`timeout` (GNU coreutils) kills a command after N seconds. Returns exit code 124 on timeout — let the caller distinguish "timed out" from "failed for other reasons."
Bash
# Plain — kill after 30 seconds
timeout 30s curl -s https://slow.api/data
# Force kill after grace period (default sends SIGTERM, then SIGKILL after 10s)
timeout --kill-after=10s 30s ./long-running-job.sh
# Distinguish timeout from other failures
if ! timeout 5s ping -c 100 example.com; then
rc=$?
if [[ $rc -eq 124 ]]; then
echo "Timed out" >&2
else
echo "Failed with exit code $rc" >&2
fi
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