> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.terrafai.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Synchronous Extraction

Synchronous extraction processes a document in a single request–response cycle. The connection remains open until the extraction process completes and the full response is returned.

This mode is best suited for:

* Smaller documents
* Interactive or real-time use cases
* Scenarios where immediate results are required

**Key characteristics**

* Single request / single response
* Subject to a maximum timeout of **300 seconds**

If the extraction does not complete within the timeout window, the request will fail and should be retried using asynchronous extraction.

> **Tip:** Use asynchronous extraction for large files or when processing time is unpredictable.