I’m working with OpenAI API through LangChain in a FastAPI application deployed on Google Cloud Run. Everything works fine initially, but after making several API requests, I keep encountering SSL connection issues.
The error message I’m seeing is:
WARNING - Retrying (Retry(total=0, connect=None, read=None, redirect=None, status=None)) after connection broken by 'SSLError(SSLZeroReturnError(6, 'TLS/SSL connection has been closed (EOF) (_ssl.c:1129)'))': /v1/chat/completions
The system attempts to retry the connection multiple times before eventually failing. Has anyone experienced similar SSL termination problems when making repeated calls to OpenAI’s chat completion endpoint? Any suggestions on how to handle these connection drops would be helpful.
This SSL error occurs when the TCP connection is unexpectedly terminated by the server or the network. I’ve encountered this issue in production, particularly with long-running applications that maintain open connections. Typically, this happens because you’re reusing connections that have been idle for too long. OpenAI’s load balancers may close idle connections, yet your HTTP client is unaware and attempts to use them nonetheless. It’s not just about adjusting timeouts—it’s essential to manage your connection lifecycle effectively by forcing connections to close after a set number of requests or a specific duration. In your FastAPI app, consider creating a new OpenAI client periodically rather than using the same instance indefinitely. Additionally, implement exception handling around your API calls to specifically catch SSL errors and reinitialize the client if needed. This approach resolved the issue for me without the need for additional dependencies.
Had this exact problem with a chatbot hitting OpenAI non-stop. Cloud Run’s stateless setup doesn’t play nice with how the OpenAI Python client manages persistent connections. Fixed it by adding a simple connection refresh - I count requests in my FastAPI service and recreate the OpenAI client every 50-100 requests. Check your Cloud Run memory limits too. When containers get recycled from memory pressure, you’ll get those sudden SSL drops mid-request. Bumping the OpenAI client’s max_retries from default to 5 really helped during traffic spikes.
i had a similar prob with GCP Cloud Run. try enabling connection pooling for your OpenAI client and increase timeout settings. it really helped me out! also, make sure your Cloud Run conn timeout is set to a reasonable time, not the default.
Been there with SSL drops. The real problem? Connection management becomes a nightmare at scale.
Skip wrestling with SSL timeouts and connection pooling configs. Route those OpenAI calls through an automation platform instead. You’ll get retry logic, connection handling, and better error management without touching your FastAPI code.
I’ve watched teams burn weeks debugging SSL issues when they could’ve just offloaded the API orchestration. Plus you get request queuing, rate limiting, and monitoring for free.
Bonus: if you need to chain multiple AI calls later, it’s way cleaner than handling connection complexity in your app layer.