Claude Code's 60 s MCP timeout: Sume sync waits 30 s, video polls

Claude Code now ends an MCP tool call after 60 seconds per server, so a render that outlasts that has to be polled, not awaited. Sume's waits are built to fit: sync blocks for at most 30 seconds and jobs_wait holds at most 55.

The changelog entry for 2.1.287 (Oct 1, 2026) says MCP tool calls no longer hang forever and that the per-server timeout is 60 seconds.

Each Sume wait against the 60 s line

The 55-second cap leaves five seconds of margin. If your connection adds latency, pass a smaller timeout_seconds, such as 40.

Video is longer than any slice

The docs note that images often finish within the 30-second sync window, while video, avatar-video and face-swap jobs routinely do not. A wait is a bounded view of a job, not a limit on the job.

To wait for a ten-minute render, repeat the wait rather than asking for a longer one. When a slice ends with wait_slice_expired, call jobs_wait again with the same ids.

What not to do after a timeout

A timed-out tool call tells you only that you stopped waiting. The job continues and continues to bill. Three habits matter.

• Do not resubmit the paid create. If you must retry a submit, reuse the same idempotency key so the retry returns the original job.
• Treat a 524, 522, 523 or 525 on jobs_wait as a transport failure, not a job outcome. Re-issue the wait or read jobs_status once.
• Do not report the job blocked because a slice expired; check terminal and result_ready first.

A prompt that works

You can steer the agent with an instruction rather than code. For example: submit once with an idempotency key, record the job id, then call jobs_wait with timeout_seconds of 45 and repeat on wait_slice_expired until the job is terminal, then read jobs_result.

If you submit several jobs at once, pass up to 20 ids to one jobs_wait call and set include_results: true, so a single call per slice covers the whole batch.

Webhooks as the alternative

If your own service starts the work, a webhook removes waiting entirely. Sume sends job.completed, job.failed or job.canceled to a public HTTPS URL, signed with HMAC SHA-256. Keep status polling available as a backup for deliveries that never arrive.