diff --git a/cmd/pulse-sensor-proxy/http_server.go b/cmd/pulse-sensor-proxy/http_server.go
index 495b236..834ef89 100644
--- a/cmd/pulse-sensor-proxy/http_server.go
+++ b/cmd/pulse-sensor-proxy/http_server.go
@@ -281,9 +281,13 @@ func (h *HTTPServer) handleTemperature(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request) {
 	releaseNode := h.proxy.nodeGate.acquire(nodeName)
 	defer releaseNode()
 
-	// Fetch temperature data via SSH
+	// Fetch temperature data via SSH with context timeout
+	// Use a shorter timeout than the HTTP client to ensure we respond before client timeout
+	sshCtx, cancel := context.WithTimeout(ctx, 15*time.Second)
+	defer cancel()
+
 	log.Debug().Str("node", nodeName).Msg("Fetching temperature via SSH (HTTP request)")
-	tempData, err := h.proxy.getTemperatureViaSSH(nodeName)
+	tempData, err := h.proxy.getTemperatureViaSSH(sshCtx, nodeName)
 	if err != nil {
 		log.Warn().Err(err).Str("node", nodeName).Msg("Failed to get temperatures via SSH")
 		h.sendJSONError(w, http.StatusInternalServerError, fmt.Sprintf("failed to get temperatures: %v", err))
diff --git a/cmd/pulse-sensor-proxy/main.go b/cmd/pulse-sensor-proxy/main.go
index 2fbb816..368df74 100644
--- a/cmd/pulse-sensor-proxy/main.go
+++ b/cmd/pulse-sensor-proxy/main.go
@@ -1010,8 +1010,10 @@ func (p *Proxy) handleGetTemperature(req RPCRequest) RPCResponse {
 		}
 	}
 
-	// Fetch temperature data
-	tempData, err := p.getTemperatureViaSSH(node)
+	// Fetch temperature data with timeout
+	ctx, cancel := context.WithTimeout(context.Background(), 15*time.Second)
+	defer cancel()
+	tempData, err := p.getTemperatureViaSSH(ctx, node)
 	if err != nil {
 		return RPCResponse{
 			Success: false,
@@ -1185,8 +1187,10 @@ func (p *Proxy) handleGetTemperatureV2(ctx context.Context, req *RPCRequest, log
 
 	logger.Debug().Str("node", node).Msg("Fetching temperature via SSH")
 
-	// Fetch temperature data
-	tempData, err := p.getTemperatureViaSSH(node)
+	// Fetch temperature data with timeout
+	ctx, cancel := context.WithTimeout(context.Background(), 15*time.Second)
+	defer cancel()
+	tempData, err := p.getTemperatureViaSSH(ctx, node)
 	if err != nil {
 		logger.Warn().Err(err).Str("node", node).Msg("Failed to get temperatures")
 		return nil, fmt.Errorf("failed to get temperatures: %w", err)
diff --git a/cmd/pulse-sensor-proxy/ssh.go b/cmd/pulse-sensor-proxy/ssh.go
index 18f0b74..72eee94 100644
--- a/cmd/pulse-sensor-proxy/ssh.go
+++ b/cmd/pulse-sensor-proxy/ssh.go
@@ -56,6 +56,74 @@ func execCommand(cmd string) (string, error) {
 	return string(out), err
 }
 
