Tengine Tips & Troubleshooting

Fix Tengine upstream timeout for slow MySQL query

2026-09-29

When backend SpringBoot runs slow MySQL query, Tengine will throw upstream timeout error to client.

Default timeout values are short

Default proxy_read_timeout is only 60 seconds. If your SQL query takes longer, Tengine cut connection.

Adjust proxy timeout

location /slow-api {
    proxy_pass http://springboot-backend;
    proxy_connect_timeout 120s;
    proxy_read_timeout 180s;
    proxy_send_timeout 180s;
}

Warning: Do not set extremely large timeout blindly, better optimize SQL query first.

Debug

Check Tengine error log, look for upstream timed out.

Better practice

1. Optimize MySQL index to reduce query execution time (preferred solution)
2. Use async task for heavy database job
3. Increase timeout only for specific slow API endpoints, not global config

Summary

Timeout adjustment is temporary workaround. Optimizing slow MySQL query should be your priority fix.

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