diff --git a/paperqa/agents/main.py b/paperqa/agents/main.py
index b24b56e5..fc0eb4d9 100644
--- a/paperqa/agents/main.py
+++ b/paperqa/agents/main.py
@@ -121,7 +121,10 @@ async def run_agent(
     else:
         raise NotImplementedError(f"Didn't yet handle agent type {agent_type}.")
 
-    if "cannot answer" in answer.answer.lower() and agent_status != AgentStatus.TIMEOUT:
+    if (
+        "cannot answer" in answer.answer.lower()
+        and agent_status != AgentStatus.TRUNCATED
+    ):
         agent_status = AgentStatus.UNSURE
     # stop after, so overall isn't reported as long-running step.
     logger.info(
@@ -140,6 +143,11 @@ async def run_fake_agent(
     ) = None,
     **env_kwargs,
 ) -> tuple[Answer, AgentStatus]:
+    if query.settings.agent.max_timesteps is not None:
+        logger.warning(
+            f"Max timesteps (configured {query.settings.agent.max_timesteps}) is not"
+            " applicable with the fake agent, ignoring it."
+        )
     env = PaperQAEnvironment(query, docs, **env_kwargs)
     _, tools = await env.reset()
     if on_env_reset_callback:
@@ -209,7 +217,14 @@ async def run_aviary_agent(
                 tools=tools,
             )
 
+            timestep, max_timesteps = 0, query.settings.agent.max_timesteps
             while not done:
+                if max_timesteps is not None and timestep >= max_timesteps:
+                    logger.warning(
+                        f"Agent didn't finish within {max_timesteps} timesteps, just answering."
+                    )
+                    await tools[-1]._tool_fn(question=query.query, state=env.state)
+                    return env.state.answer, AgentStatus.TRUNCATED
                 agent_state.messages += obs
                 for attempt in Retrying(
                     stop=stop_after_attempt(5),
@@ -226,12 +241,13 @@ async def run_aviary_agent(
                 obs, reward, done, truncated = await env.step(action)
                 if on_env_step_callback:
                     await on_env_step_callback(obs, reward, done, truncated)
+                timestep += 1
             status = AgentStatus.SUCCESS
     except TimeoutError:
         logger.warning(
             f"Agent timeout after {query.settings.agent.timeout}-sec, just answering."
         )
-        status = AgentStatus.TIMEOUT
+        status = AgentStatus.TRUNCATED
         await tools[-1]._tool_fn(question=query.query, state=env.state)
     except Exception:
         logger.exception(f"Agent {agent} failed.")
@@ -250,6 +266,11 @@ async def run_ldp_agent(
     ) = None,
     **env_kwargs,
 ) -> tuple[Answer, AgentStatus]:
+    if query.settings.agent.max_timesteps is not None:
+        logger.warning(
+            f"Max timesteps (configured {query.settings.agent.max_timesteps}) is not"
+            " yet implemented with the ldp agent, ignoring it."
+        )
     env = PaperQAEnvironment(query, docs, **env_kwargs)
     done = False
 
@@ -274,7 +295,7 @@ async def run_ldp_agent(
         logger.warning(
             f"Agent timeout after {query.settings.agent.timeout}-sec, just answering."
         )
-        status = AgentStatus.TIMEOUT
+        status = AgentStatus.TRUNCATED
         await tools[-1]._tool_fn(question=query.query, state=env.state)
     except Exception:
         logger.exception(f"Agent {agent} failed.")
diff --git a/paperqa/agents/models.py b/paperqa/agents/models.py
index e35c92fa..266f3b5a 100644
--- a/paperqa/agents/models.py
+++ b/paperqa/agents/models.py
@@ -39,8 +39,9 @@ class AgentStatus(StrEnum):
     FAIL = "fail"
     # SUCCESS - answer was generated
     SUCCESS = "success"
-    # TIMEOUT - agent took too long, but an answer was generated
-    TIMEOUT = "timeout"
+    # TRUNCATED - agent didn't finish naturally (e.g. timeout, too many actions),
+    # so we prematurely answered
+    TRUNCATED = "truncated"
     # UNSURE - the agent was unsure, but an answer is present
     UNSURE = "unsure"
 
diff --git a/paperqa/settings.py b/paperqa/settings.py
index abb9e298..690e223a 100644
--- a/paperqa/settings.py
+++ b/paperqa/settings.py
@@ -406,6 +406,10 @@ class AgentSettings(BaseModel):
             " supplied."
         ),
     )
+    max_timesteps: int | None = Field(
+        default=None,
+        description="Optional upper limit on the number of environment steps.",
+    )
 
     index_concurrency: int = Field(
         default=30,
diff --git a/tests/test_agents.py b/tests/test_agents.py
index fa6acd8f..633b197f 100644
--- a/tests/test_agents.py
+++ b/tests/test_agents.py
@@ -243,7 +243,7 @@ async def test_timeout(agent_test_settings: Settings, agent_type: str | type) ->
         agent_type=agent_type,
     )
     # ensure that GenerateAnswerTool was called
-    assert response.status == AgentStatus.TIMEOUT, "Agent did not timeout"
+    assert response.status == AgentStatus.TRUNCATED, "Agent did not timeout"
     assert "I cannot answer" in response.answer.answer
 
 
@@ -287,18 +287,28 @@ async def test_gather_evidence_rejects_empty_docs() -> None:
     # lead to an unsure status, which will break this test's assertions. Since
     # this test is about a GatherEvidenceTool edge case, defeating
     # GenerateAnswerTool is fine
+    original_doc = GenerateAnswer.gen_answer.__doc__
     with patch.object(
-        GenerateAnswer, "gen_answer", return_value="Failed to answer question."
-    ):
-        settings = Settings()
-        settings.agent.tool_names = {"gather_evidence", "gen_answer"}
+        GenerateAnswer,
+        "gen_answer",
+        return_value="Failed to answer question.",
+        autospec=True,
+    ) as mock_gen_answer:
+        mock_gen_answer.__doc__ = original_doc
+        settings = Settings(
+            agent=AgentSettings(
+                tool_names={"gather_evidence", "gen_answer"}, max_timesteps=3
+            )
+        )
         response = await agent_query(
             query=QueryRequest(
                 query="Are COVID-19 vaccines effective?", settings=settings
             ),
             docs=Docs(),
         )
-    assert response.status == AgentStatus.FAIL, "Agent should have registered a failure"
+    assert (
+        response.status == AgentStatus.TRUNCATED
+    ), "Agent should have hit its max timesteps"
 
 
 @pytest.mark.flaky(reruns=3, only_rerun=["AssertionError", "EmptyDocsError"])