Enable default request timeout of 300 seconds (#870)

Sets a default request timeout of 300 seconds to fix Instaloader hanging indefinitely when used on an unstable internet connection without using --request-timeout, such as in #810.

docs/cli-options.rst

@@ -238,10 +238,13 @@ How to Download
 
 .. option:: --request-timeout N
 
-   Seconds to wait before timing out a connection request.
+   Seconds to wait before timing out a connection request. Defaults to 300.
 
    .. versionadded:: 4.3
 
+   .. versionchanged:: 4.6
+      Enabled this option by default with a timeout of 300 seconds.
+
 Miscellaneous Options
 ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
 

instaloader/__main__.py

@@ -366,8 +366,8 @@ def main():
                             'connection fails, it can be manually skipped by hitting CTRL+C. Set this to 0 to retry '
                             'infinitely.')
     g_how.add_argument('--commit-mode', action='store_true', help=SUPPRESS)
-    g_how.add_argument('--request-timeout', metavar='N', type=float,
+    g_how.add_argument('--request-timeout', metavar='N', type=float, default=300.0,
-                       help='seconds to wait before timing out a connection request')
+                       help='Seconds to wait before timing out a connection request. Defaults to 300.')
 
     g_misc = parser.add_argument_group('Miscellaneous Options')
     g_misc.add_argument('-q', '--quiet', action='store_true',

instaloader/instaloader.py

@@ -179,7 +179,7 @@ class Instaloader:
                  post_metadata_txt_pattern: str = None,
                  storyitem_metadata_txt_pattern: str = None,
                  max_connection_attempts: int = 3,
-                 request_timeout: Optional[float] = None,
+                 request_timeout: float = 300.0,
                  rate_controller: Optional[Callable[[InstaloaderContext], RateController]] = None,
                  resume_prefix: Optional[str] = "iterator",
                  check_resume_bbd: bool = True):

instaloader/instaloadercontext.py

@@ -25,10 +25,9 @@ def copy_session(session: requests.Session, request_timeout: Optional[float] = N
     new = requests.Session()
     new.cookies = requests.utils.cookiejar_from_dict(requests.utils.dict_from_cookiejar(session.cookies))
     new.headers = session.headers.copy()
-    if request_timeout is not None:
+    # Override default timeout behavior.
-        # Override default timeout behavior.
+    # Need to silence mypy bug for this. See: https://github.com/python/mypy/issues/2427
-        # Need to silence mypy bug for this. See: https://github.com/python/mypy/issues/2427
+    new.request = partial(new.request, timeout=request_timeout) # type: ignore
-        new.request = partial(new.request, timeout=request_timeout) # type: ignore
     return new
 
 
@@ -53,7 +52,7 @@ class InstaloaderContext:
     """
 
     def __init__(self, sleep: bool = True, quiet: bool = False, user_agent: Optional[str] = None,
-                 max_connection_attempts: int = 3, request_timeout: Optional[float] = None,
+                 max_connection_attempts: int = 3, request_timeout: float = 300.0,
                  rate_controller: Optional[Callable[["InstaloaderContext"], "RateController"]] = None):
 
         self.user_agent = user_agent if user_agent is not None else default_user_agent()
@@ -161,10 +160,9 @@ class InstaloaderContext:
                                 'ig_vw': '1920', 'csrftoken': '',
                                 's_network': '', 'ds_user_id': ''})
         session.headers.update(self._default_http_header(empty_session_only=True))
-        if self.request_timeout is not None:
+        # Override default timeout behavior.
-            # Override default timeout behavior.
+        # Need to silence mypy bug for this. See: https://github.com/python/mypy/issues/2427
-            # Need to silence mypy bug for this. See: https://github.com/python/mypy/issues/2427
+        session.request = partial(session.request, timeout=self.request_timeout) # type: ignore
-            session.request = partial(session.request, timeout=self.request_timeout) # type: ignore
         return session
 
     def save_session_to_file(self, sessionfile):
@@ -177,10 +175,9 @@ class InstaloaderContext:
         session.cookies = requests.utils.cookiejar_from_dict(pickle.load(sessionfile))
         session.headers.update(self._default_http_header())
         session.headers.update({'X-CSRFToken': session.cookies.get_dict()['csrftoken']})
-        if self.request_timeout is not None:
+        # Override default timeout behavior.
-            # Override default timeout behavior.
+        # Need to silence mypy bug for this. See: https://github.com/python/mypy/issues/2427
-            # Need to silence mypy bug for this. See: https://github.com/python/mypy/issues/2427
+        session.request = partial(session.request, timeout=self.request_timeout) # type: ignore
-            session.request = partial(session.request, timeout=self.request_timeout) # type: ignore
         self._session = session
         self.username = username
 
@@ -206,10 +203,9 @@ class InstaloaderContext:
                                 'ig_vw': '1920', 'ig_cb': '1', 'csrftoken': '',
                                 's_network': '', 'ds_user_id': ''})
         session.headers.update(self._default_http_header())
-        if self.request_timeout is not None:
+        # Override default timeout behavior.
-            # Override default timeout behavior.
+        # Need to silence mypy bug for this. See: https://github.com/python/mypy/issues/2427
-            # Need to silence mypy bug for this. See: https://github.com/python/mypy/issues/2427
+        session.request = partial(session.request, timeout=self.request_timeout) # type: ignore
-            session.request = partial(session.request, timeout=self.request_timeout) # type: ignore
         session.get('https://www.instagram.com/web/__mid/')
         csrf_token = session.cookies.get_dict()['csrftoken']
         session.headers.update({'X-CSRFToken': csrf_token})