feat(tools): propagate timeout abort signals to tool execution

docs/api/TOOLS.md

@@ -57,8 +57,12 @@ export interface Tool {
   /** Secret scopes required to execute this tool (optional). */
   requiredSecretScopes?: string[];
 
-  /** Async function that executes the tool. */
+  /** Optional execution context (abort signal, runtime metadata). */
-  execute: (args: unknown) => Promise<ToolResult>;
+  execute: (args: unknown, context?: ToolExecutionContext) => Promise<ToolResult>;
+}
+
+export interface ToolExecutionContext {
+  signal?: AbortSignal;
 }
 ```
 

docs/architecture/CONTRIBUTOR_MAP.md

@@ -59,7 +59,7 @@ export const myTool: Tool = {
     },
     required: ['foo'],
   },
-  execute: async (rawArgs: unknown): Promise<ToolResult> => {
+  execute: async (rawArgs: unknown, _context?: { signal?: AbortSignal }): Promise<ToolResult> => {
     // ...
     return { success: true, output: 'ok' };
   },

docs/plans/analysis/2026-02-16-codebase-audit-report.md

@@ -16,6 +16,7 @@ Scope: Production-risk-first audit of bugs, code improvements, and feature oppor
 - ✅ F-008 addressed: WhatsApp Chromium launch is now sandboxed by default; no-sandbox mode is behind explicit `whatsapp.no_sandbox: true` opt-in.
 - ✅ F-014 addressed: `ModelRouter.setOnTierChange` now preserves existing listeners instead of replacing them, removing destructive listener-setter behavior.
 - ✅ F-002 addressed: `config.patch` now supports durable persistence via atomic write + backup when daemon has a concrete config path, and response includes `persisted`/`persistError` so UI can distinguish runtime-only vs disk-persisted updates.
+- ◑ F-003 partially addressed: tool execution now has an `AbortSignal` contract and executor triggers abort on timeout; host `shell.exec` and sandbox docker exec now respond to cancellation. Additional high-risk tools still need explicit cancellation coverage for full closure.
 
 ## Executive Summary
 

docs/plans/state.json

@@ -2547,6 +2547,24 @@
         "docs/plans/analysis/2026-02-16-codebase-audit-report.md"
       ],
       "test_status": "pnpm test:run src/gateway/handlers/handlers.test.ts src/config/persistence.test.ts + pnpm typecheck passing"
+    },
+    "audit-followup-tool-timeout-cancellation-contract": {
+      "status": "in_progress",
+      "date": "2026-02-16",
+      "updated": "2026-02-16",
+      "summary": "Started timeout-cancellation hardening: added ToolExecutionContext AbortSignal contract, executor abort-on-timeout propagation, and cancellation-aware shell execution for host and sandbox docker exec paths. Remaining work: migrate additional high-risk tools and add post-timeout side-effect regression coverage.",
+      "files_modified": [
+        "src/tools/types.ts",
+        "src/tools/executor.ts",
+        "src/tools/executor.test.ts",
+        "src/tools/builtin/shell.ts",
+        "src/sandbox/docker.ts",
+        "src/sandbox/tools.ts",
+        "docs/api/TOOLS.md",
+        "docs/architecture/CONTRIBUTOR_MAP.md",
+        "docs/plans/analysis/2026-02-16-codebase-audit-report.md"
+      ],
+      "test_status": "pnpm test:run src/tools/executor.test.ts src/tools/builtin/shell.test.ts + pnpm typecheck passing"
     }
   },
   "overall_progress": {

src/sandbox/docker.ts

@@ -13,6 +13,7 @@ export interface DockerSandboxConfig {
 export interface ExecOptions {
   cwd?: string;
   timeout?: number;
+  signal?: AbortSignal;
 }
 
 export interface ExecResult {
@@ -76,7 +77,7 @@ export class DockerSandbox {
     args.push(this._containerId, 'bash', '-c', command);
 
     const timeout = opts?.timeout ?? this.config.timeoutSeconds * 1000;
-    return this.dockerCmd(args, timeout);
+    return this.dockerCmd(args, timeout, opts?.signal);
   }
 
   /** Force-remove the container. */
@@ -109,15 +110,35 @@ export class DockerSandbox {
   }
 
   /** Run a docker CLI command. */
-  private dockerCmd(args: string[], timeout = 30_000): Promise<ExecResult> {
+  private dockerCmd(args: string[], timeout = 30_000, signal?: AbortSignal): Promise<ExecResult> {
