Search Files Timeout Fix

Problem Description

The search_files tool (from the filesystem MCP server) was causing the agent-coordinator to exit with code 1 due to timeout issues. The error showed:

** (EXIT from #PID<0.95.0>) exited in: GenServer.call(AgentCoordinator.UnifiedMCPServer, {:handle_request, ...}, 5000)
** (EXIT) time out

Root Cause Analysis

The issue was a timeout mismatch in the GenServer call chain:

External tool calls (like search_files) can take longer than 5 seconds to complete
TaskRegistry and Inbox modules were using default 5-second GenServer timeouts
During tool execution, heartbeat operations are called via TaskRegistry.heartbeat_agent/1
When the external tool took longer than 5 seconds, the heartbeat call would timeout
This caused the entire tool call to fail with exit code 1

Call Chain Analysis

External MCP Tool Call (search_files)
  ↓
UnifiedMCPServer.handle_mcp_request (60s timeout) ✓
  ↓
MCPServerManager.route_tool_call (60s timeout) ✓
  ↓
call_external_tool
  ↓
TaskRegistry.heartbeat_agent (5s timeout) ❌ ← TIMEOUT HERE

Solution Applied

Updated GenServer call timeouts in the following modules:

TaskRegistry Module

register_agent/1: 5s → 30s
heartbeat_agent/1: 5s → 30s ← Most Critical Fix
update_task_activity/3: 5s → 30s
assign_task/1: 5s → 30s
create_task/3: 5s → 30s
complete_task/1: 5s → 30s
get_agent_current_task/1: 5s → 15s

Inbox Module

add_task/2: 5s → 30s
complete_current_task/1: 5s → 30s
get_next_task/1: 5s → 15s
get_status/1: 5s → 15s
list_tasks/1: 5s → 15s
get_current_task/1: 5s → 15s

Timeout Strategy

Long operations (registration, task creation, heartbeat): 30 seconds
Read operations (status, get tasks, list): 15 seconds
External tool routing: 60 seconds (already correct)

Impact

This fix ensures that:

✅ search_files and other long-running external tools won't cause timeouts
✅ Agent heartbeat operations can complete successfully during tool execution
✅ The agent-coordinator won't exit with code 1 due to timeout issues
✅ All automatic task tracking continues to work properly

Files Modified

/lib/agent_coordinator/task_registry.ex - Updated GenServer call timeouts
/lib/agent_coordinator/inbox.ex - Updated GenServer call timeouts

Verification

The fix can be verified by:

Running the agent-coordinator with external MCP servers
Executing search_files or other filesystem tools on large directories
Confirming no timeout errors occur and exit code remains 0

Future Considerations

Consider making timeouts configurable via application config
Monitor for any other GenServer calls that might need timeout adjustments
Add timeout logging to help identify future timeout issues

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