How to manage the 5 seconds response timeout limit in Dialogflow / Api.ai?

Question

I am using Dialogflow to create an agent / bot which responds to different types of user queries with action items like \"I need to get a letter from the HR for address proo

Answer 1

I have just checked the Actions on Google documentation and the Fulfillment documentation pages, and indeed there is a 5-second timeout limit.

This may not be the nicest of the solutions and may not fit your case, but considering the given the strict 5-second window (we want to ensure a dynamic conversation without risking the user waiting for too long)

You start the computation with your first intent asynchronously and go back to the user and tell them to request the results in a few seconds, in the meantime when the computation is completed. It will be saved in a private space for the user, at which point the user will trigger a second intent that will request the results that in the meantime will have been pre-computed, so you can just fetch and return them.