     return new Promise((resolve, reject) => {
-      execFile('docker', args, { timeout, maxBuffer: 1024 * 1024 }, (error, stdout, stderr) => {
+      let settled = false;
+      const child = execFile('docker', args, { timeout, maxBuffer: 1024 * 1024 }, (error, stdout, stderr) => {
+        if (signal) {
+          signal.removeEventListener('abort', onAbort);
+        }
+        if (settled) {return;}
+        settled = true;
         if (error) {
           reject(error);
           return;
         }
         resolve({ stdout, stderr });
       });
+
+      const onAbort = () => {
+        if (settled) {return;}
+        settled = true;
+        child.kill('SIGTERM');
+        reject(new Error('Sandbox command aborted'));
+      };
+      if (signal) {
+        if (signal.aborted) {
+          onAbort();
+        } else {
+          signal.addEventListener('abort', onAbort, { once: true });
+        }
+      }
     });
   }
 }

src/sandbox/tools.ts

@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-import type { Tool, ToolResult } from '../tools/types.js';
+import type { Tool, ToolResult, ToolExecutionContext } from '../tools/types.js';
 import type { DockerSandbox } from './docker.js';
 
 interface ShellExecArgs {
@@ -29,7 +29,7 @@ export function createSandboxedShellTool(sandbox: DockerSandbox): Tool {
       },
       required: ['command'],
     },
-    execute: async (rawArgs: unknown): Promise<ToolResult> => {
+    execute: async (rawArgs: unknown, context?: ToolExecutionContext): Promise<ToolResult> => {
       const args = rawArgs as ShellExecArgs;
       const timeout = args.timeout ?? 30_000;
 
@@ -37,6 +37,7 @@ export function createSandboxedShellTool(sandbox: DockerSandbox): Tool {
         const result = await sandbox.exec(args.command, {
           cwd: args.cwd,
           timeout,
+          signal: context?.signal,
         });
 
         const output = result.stdout + (result.stderr ? `\nstderr: ${result.stderr}` : '');
@@ -68,12 +69,12 @@ export function createSandboxedProcessStartTool(sandbox: DockerSandbox): Tool {
       },
       required: ['command'],
     },
-    execute: async (rawArgs: unknown): Promise<ToolResult> => {
+    execute: async (rawArgs: unknown, context?: ToolExecutionContext): Promise<ToolResult> => {
       const args = rawArgs as ProcessStartArgs;
 
       try {
         const wrappedCmd = `nohup bash -c '${args.command.replace(/'/g, "'\\''")}' > /tmp/proc.log 2>&1 & echo $!`;
-        const result = await sandbox.exec(wrappedCmd, { cwd: args.cwd });
+        const result = await sandbox.exec(wrappedCmd, { cwd: args.cwd, signal: context?.signal });
 
         const pid = result.stdout.trim();
         return {

src/tools/builtin/shell.ts

@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 import { execFile } from 'child_process';
-import type { Tool, ToolResult } from '../types.js';
+import type { Tool, ToolResult, ToolExecutionContext } from '../types.js';
 
 interface ShellExecArgs {
   command: string;
@@ -19,16 +19,19 @@ export const shellExecTool: Tool = {
     },
     required: ['command'],
   },
-  execute: async (rawArgs: unknown): Promise<ToolResult> => {
+  execute: async (rawArgs: unknown, context?: ToolExecutionContext): Promise<ToolResult> => {
     const args = rawArgs as ShellExecArgs;
     const timeout = args.timeout ?? 30_000;
 
     return new Promise((resolve) => {
-      execFile('bash', ['-c', args.command], {
+      const child = execFile('bash', ['-c', args.command], {
         cwd: args.cwd,
         timeout,
         maxBuffer: 1024 * 1024,
       }, (error, stdout, stderr) => {
+        if (context?.signal) {
+          context.signal.removeEventListener('abort', onAbort);
+        }
         if (error) {
           if (error.killed || error.signal === 'SIGTERM') {
             resolve({ success: false, output: stdout, error: `Command timed out after ${timeout}ms` });
@@ -43,6 +46,17 @@ export const shellExecTool: Tool = {
         }
