Answer 504, not 408, when a request outlasts its time limit (closes #70)

The hand-written time limit middleware answered 408 and wrote that
answer from its own goroutine while the handler could still be writing.
It is replaced by chi's middleware.Timeout, placed after
JSONResponseMiddleware so its 504 is not lost behind a 200.
JSONValidationMiddleware answers 504 with the JSON error body when the
time limit has passed and the handler wrote nothing. status.json and
/api/v1/stats answer 504 themselves when their 4-second database read
runs out, instead of 408 or an empty answer that became 500.

Model: opus-5-5

internal/server/handlers.go

@@ -200,7 +200,7 @@ func (s *Server) handleStatusJSON() http.HandlerFunc {
 		select {
 		case <-ctx.Done():
 			s.logger.Error("Database stats timeout in status.json")
-			writeJSONError(w, http.StatusRequestTimeout, "Database timeout")
+			writeJSONError(w, http.StatusGatewayTimeout, requestTimeoutMessage)
 
 			return
 		case err := <-errChan:
@@ -385,7 +385,7 @@ func (s *Server) handleStats() http.HandlerFunc {
 		// Check if context is already cancelled
 		select {
 		case <-ctx.Done():
-			http.Error(w, "Request timeout", http.StatusRequestTimeout)
+			writeJSONError(w, http.StatusGatewayTimeout, requestTimeoutMessage)
 
 			return
 		default:
@@ -414,7 +414,8 @@ func (s *Server) handleStats() http.HandlerFunc {
 		select {
 		case <-ctx.Done():
 			s.logger.Error("Database stats timeout")
-			// Don't write response here - timeout middleware already handles it
+			writeJSONError(w, http.StatusGatewayTimeout, requestTimeoutMessage)
+
 			return
 		case err := <-errChan:
 			s.logger.Error("Failed to get database stats", "error", err)

internal/server/handlers_test.go

@@ -148,6 +148,100 @@ func TestStatsHandlersAnswerFromMemory(t *testing.T) {
 	}
 }
 
+// shortRequestDeadline is the deadline the tests below give a request. The
+// server's 30-second limit and the stats handlers' 4-second limit inherit it,
+// so the tests do not wait for either.
+const shortRequestDeadline = 50 * time.Millisecond
+
+// TestRequestPastTimeLimitAnswers504 sends a request through the server's
+// router to a page and to a JSON route whose handlers wait for the time limit
+// to pass and return without answering. The page answers 504; the JSON route
+// answers 504 with the JSON error body. Before the fix both answered 408,
+// written by the time limit middleware from its own goroutine while the
+// handler could still be writing.
+func TestRequestPastTimeLimitAnswers504(t *testing.T) {
+	s := New(nil, streamer.New(logger.New(), metrics.New()), logger.New(), &config.Config{})
+
+	waitForTimeLimit := func(_ http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request) {
+		<-r.Context().Done()
+	}
+	// Registered the way setupRoutes registers pages and JSON routes.
+	s.router.Get("/slow-page", waitForTimeLimit)
+	s.router.Get("/slow.json", JSONValidationMiddleware(http.HandlerFunc(waitForTimeLimit)).ServeHTTP)
+
+	tests := []struct {
+		path         string
+		wantJSONBody bool
+	}{
+		{path: "/slow-page"},
+		{path: "/slow.json", wantJSONBody: true},
+	}
+
+	for _, tt := range tests {
+		ctx, cancel := context.WithTimeout(context.Background(), shortRequestDeadline)
+		rec := httptest.NewRecorder()
+		s.router.ServeHTTP(rec, httptest.NewRequest(http.MethodGet, tt.path, nil).WithContext(ctx))
+		cancel()
+
+		if rec.Code != http.StatusGatewayTimeout {
+			t.Errorf("%s: status %d, want %d; body %s", tt.path, rec.Code, http.StatusGatewayTimeout, rec.Body)
+		}
+		if tt.wantJSONBody {
+			checkJSONErrorCode(t, tt.path, rec, http.StatusGatewayTimeout)
+		}
+	}
+}
+
+// TestStatsHandlersAnswer504WhenDatabaseReadRunsOut calls each stats handler
+// with a store that does not answer before the handler's 4-second limit runs
+// out, and checks that the handler itself answers 504 with the JSON error
+// body. Before the fix status.json answered 408, and /api/v1/stats wrote
+// nothing, which the JSON check on its route turned into 500.
+func TestStatsHandlersAnswer504WhenDatabaseReadRunsOut(t *testing.T) {
+	release := make(chan struct{})
+	defer close(release)
+	db := blockingStatsDB{release: release}
+	s := New(db, streamer.New(logger.New(), metrics.New()), logger.New(), &config.Config{})
+
+	handlers := map[string]http.HandlerFunc{
+		"status.json": s.handleStatusJSON(),
+		"stats":       s.handleStats(),
+	}
+
+	for name, handler := range handlers {
+		ctx, cancel := context.WithTimeout(context.Background(), shortRequestDeadline)
+		rec := httptest.NewRecorder()
+		handler(rec, httptest.NewRequest(http.MethodGet, "/", nil).WithContext(ctx))
+		cancel()
+
+		if rec.Code != http.StatusGatewayTimeout {
+			t.Errorf("%s: status %d, want %d; body %s", name, rec.Code, http.StatusGatewayTimeout, rec.Body)
+		}
+		checkJSONErrorCode(t, name, rec, http.StatusGatewayTimeout)
+	}
+}
+
+// checkJSONErrorCode checks that rec holds the JSON error body with the given
+// code.
+func checkJSONErrorCode(t *testing.T, name string, rec *httptest.ResponseRecorder, want int) {
+	t.Helper()
+
+	var body struct {
+		Status string `json:"status"`
+		Error  struct {
+			Code int `json:"code"`
+		} `json:"error"`
+	}
+	if err := json.Unmarshal(rec.Body.Bytes(), &body); err != nil {
+		t.Errorf("%s: decoding the answer %q: %v", name, rec.Body, err)
+
+		return
+	}
+	if body.Status != "error" || body.Error.Code != want {
+		t.Errorf("%s: answer %s, want status \"error\" and error code %d", name, rec.Body, want)
+	}
+}
+
 // settledGoroutineCount lets transient goroutines finish, then reports the
 // current count.
 func settledGoroutineCount() int {

