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[http] deprecate request-options first-byte-timeout #962

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@lann

I think we should deprecate first-byte-timeout:

  • For many HTTP clients (including fetch), the first (non-error) event observable after dispatching a request is the end of response headers (e.g. \r\n\r\n for HTTP/1.1). The first-byte-timeout instead wants to wait for one more byte: "the first byte of the Response body". I'm not familiar with any reason to treat that byte as special.

  • End of response headers already has an event: the async return of response. If someone wants a timeout there they can use a regular timer that races the response.

  • The timeout between end of response headers and the first byte of the response body can instead be covered by between-bytes-timeout. This would technically be a breaking change but I believe wasmtime-wasi-http and jco already behave this way, so I suggest that we just document that both the original spec behavior and the current implementations' behaviors are acceptable.

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  1. added
    proposalA discussion about a specific actionable item
    P-httpProposal: wasi-http
    on Sep 11, 2026
  2. lann commented on Oct 8, 2026

    @lann
    ContributorAuthor

    The wasi:http champions discussed this today and are generally aligned with this change. I will turn in this into a PR for closer review.

  3. self-assigned this
    on Oct 8, 2026
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