diff --git a/bitelab/__main__.py b/bitelab/__main__.py
index d7e1a21..5723d80 100644
--- a/bitelab/__main__.py
+++ b/bitelab/__main__.py
@@ -69,6 +69,8 @@ def make_attrs(*args):
 
 	return r
 
+_httpxargs = dict(timeout=20)
+
 async def real_main():
 	baseurl = os.environ['BITELAB_URL']
 	authkey = os.environ['BITELAB_AUTH']
@@ -77,7 +79,8 @@ async def real_main():
 
 	try:
 		if sys.argv[1] == 'list':
-			res = await client.get('board/classes', auth=BiteAuth(authkey))
+			res = await client.get('board/classes',
+			    auth=BiteAuth(authkey), **_httpxargs)
 
 			check_res_code(res)
 
@@ -90,7 +93,7 @@ async def real_main():
 			res = await client.post('board/%s/%s' %
 			    (urllib.parse.quote(sys.argv[2], safe=''),
 			     sys.argv[1]),
-			    auth=BiteAuth(authkey))
+			    auth=BiteAuth(authkey), **_httpxargs)
 
 			check_res_code(res)
 
@@ -104,7 +107,8 @@ async def real_main():
 			board_id = sys.argv[-1]
 			res = await client.post('board/%s/attrs' % 
 			    urllib.parse.quote(board_id, safe=''),
-			    auth=BiteAuth(authkey), json=make_attrs(*sys.argv[2:-1]))
+			    auth=BiteAuth(authkey),
+			    json=make_attrs(*sys.argv[2:-1]), **_httpxargs)
 
 			check_res_code(res)
 
@@ -170,7 +174,7 @@ class TestClient(unittest.TestCase):
 
 		ac.assert_called_with(base_url='http://someserver/')
 
-		acg.assert_called_with('board/classes', auth=BiteAuth('thisisanapikey'))
+		acg.assert_called_with('board/classes', auth=BiteAuth('thisisanapikey'), **_httpxargs)
 
 	# XXX - add error cases for UI
 
@@ -193,7 +197,7 @@ class TestClient(unittest.TestCase):
 
 		ac.assert_called_with(base_url='http://someserver/')
 
-		acg.assert_called_with('board/classes', auth=BiteAuth('thisisanapikey'))
+		acg.assert_called_with('board/classes', auth=BiteAuth('thisisanapikey'), **_httpxargs)
 
 	# XXX - add error cases for UI
 
@@ -223,7 +227,7 @@ Attributes:
 
 		ac.assert_called_with(base_url='http://someserver/')
 
-		acp.assert_called_with('board/cora-z7s/reserve', auth=BiteAuth('thisisanapikey'))
+		acp.assert_called_with('board/cora-z7s/reserve', auth=BiteAuth('thisisanapikey'), **_httpxargs)
 
 	@patch.dict(sys.__dict__, dict(argv=[ '', 'release', 'cora-z7s' ]))
 	def test_release(self):
@@ -249,7 +253,8 @@ Attributes:
 
 		ac.assert_called_with(base_url='http://someserver/')
 
-		acp.assert_called_with('board/cora-z7s/release', auth=BiteAuth('thisisanapikey'))
+		acp.assert_called_with('board/cora-z7s/release',
+		    auth=BiteAuth('thisisanapikey'), **_httpxargs)
 
 	@patch.dict(sys.__dict__, dict(argv=[ '', 'set', 'power=on', 'cora-z7s' ]))
 	def test_set(self):
@@ -278,7 +283,8 @@ Attributes:
 		ac.assert_called_with(base_url='http://someserver/')
 
 		acp.assert_called_with('board/cora-z7s/attrs',
-		    auth=BiteAuth('thisisanapikey'), json=dict(power=True))
+		    auth=BiteAuth('thisisanapikey'), json=dict(power=True),
+		    **_httpxargs)
 
 	def test_make_attrs(self):
 		self.assertEqual(make_attrs('power=on'), dict(power=True))
@@ -289,3 +295,7 @@ Attributes:
 		self.assertEqual(make_attrs('power=0'), dict(power=False))
 
 		self.assertRaises(ValueError, make_attrs, 'power=bar')
+
+	def test_check_res_code(self):
+		# XXX - on weird errors, res.json() will fail w/ json.decoder.JSONDecodeError
+		pass