diff --git a/packages/js-sdk/src/sandbox/commands/index.ts b/packages/js-sdk/src/sandbox/commands/index.ts
index 61cb9e283c..9e2457c37a 100644
--- a/packages/js-sdk/src/sandbox/commands/index.ts
+++ b/packages/js-sdk/src/sandbox/commands/index.ts
@@ -393,7 +393,11 @@ export class Commands {
     cmd: string,
     opts?: CommandStartOpts & { background?: boolean }
   ): Promise<CommandHandle | CommandResult> {
-    const proc = await this.start(cmd, opts)
+    const startOpts =
+      opts?.background && opts?.timeoutMs === undefined
+        ? { ...opts, timeoutMs: 0 }
+        : opts
+    const proc = await this.start(cmd, startOpts)
 
     return opts?.background ? proc : proc.wait()
   }
diff --git a/packages/python-sdk/e2b/sandbox_async/commands/command.py b/packages/python-sdk/e2b/sandbox_async/commands/command.py
index 32b75fd26b..715c8ae2c4 100644
--- a/packages/python-sdk/e2b/sandbox_async/commands/command.py
+++ b/packages/python-sdk/e2b/sandbox_async/commands/command.py
@@ -144,7 +144,7 @@ async def run(
         on_stdout: Optional[OutputHandler[Stdout]] = None,
         on_stderr: Optional[OutputHandler[Stderr]] = None,
         stdin: Optional[bool] = None,
-        timeout: Optional[float] = 60,
+        timeout: Optional[float] = None,
         request_timeout: Optional[float] = None,
     ) -> CommandResult:
         """
@@ -158,7 +158,7 @@ async def run(
         :param on_stdout: Callback for command stdout output
         :param on_stderr: Callback for command stderr output
         :param stdin: If `True`, the command will have a stdin stream that you can send data to using `sandbox.commands.send_stdin()`
-        :param timeout: Timeout for the command connection in **seconds**. Using `0` will not limit the command connection time
+        :param timeout: Timeout for the command connection in **seconds**. Using `0` will not limit the command connection time. Default is `60` seconds for foreground commands, `0` (no limit) for background commands
         :param request_timeout: Timeout for the request in **seconds**
 
         :return: `CommandResult` result of the command execution
@@ -176,7 +176,7 @@ async def run(
         on_stdout: Optional[OutputHandler[Stdout]] = None,
         on_stderr: Optional[OutputHandler[Stderr]] = None,
         stdin: Optional[bool] = None,
-        timeout: Optional[float] = 60,
+        timeout: Optional[float] = None,
         request_timeout: Optional[float] = None,
     ) -> AsyncCommandHandle:
         """
@@ -190,7 +190,7 @@ async def run(
         :param on_stdout: Callback for command stdout output
         :param on_stderr: Callback for command stderr output
         :param stdin: If `True`, the command will have a stdin stream that you can send data to using `sandbox.commands.send_stdin()`
-        :param timeout: Timeout for the command connection in **seconds**. Using `0` will not limit the command connection time
+        :param timeout: Timeout for the command connection in **seconds**. Using `0` will not limit the command connection time. Default is `0` (no limit) for background commands
         :param request_timeout: Timeout for the request in **seconds**
 
         :return: `AsyncCommandHandle` handle to interact with the running command
@@ -207,7 +207,7 @@ async def run(
         on_stdout: Optional[OutputHandler[Stdout]] = None,
         on_stderr: Optional[OutputHandler[Stderr]] = None,
         stdin: Optional[bool] = None,
-        timeout: Optional[float] = 60,
+        timeout: Optional[float] = None,
         request_timeout: Optional[float] = None,
     ):
         # Check version for stdin support
@@ -220,12 +220,20 @@ async def run(
         # Default to `False`
         stdin = stdin or False
 
+        # When timeout is not explicitly provided, default to 60s for foreground
+        # commands, or 0 (unlimited) for background commands so the process
+        # remains reachable for connect(pid)
+        if timeout is None:
+            effective_timeout = 0 if background else 60
+        else:
+            effective_timeout = timeout
+
         proc = await self._start(
             cmd,
             envs,
             user,
             cwd,
-            timeout,
+            effective_timeout,
             request_timeout,
             stdin,
             on_stdout=on_stdout,
diff --git a/packages/python-sdk/e2b/sandbox_sync/commands/command.py b/packages/python-sdk/e2b/sandbox_sync/commands/command.py
index 512b7d9923..bb0c87e44b 100644
--- a/packages/python-sdk/e2b/sandbox_sync/commands/command.py
+++ b/packages/python-sdk/e2b/sandbox_sync/commands/command.py
@@ -143,7 +143,7 @@ def run(
         on_stdout: Optional[Callable[[str], None]] = None,
         on_stderr: Optional[Callable[[str], None]] = None,
         stdin: Optional[bool] = None,
-        timeout: Optional[float] = 60,
+        timeout: Optional[float] = None,
         request_timeout: Optional[float] = None,
     ) -> CommandResult:
         """
@@ -157,7 +157,7 @@ def run(
         :param on_stdout: Callback for command stdout output
         :param on_stderr: Callback for command stderr output
         :param stdin: If `True`, the command will have a stdin stream that you can send data to using `sandbox.commands.send_stdin()`
-        :param timeout: Timeout for the command connection in **seconds**. Using `0` will not limit the command connection time
+        :param timeout: Timeout for the command connection in **seconds**. Using `0` will not limit the command connection time. Default is `60` seconds for foreground commands, `0` (no limit) for background commands
         :param request_timeout: Timeout for the request in **seconds**
 
         :return: `CommandResult` result of the command execution
@@ -175,7 +175,7 @@ def run(
         on_stdout: None = None,
         on_stderr: None = None,
         stdin: Optional[bool] = None,
-        timeout: Optional[float] = 60,
+        timeout: Optional[float] = None,
         request_timeout: Optional[float] = None,
     ) -> CommandHandle:
         """
@@ -187,7 +187,7 @@ def run(
         :param user: User to run the command as
         :param cwd: Working directory to run the command
         :param stdin: If `True`, the command will have a stdin stream that you can send data to using `sandbox.commands.send_stdin()`
-        :param timeout: Timeout for the command connection in **seconds**. Using `0` will not limit the command connection time
+        :param timeout: Timeout for the command connection in **seconds**. Using `0` will not limit the command connection time. Default is `0` (no limit) for background commands
         :param request_timeout: Timeout for the request in **seconds**
 
         :return: `CommandHandle` handle to interact with the running command
@@ -204,7 +204,7 @@ def run(
         on_stdout: Optional[Callable[[str], None]] = None,
         on_stderr: Optional[Callable[[str], None]] = None,
         stdin: Optional[bool] = None,
-        timeout: Optional[float] = 60,
+        timeout: Optional[float] = None,
         request_timeout: Optional[float] = None,
     ):
         # Check version for stdin support
@@ -217,13 +217,21 @@ def run(
         # Default to `False`
         stdin = stdin or False
 
+        # When timeout is not explicitly provided, default to 60s for foreground
+        # commands, or 0 (unlimited) for background commands so the process
+        # remains reachable for connect(pid)
+        if timeout is None:
+            effective_timeout = 0 if background else 60
+        else:
+            effective_timeout = timeout
+
         proc = self._start(
             cmd,
             envs,
             user,
             cwd,
             stdin,
-            timeout,
+            effective_timeout,
             request_timeout,
         )