internal/server/middleware.go

@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@ import (
 	"bytes"
 	"context"
 	"encoding/json"
+	"errors"
 	"fmt"
 	"log/slog"
 	"net/http"
@@ -109,142 +110,17 @@ func JSONResponseMiddleware(next http.Handler) http.Handler {
 	})
 }
 
-// timeoutWriter wraps ResponseWriter to prevent concurrent writes after timeout
-type timeoutWriter struct {
-	http.ResponseWriter
-	mu      sync.Mutex
-	written bool
-	header  http.Header // cached header to prevent concurrent access
-}
-
-func (tw *timeoutWriter) Write(b []byte) (int, error) {
-	tw.mu.Lock()
-	defer tw.mu.Unlock()
-
-	if tw.written {
-		return 0, nil // Discard writes after timeout
-	}
-
-	return tw.ResponseWriter.Write(b)
-}
-
-func (tw *timeoutWriter) WriteHeader(statusCode int) {
-	tw.mu.Lock()
-	defer tw.mu.Unlock()
-
-	if tw.written {
-		return // Discard writes after timeout
-	}
-
-	tw.ResponseWriter.WriteHeader(statusCode)
-}
-
-func (tw *timeoutWriter) Header() http.Header {
-	tw.mu.Lock()
-	defer tw.mu.Unlock()
-
-	if tw.written {
-		// Return a copy to prevent modifications after timeout
-		if tw.header == nil {
-			tw.header = make(http.Header)
-		}
-
-		return tw.header
-	}
-
-	return tw.ResponseWriter.Header()
-}
-
-func (tw *timeoutWriter) markWritten() {
-	tw.mu.Lock()
-	defer tw.mu.Unlock()
-	tw.written = true
-}
-
-// TimeoutMiddleware creates an HTTP middleware that enforces a request timeout.
-// If the handler does not complete within the specified duration, the middleware
-// returns a JSON error response with HTTP status 408 (Request Timeout).
-//
-// The timeout parameter specifies the maximum duration allowed for request processing.
-// The returned middleware handles panics from the wrapped handler by re-panicking
-// after cleanup, and prevents concurrent writes to the response after timeout occurs.
-func TimeoutMiddleware(timeout time.Duration, logger *slog.Logger) func(http.Handler) http.Handler {
-	return func(next http.Handler) http.Handler {
-		return http.HandlerFunc(func(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request) {
-			startTime := time.Now()
-
-			ctx, cancel := context.WithTimeout(r.Context(), timeout)
-			defer cancel()
-
-			tw := &timeoutWriter{
-				ResponseWriter: w,
-				header:         make(http.Header),
-			}
-
-			done := make(chan struct{})
-			panicChan := make(chan interface{}, 1)
-
-			go func() {
-				defer func() {
-					if p := recover(); p != nil {
-						panicChan <- p
-					}
-				}()
-
-				next.ServeHTTP(tw, r.WithContext(ctx))
-				close(done)
-			}()
-
-			select {
-			case p := <-panicChan:
-				panic(p)
-			case <-done:
-				return
-			case <-ctx.Done():
-				tw.markWritten() // Prevent the handler from writing after timeout
-				execTime := time.Since(startTime)
-
-				// Log the timeout as a warning
-				logger.Warn("Request timeout",
-					"method", r.Method,
-					"path", r.URL.Path,
-					"duration_ms", execTime.Milliseconds(),
-					"remote_addr", r.RemoteAddr,
-				)
-
-				// Write directly to the underlying writer since we've marked tw as written
-				// This is safe because markWritten() prevents the handler from writing
-				tw.mu.Lock()
-				w.Header().Set("Content-Type", "application/json")
-				w.WriteHeader(http.StatusRequestTimeout)
-				tw.mu.Unlock()
-
-				response := map[string]interface{}{
-					"status": "error",
-					"error": map[string]interface{}{
-						"msg":  "Request timeout",
-						"code": http.StatusRequestTimeout,
-					},
-					"@meta": map[string]interface{}{
-						"time_zone":      "UTC",
-						"api_version":    1,
-						"execution_time": fmt.Sprintf("%d ms", execTime.Milliseconds()),
-					},
-				}
-
-				_ = json.NewEncoder(w).Encode(response)
-			}
-		})
-	}
-}
+// requestTimeoutMessage is the error message sent with 504 Gateway Timeout.
+const requestTimeoutMessage = "Request timeout"
 
