responses.create() hangs indefinitely with GPT-5 models while direct REST API call completes successfully #2725
Description
Confirm this is an issue with the Python library and not an underlying OpenAI API
- This is an issue with the Python library
Describe the bug
When using the Responses API with GPT-5 models (specifically gpt-5-nano-2025-08-07) via the Python SDK, the call client.responses.create() hangs indefinitely and eventually times out after ~30 seconds.
The same request, when made directly via the REST API (curl), completes successfully in about 12 seconds with "status": "completed".
This indicates the issue is likely within the Python SDK implementation, not the OpenAI backend.
To Reproduce
Working REST API call (completes in ~12 seconds)
curl https://api.openai.com/v1/responses \
-H "Content-Type: application/json" \
-H "Authorization: Bearer $OPENAI_API_KEY" \
-d '{
"model": "gpt-5-nano-2025-08-07",
"instructions": "Analyze the following newsletters and produce a 400-word abstract with 5 key bullet points.",
"input": "Sample newsletter content here...",
"store": true
}'
Result: Completes in ~12 seconds with "status": "completed" and full output available.
Failing Python SDK call (times out after 30+ seconds)
import asyncio
from openai import AsyncOpenAI
async def test():
client = AsyncOpenAI(api_key="sk-...")
response = await client.responses.create(
model="gpt-5-nano-2025-08-07",
instructions="Analyze the provided content and summarize it.",
input="Sample newsletter content here...",
max_output_tokens=600,
store=True,
)
print(f"Initial response: id={response.id}, status={response.status}")
for _ in range(30):
await asyncio.sleep(1)
response = await client.responses.retrieve(response.id)
print(f"Status: {response.status}")
if response.status == "completed":
print("Completed successfully")
return
raise TimeoutError("Timed out after 30 seconds")
asyncio.run(test())
Result: The call times out after 30+ seconds; status never becomes "completed".
Code snippets
OS
14.6
Python version
3.12
Library version
2.6.1