         resolve({ success: true, output: stdout + (stderr ? `\nstderr: ${stderr}` : '') });
       });
+
+      const onAbort = () => {
+        child.kill('SIGTERM');
+      };
+      if (context?.signal) {
+        if (context.signal.aborted) {
+          onAbort();
+        } else {
+          context.signal.addEventListener('abort', onAbort, { once: true });
+        }
+      }
     });
   },
 };

src/tools/executor.test.ts

@@ -42,6 +42,23 @@ const fileWriteLikeTool: Tool = {
   execute: async () => ({ success: true, output: 'ok' }),
 };
 
+const cancellableTool: Tool = {
+  name: 'test.cancellable',
+  description: 'Long-running cancellable tool',
+  inputSchema: { type: 'object', properties: {} },
+  execute: async (_args, context) => {
+    return await new Promise((resolve) => {
+      const onAbort = () => resolve({ success: false, output: '', error: 'aborted' });
+      if (context?.signal?.aborted) {
+        onAbort();
+        return;
+      }
+      context?.signal?.addEventListener('abort', onAbort, { once: true });
+      setTimeout(() => resolve({ success: true, output: 'done' }), 5000);
+    });
+  },
+};
+
 describe('ToolExecutor', () => {
   it('executes a tool and returns result', async () => {
     const registry = new ToolRegistry();
@@ -86,6 +103,17 @@ describe('ToolExecutor', () => {
     expect(result.error).toContain('timed out');
   });
 
+  it('aborts cancellable tool work on timeout', async () => {
+    const registry = new ToolRegistry();
+    registry.register(cancellableTool);
+    const hooks = new HookEngine({ confirm: [], log: [], silent: [] });
+    const executor = new ToolExecutor(registry, hooks, { defaultTimeoutMs: 50 });
+
+    const result = await executor.execute('test.cancellable', {});
+    expect(result.success).toBe(false);
+    expect(result.error).toContain('timed out');
+  });
+
   it('truncates large output', async () => {
     const registry = new ToolRegistry();
     registry.register(bigOutputTool);

src/tools/executor.ts

@@ -225,6 +225,7 @@ export class ToolExecutor {
     });
 
     let timeoutHandle: NodeJS.Timeout | undefined;
+    const abortController = new AbortController();
     try {
       const result = await Promise.race([
         (async () => {
@@ -232,17 +233,20 @@ export class ToolExecutor {
             const sandboxSessionId = context?.sessionId ?? `${context?.channel ?? 'unknown'}:${context?.sender ?? 'unknown'}`;
             const sandbox = await this.sandboxManager.getOrCreate(sandboxSessionId);
             if (toolName === 'shell.exec') {
-              return createSandboxedShellTool(sandbox).execute(args);
+              return createSandboxedShellTool(sandbox).execute(args, { signal: abortController.signal });
             }
             if (toolName === 'process.start') {
-              return createSandboxedProcessStartTool(sandbox).execute(args);
+              return createSandboxedProcessStartTool(sandbox).execute(args, { signal: abortController.signal });
             }
           }
-          return tool.execute(args);
+          return tool.execute(args, { signal: abortController.signal });
         })(),
         new Promise<ToolResult>((_, reject) => {
           timeoutHandle = setTimeout(
-            () => reject(new Error(`Tool '${toolName}' timed out after ${this.defaultTimeoutMs}ms`)),
+            () => {
+              abortController.abort();
+              reject(new Error(`Tool '${toolName}' timed out after ${this.defaultTimeoutMs}ms`));
+            },
             this.defaultTimeoutMs,
           );
         }),

src/tools/types.ts

@@ -10,7 +10,11 @@ export interface Tool {
   inputSchema: ToolInputSchema;
   /** Secret scopes required to execute this tool (optional). */
   requiredSecretScopes?: string[];
-  execute(args: unknown): Promise<ToolResult>;
+  execute(args: unknown, context?: ToolExecutionContext): Promise<ToolResult>;
+}
+
+export interface ToolExecutionContext {
+  signal?: AbortSignal;
 }
 
 export interface ToolCall {