Node 26.11 --process-timeout exits 124: the Sume job keeps running

Node 26.11.0 adds --process-timeout=duration, which ends a process with exit code 124 once the duration has passed. For a script that polls a Sume job, exit 124 means you stopped waiting, not that the job stopped. The job keeps running and keeps billing, so print the polling_url before the first poll and resume from it instead of submitting again.

What the flag does

The details below are from the Node.js v26.11.0 CLI docs (read 2026-10-10) and the release notes.

Why a Sume poll script needs a plan for 124

Sume's jobs page is direct about this case: a client-side timeout does not cancel the job, and you should not submit a paid request again only because a local process timed out. A hard kill with no exit handlers makes the mistake easy, because nothing in the dying process can save state for you.

So the script writes what a restart needs before it waits. It submits with a stable Idempotency-Key, prints the polling_url from the video API response, and accepts that URL as an argument on the next run. Run it as node --process-timeout=10m poll.mjs.

const headers = {
  Authorization: `Bearer ${process.env.SUME_API_KEY}`,
  "Content-Type": "application/json",
};
let url = process.argv[2]; // pass the saved polling_url to resume

if (!url) {
  if (!process.env.RUN_KEY) throw new Error("set RUN_KEY, one stable key per render");
  const res = await fetch("https://api.sume.com/v1/videos", {
    method: "POST",
    headers: { ...headers, "Idempotency-Key": process.env.RUN_KEY },
    body: JSON.stringify({ model: "seedance-2.5", prompt: "Rain on a neon street", duration: 5 }),
  });
  url = (await res.json()).polling_url;
  console.log(`RESUME: node poll.mjs ${url}`); // 'exit' handlers do not run on 124
}

for (;;) {
  const s = await (await fetch(url, { headers })).json();
  if (s.status === "completed") {
    console.log(s.unsigned_urls[0]);
    break;
  }
  if (s.status === "failed") {
    console.error(JSON.stringify(s.error));
    process.exit(1);
  }
  await new Promise((r) => setTimeout(r, 30_000));
}

Handle the exit code in CI

A shell step can tell the three outcomes apart. Exit 0 means the clip URL was printed. Exit 1 means the job reached failed. Exit 124 means the job is probably still running, so the step should fail soft and keep the RESUME: line as an artifact or a log annotation.

• Do not retry the whole step on 124 with a new run key. A new key is a new job and a second charge.
• Do rerun with the same RUN_KEY if you lost the URL. The submit returns the original job because the key matches.
• Pick a duration longer than the job normally takes. The seedance-2.5 row accepts up to 30 seconds of video, and queue time comes on top.
• Keep the flag on the command line or in an npm script. Node rejects it inside NODE_OPTIONS.

The flag is a good safety net for a runaway loop. It is not a substitute for deciding what a timeout means for work that is already paid for.