662509 * https://gitlab.zendesk.com/agent/tickets/695193 * https://gitlab.zendesk.com/agent/tickets/693831 * https://gitlab.zendesk.com/agent/tickets/695628 ### Steps to reproduce As the issue is intermittent, it is difficult to replicate consistently. 1. Configure a GitLab project with a large number of includes in `.gitlab-ci.yml` 2. Run the pipeline 3. Observe intermittent "Request timed out when fetching configuration files" errors ### What is the current *bug* behavior? Pipelines intermittently fail with timeout errors when fetching CI/CD configuration files. The `Gitlab::Ci::Config::External::Context::TimeoutError` exception is raised during configuration file retrieval, preventing pipeline creation. ### What is the expected *correct* behavior? Pipelines should consistently process CI/CD configuration files without timeout errors. Configuration fetch should complete within the 30-second timeout limit without intermittent failures. ### Relevant logs and/or screenshots * [Gitlab::Ci::Config::External::Context::TimeoutError logs (Internal)](https://log.gprd.gitlab.net/app/r/s/z4Y4D) {width=900 height=340} ### Output of checks <!-- If you are reporting a bug on GitLab.com, uncomment below --> This bug happens on GitLab.com <!-- and uncomment below if you have /label privileges --> <!-- /label ~"reproduced on GitLab.com" --> <!-- or follow up with an issue comment of `@gitlab-bot label ~"reproduced on GitLab.com"` if you do not --> <!-- If you don't have /label privileges, follow up with an issue comment of `@gitlab-bot label ~"type::bug"` -->