bound optional search fallback latency

services/search/providers.py

@@ -453,7 +453,11 @@ def duckduckgo_search(query: str, count: Optional[int] = None, time_filter: Opti
                 "https://html.duckduckgo.com/html/",
                 params={"q": query, "kp": _safesearch_for("duckduckgo_html")},
                 headers={"User-Agent": WEB_FETCH_USER_AGENT},
-                timeout=REQUEST_TIMEOUT,
+                # This is a last-resort compatibility path when the declared
+                # optional ``ddgs`` dependency is absent. Keep it short so a
+                # blocked public endpoint cannot consume the full search SLA
+                # across provider and query-relaxation retries.
+                timeout=min(REQUEST_TIMEOUT, 5),
             )
             response.raise_for_status()
             soup = BeautifulSoup(response.text, "html.parser")

tests/test_service_search_provider_guards.py

@@ -684,6 +684,7 @@ def test_service_ddg_html_fallback_sends_safesearch(monkeypatch):
 
     def fake_get(url, **kwargs):
         seen["params"] = kwargs["params"]
+        seen["timeout"] = kwargs["timeout"]
         return _Response()
 
     monkeypatch.setattr(providers, "_get_search_settings", lambda: {"search_safesearch": "off"})
@@ -693,4 +694,5 @@ def test_service_ddg_html_fallback_sends_safesearch(monkeypatch):
     results = providers.duckduckgo_search("odysseus", count=1)
 
     assert seen["params"]["kp"] == "-2"
+    assert seen["timeout"] <= 5
     assert results[0]["url"].startswith("https://notduckduckgo.com/")