# Requests and urllib3 exception: requests.exceptions.ReadTimeout

Independent and unofficial. Not affiliated with or endorsed by any broker or platform named here. Educational only: nothing here is advice, and nothing here recommends a broker or a trade.

This is the markdown version of https://openbrokerapi.com/errors/python-requests/read-timeout, written from the same records as that page.

Risk warning: CFDs and spread bets are complex instruments and come with a high risk of losing money rapidly due to leverage. You can lose money on these products, and each provider publishes its own loss figure under FCA rules. You should consider whether you understand how they work and whether you can afford to take the high risk of losing your money. Automated and API trading can amplify losses through bugs, connectivity failures and runaway orders.

As text you can copy:

```
requests.exceptions.ReadTimeout
```

- Kind: Exception
- Where you meet it: Raised in your own program by the library
- Read from: [Requests documentation, Developer Interface, Exceptions](https://requests.readthedocs.io/en/latest/api/#requests.ReadTimeout)
- Status: verified. Source: [requests.readthedocs.io](https://requests.readthedocs.io/en/latest/api/#requests.ReadTimeout), checked 2026-10-09.

## What does requests.exceptions.ReadTimeout mean in Requests and urllib3?

The server did not send any data in the allotted amount of time.

## What it means in trading API work

The request was sent and the reply did not come in time. For a request that places, changes or cancels an order, the outcome is unknown, not failed. The server may have acted on it.

This part is this site's own explanation, written for people learning to call a trading API. It is not part of the source cited above and it describes no particular broker.

## What should I do about requests.exceptions.ReadTimeout?

Do not resend an order request blindly: read open orders and positions before sending it again. For reads, retry, and consider whether the read timeout is too short.

This page is an independent explanation in plain words. The definition itself is in [the source it was read from](https://requests.readthedocs.io/en/latest/api/#requests.ReadTimeout), which is the authority if the two ever differ.

## Where to go next

- [Everything decoded for Requests and urllib3](https://openbrokerapi.com/errors/python-requests)
- [Getting started with API trading](https://openbrokerapi.com/guides/getting-started-with-api-trading): What an API is, what you need and how to make a first call safely.
- [Brokers](https://openbrokerapi.com/brokers): The record for each broker: access, limits, endpoints and error codes.
- [Platform APIs](https://openbrokerapi.com/platforms): APIs that belong to trading software offered by many brokers.
- [Error codes](https://openbrokerapi.com/errors): What each error means, and the fix where the source gives one.

## Licence and how to cite

The records behind this page are all rights reserved. This file is the page itself, at its own address, in another format. It is not part of the CC BY 4.0 downloads listed at https://openbrokerapi.com/data. Quote from it with a link to the page.

Cite as: Requests and urllib3 exception: requests.exceptions.ReadTimeout. Broker API Hub, https://openbrokerapi.com/errors/python-requests/read-timeout, newest check 2026-10-09.

Where you rely on a single figure, cite the source and the checked date printed beside it as well. Where this page and a broker's own documentation differ, the documentation wins.