diff --git a/packages/aws-durable-execution-sdk-python-insight/README.md b/packages/aws-durable-execution-sdk-python-insight/README.md
index 2260a0176..920e36a62 100644
--- a/packages/aws-durable-execution-sdk-python-insight/README.md
+++ b/packages/aws-durable-execution-sdk-python-insight/README.md
@@ -183,7 +183,12 @@ OTelExporter(endpoint="https://otlp.vendor.com/v1/logs", headers={"x-api-key": "
 
 `POST` (or `method="PUT"`) the record as JSON to `url` with
 `Content-Type: application/json` plus `headers`; a non-2xx status raises.
-`timeout_ms` defaults to 10000. No IAM.
+`timeout_ms` defaults to 10000 and currently applies to each socket operation
+(the connect, each write of the request, and each read of the status line,
+headers, and a non-2xx error body; a 2xx body is never read) rather than to the
+whole request, so an endpoint that consumes or responds slowly can hold the
+export open longer than `timeout_ms`; a future release may enforce it as a
+whole-request deadline. No IAM.
 
 ```python
 HttpExporter(url="https://hooks.example.com/insight", headers={"Authorization": "Bearer ..."})
diff --git a/packages/aws-durable-execution-sdk-python-insight/src/aws_durable_execution_sdk_python_insight/exporters/_common.py b/packages/aws-durable-execution-sdk-python-insight/src/aws_durable_execution_sdk_python_insight/exporters/_common.py
index 28ef36262..36d347e97 100644
--- a/packages/aws-durable-execution-sdk-python-insight/src/aws_durable_execution_sdk_python_insight/exporters/_common.py
+++ b/packages/aws-durable-execution-sdk-python-insight/src/aws_durable_execution_sdk_python_insight/exporters/_common.py
@@ -89,7 +89,11 @@ def http_send(
     message. Redirects are not followed: a 3xx is returned like any other
     failure. ``error_text`` is the first ``_MAX_ERROR_BODY_BYTES`` of a non-2xx
     response body and empty on success; a success body is never read. Network
-    errors and timeouts propagate.
+    errors and timeouts propagate. ``timeout`` is ``urllib``'s per-socket-
+    operation timeout: it bounds the connect, each write of the request, and
+    each read of the status line, headers, and any error body separately, not
+    the request as a whole. A peer that keeps consuming or sending bytes
+    slowly can outlive it.
     """
     request = urllib.request.Request(url, data=body, method=method)
     for key, value in headers.items():
diff --git a/packages/aws-durable-execution-sdk-python-insight/src/aws_durable_execution_sdk_python_insight/exporters/http_exporter.py b/packages/aws-durable-execution-sdk-python-insight/src/aws_durable_execution_sdk_python_insight/exporters/http_exporter.py
index fec782811..540715b4c 100644
--- a/packages/aws-durable-execution-sdk-python-insight/src/aws_durable_execution_sdk_python_insight/exporters/http_exporter.py
+++ b/packages/aws-durable-execution-sdk-python-insight/src/aws_durable_execution_sdk_python_insight/exporters/http_exporter.py
@@ -34,8 +34,17 @@ class HttpExporter:
     """Sends each record as a JSON body to any HTTP endpoint.
 
     The endpoint must answer 2xx; any other status raises. ``timeout_ms``
-    bounds the whole request (default 10 seconds). ``max_record_size_bytes``
-    has no default because a generic endpoint has no known limit.
+    (default 10 seconds) is currently applied to each blocking socket
+    operation, not to the request as a whole: the connect, each write while
+    sending the request (headers and the record body), and each read of the
+    status line and headers, plus of the error body on a non-2xx response. A
+    successful response body is never read. An endpoint that stops reading or
+    goes silent fails at ``timeout_ms``, but one that keeps consuming or
+    sending bytes slowly can hold the request open for longer. A future
+    release may enforce ``timeout_ms`` as a deadline for the whole request, so
+    do not rely on a request being allowed to exceed it. Size the function
+    timeout with this in mind. ``max_record_size_bytes`` has no default because
+    a generic endpoint has no known limit.
     """
 
     def __init__(
diff --git a/packages/aws-durable-execution-sdk-python-insight/tests/test_http_exporter.py b/packages/aws-durable-execution-sdk-python-insight/tests/test_http_exporter.py
index 6fd64d6b0..d2f66176b 100644
--- a/packages/aws-durable-execution-sdk-python-insight/tests/test_http_exporter.py
+++ b/packages/aws-durable-execution-sdk-python-insight/tests/test_http_exporter.py
@@ -181,7 +181,7 @@ def test_non_2xx_response_raises(http_capture: HttpCapture) -> None:
         exporter.export(_record())
 
 
-def test_timeout_is_enforced(http_capture: HttpCapture) -> None:
+def test_timeout_applies_to_a_silent_peer(http_capture: HttpCapture) -> None:
     http_capture.delay_seconds = 1.0
     exporter = HttpExporter(url=http_capture.url, timeout_ms=100)
     with pytest.raises(TimeoutError):