Stuck on a persistent 504 Gateway Timeout when the Genesys Cloud Data Action attempts to push conversation metadata to the ServiceNow REST API. The webhook payload exceeds 12KB, and the timeout_ms parameter in the Data Action configuration is already set to 30000. The ServiceNow side confirms receipt of the request but the GC connector fails before the HTTP 200 response is processed.
The timeout issue often stems from how Genesys Cloud handles the response payload size relative to the internal proxy buffer, not just the connection timeout. A 12KB payload is small, but if the ServiceNow instance is returning a verbose JSON response or if the initial TCP handshake is delayed due to intermediate security appliances, the 30-second window might be getting consumed by idle wait time rather than active processing.
Try restructuring the Data Action to use an asynchronous pattern. Instead of expecting a synchronous 200 OK immediately, configure the action to fire-and-forget if strict real-time confirmation isn’t required for the IVR flow. If synchronous is mandatory, check the ServiceNow script include handling the inbound request. Ensure it returns a minimal JSON response, like {"status": "ok"}, and set the Content-Length header explicitly. Large or unbuffered responses can cause the GC connector to hang while waiting for the full body.
- Reduce the ServiceNow response payload to <1KB.
- Verify the
timeout_msis set on the connection level, not just the read level. - Add a retry policy in the Data Action configuration with an exponential backoff.
{
"retryPolicy": {
"maxRetries": 2,
"backoffMs": 1000
},
"headers": {
"Content-Type": "application/json",
"Accept": "application/json"
}
}
Also, ensure the ServiceNow table being updated isn’t locked by another process during peak hours. In my experience with weekly schedule publishing, similar 409/504 errors often resolve when we stagger the API calls or reduce the batch size. If the ServiceNow side is confirming receipt but GC fails, it’s likely a TLS handshake mismatch or an intermediate firewall dropping the connection after the initial packet. Check the TLS version settings in the Genesys Cloud outbound proxy configuration.