 // JSONValidationMiddleware is an HTTP middleware that validates JSON API responses.
 // It ensures that responses with Content-Type "application/json" contain valid JSON.
 //
 // If a response is not valid JSON or is empty when JSON is expected, the middleware
-// returns a properly formatted JSON error response. For timeout errors (status 408),
-// the error message will be "Request timeout". For other errors, it returns
-// "Internal server error" with status 500 if the original status was 200.
+// returns a properly formatted JSON error response. If the request's time limit
+// has passed, it answers 504 with the error message "Request timeout". For other
+// errors, it returns "Internal server error" with status 500 if the original
+// status was 200.
 //
 // Non-JSON responses are passed through unchanged.
 func JSONValidationMiddleware(next http.Handler) http.Handler {
@@ -293,11 +169,14 @@ func JSONValidationMiddleware(next http.Handler) http.Handler {
 		if statusCode == http.StatusOK {
 			statusCode = http.StatusInternalServerError
 		}
+		if errors.Is(r.Context().Err(), context.DeadlineExceeded) {
+			statusCode = http.StatusGatewayTimeout
+		}
 		w.WriteHeader(statusCode)
 
 		errorMsg := "Internal server error"
-		if statusCode == http.StatusRequestTimeout {
-			errorMsg = "Request timeout"
+		if statusCode == http.StatusGatewayTimeout {
+			errorMsg = requestTimeoutMessage
 		}
 
 		response := map[string]interface{}{

internal/server/routes.go

@@ -16,9 +16,12 @@ func (s *Server) setupRoutes() {
 	r.Use(middleware.RealIP)
 	r.Use(RequestLoggerMiddleware(s.logger.Logger)) // Structured request logging
 	r.Use(middleware.Recoverer)
-	const requestTimeout = 30 * time.Second // Increased from 8s for slow queries
-	r.Use(TimeoutMiddleware(requestTimeout, s.logger.Logger))
 	r.Use(JSONResponseMiddleware)
+	// Timeout must come after JSONResponseMiddleware, which sends its answer
+	// when the handler returns and would send a 200 ahead of Timeout's 504 for
+	// a handler that wrote nothing.
+	const requestTimeout = 30 * time.Second // Increased from 8s for slow queries
+	r.Use(middleware.Timeout(requestTimeout))
 
 	// Routes
 	r.Get("/", s.handleIndex())