+// execCommandWithLimitsContext runs a shell command with output limits and context cancellation
+func execCommandWithLimitsContext(ctx context.Context, cmd string, stdoutLimit, stderrLimit int64) (string, string, bool, bool, error) {
+	command := exec.CommandContext(ctx, "sh", "-c", cmd)
+
+	stdoutPipe, err := command.StdoutPipe()
+	if err != nil {
+		return "", "", false, false, fmt.Errorf("stdout pipe: %w", err)
+	}
+	stderrPipe, err := command.StderrPipe()
+	if err != nil {
+		return "", "", false, false, fmt.Errorf("stderr pipe: %w", err)
+	}
+
+	if err := command.Start(); err != nil {
+		return "", "", false, false, err
+	}
+
+	type pipeResult struct {
+		data     []byte
+		exceeded bool
+		err      error
+	}
+
+	var wg sync.WaitGroup
+	wg.Add(2)
+
+	stdoutCh := make(chan pipeResult, 1)
+	stderrCh := make(chan pipeResult, 1)
+
+	go func() {
+		defer wg.Done()
+		data, exceeded, readErr := readAllWithLimit(stdoutPipe, stdoutLimit)
+		stdoutCh <- pipeResult{data: data, exceeded: exceeded, err: readErr}
+	}()
+
+	go func() {
+		defer wg.Done()
+		data, exceeded, readErr := readAllWithLimit(stderrPipe, stderrLimit)
+		stderrCh <- pipeResult{data: data, exceeded: exceeded, err: readErr}
+	}()
+
+	var stdoutRes, stderrRes pipeResult
+	wgDone := make(chan struct{})
+	go func() {
+		wg.Wait()
+		close(wgDone)
+	}()
+
+	<-wgDone
+	stdoutRes = <-stdoutCh
+	stderrRes = <-stderrCh
+
+	waitErr := command.Wait()
+
+	if stdoutRes.err != nil {
+		return "", "", stdoutRes.exceeded, stderrRes.exceeded, fmt.Errorf("stdout read: %w", stdoutRes.err)
+	}
+	if stderrRes.err != nil {
+		return "", "", stdoutRes.exceeded, stderrRes.exceeded, fmt.Errorf("stderr read: %w", stderrRes.err)
+	}
+
+	if waitErr != nil {
+		return string(stdoutRes.data), string(stderrRes.data), stdoutRes.exceeded, stderrRes.exceeded, waitErr
+	}
+
+	return string(stdoutRes.data), string(stderrRes.data), stdoutRes.exceeded, stderrRes.exceeded, nil
+}
+
 func execCommandWithLimits(cmd string, stdoutLimit, stderrLimit int64) (string, string, bool, bool, error) {
 	command := exec.Command("sh", "-c", cmd)
 
@@ -504,7 +572,7 @@ func (p *Proxy) testSSHConnection(nodeHost string) error {
 }
 
 // getTemperatureViaSSH fetches temperature data from a node
-func (p *Proxy) getTemperatureViaSSH(nodeHost string) (string, error) {
+func (p *Proxy) getTemperatureViaSSH(ctx context.Context, nodeHost string) (string, error) {
 	startTime := time.Now()
 	nodeLabel := sanitizeNodeLabel(nodeHost)
 
@@ -533,7 +601,7 @@ func (p *Proxy) getTemperatureViaSSH(nodeHost string) (string, error) {
 		nodeHost,
 	)
 
-	stdout, stderr, stdoutExceeded, stderrExceeded, err := execCommandWithLimits(cmd, p.maxSSHOutputBytes, p.maxSSHOutputBytes)
+	stdout, stderr, stdoutExceeded, stderrExceeded, err := execCommandWithLimitsContext(ctx, cmd, p.maxSSHOutputBytes, p.maxSSHOutputBytes)
 	if stdoutExceeded {
 		log.Warn().Str("node", nodeHost).Int64("limit_bytes", p.maxSSHOutputBytes).Msg("SSH temperature output exceeded limit")
 		if p.metrics != nil {
diff --git a/internal/tempproxy/http_client.go b/internal/tempproxy/http_client.go
index 27e051b..0799a72 100644
--- a/internal/tempproxy/http_client.go
+++ b/internal/tempproxy/http_client.go
@@ -149,7 +149,7 @@ func (c *HTTPClient) GetTemperature(nodeHost string) (string, error) {
 		// Parse JSON response
 		var jsonResp struct {
 			Node        string `json:"node"`
-			Temperature string `json:"temperature"`
+			Temperature string `json:"temperature"` // This is a JSON-encoded string
 		}
 
 		if err := json.Unmarshal(body, &jsonResp); err != nil {
@@ -161,7 +161,8 @@ func (c *HTTPClient) GetTemperature(nodeHost string) (string, error) {
 			}
 		}
 
-		// Temperature field is already a JSON string, return as-is
+		// The temperature field contains JSON-encoded sensor data as a string
+		// Return it as-is since the caller expects raw JSON
 		return jsonResp.Temperature, nil
 	}