add timeout

backend/src/controllers/speechSounds.controller.ts

@@ -77,8 +77,8 @@ export async function pronounceWord(req: AuthRequest, res: Response) {
     try {
       const { audio, format } = await generateSpeech(wordText, voiceId);
 
-      // Store in cache
+      // Store in cache (don't await - cache in background to return faster)
-      await db.execute({
+      db.execute({
         sql: `
           INSERT INTO word_pronunciations (word_id, voice_id, audio_data, audio_format)
           VALUES (?, ?, ?, ?)
@@ -88,9 +88,12 @@ export async function pronounceWord(req: AuthRequest, res: Response) {
             created_at = CURRENT_TIMESTAMP
         `,
         args: [wordId, voiceId, audio, format]
+      }).catch(err => {
+        console.error('Error caching pronunciation:', err);
+        // Don't fail the request if caching fails
       });
 
-      // Return audio
+      // Return audio immediately
       const contentType = format === 'mp3' ? 'audio/mpeg' : 
                          format === 'wav' ? 'audio/wav' : 
                          format === 'ogg' ? 'audio/ogg' : 'audio/mpeg';
@@ -113,11 +116,22 @@ export async function pronounceWord(req: AuthRequest, res: Response) {
         });
       }
 
+      // Handle timeout errors
+      if (error.message.includes('timed out')) {
+        return res.status(504).json({
+          success: false,
+          error: {
+            code: 'SPEECH_GENERATION_TIMEOUT',
+            message: 'Speech generation timed out. Please try again.'
+          }
+        });
+      }
+
       return res.status(500).json({
         success: false,
         error: {
           code: 'SPEECH_GENERATION_ERROR',
-          message: 'Failed to generate speech pronunciation'
+          message: error.message || 'Failed to generate speech pronunciation'
         }
       });
     }

backend/src/services/elevenlabs.service.ts

@@ -27,6 +27,10 @@ export async function generateSpeech(
   }
 
   try {
+    // Add timeout to prevent gateway timeouts (30 seconds)
+    const controller = new AbortController();
+    const timeoutId = setTimeout(() => controller.abort(), 30000);
+
     const response = await fetch(`${ELEVENLABS_API_URL}/text-to-speech/${voiceId}`, {
       method: 'POST',
       headers: {
@@ -38,9 +42,12 @@ export async function generateSpeech(
         text: text.trim(),
         model_id: 'eleven_turbo_v2_5'
         // No voice_settings - uses the voice's default settings from ElevenLabs
-      })
+      }),
+      signal: controller.signal
     });
 
+    clearTimeout(timeoutId);
+
     if (!response.ok) {
       const errorText = await response.text();
       console.error('ElevenLabs API error:', response.status, errorText);
@@ -65,6 +72,9 @@ export async function generateSpeech(
       format
     };
   } catch (error: any) {
+    if (error.name === 'AbortError') {
+      throw new Error('ElevenLabs API request timed out after 30 seconds');
+    }
     if (error.message.includes('ElevenLabs API error')) {
       throw error;
     }