## TL;DR

One: do not rely on automatic timeouts - they follow the team default, so a crashed script can leave a browser burning credits until the default timeout hits. Two: set timeoutMinutes per session for long jobs rather than trusting the team default. Two billing traps Hyperbrowser's own docs call out.

## Fix

1. One: do not rely on automatic timeouts - they follow the team default, so a crashed script can leave a browser burning credits until the default timeout hits.
   Expected: You get the expected result; the problem is gone.
2. Two: set timeoutMinutes per session for long jobs rather than trusting the team default.
   Expected: You get the expected result; the problem is gone.

## When to use

- You are dealing with this situation.
- The symptom matches: Hyperbrowser stop is idempotent and timeouts are not enough - always close sessions in try-finally.

## When NOT to use

- Unrelated issues with a different cause.
- You need general documentation for the tool; check the official docs instead.

## Compatibility

Reported per the linked source. Source: https://hyperbrowser.ai/docs/sessions/lifecycle.md.

## Variant phrasings

### Hyperbrowser stop is idempotent and timeouts are not enough - always close sessions in try-finally

## Why it happens

Hyperbrowser's official session lifecycle docs: stopping a session is idempotent - you can safely call it multiple times without errors. Sessions automatically stop after a timeout based on your team's default Session Timeout setting, configurable per session with timeoutMinutes at creation. But the docs warn: do not rely solely on automatic timeouts - always explicitly stop sessions in your cleanup logic to avoid unexpected charges and ensure proper resource management. try-finally blocks guarantee sessions are stopped even when errors occur.

## Edge cases

- If your error message differs even slightly, this is probably a different issue; search the exact text.
- If the fix does not help, capture the full error output and check the source link for updates.

## Source

https://hyperbrowser.ai/docs/sessions/lifecycle.md