diff --git a/src/app/api/purchase-orders/upload/route.ts b/src/app/api/purchase-orders/upload/route.ts
index cb16a63..24bc2f6 100644
--- a/src/app/api/purchase-orders/upload/route.ts
+++ b/src/app/api/purchase-orders/upload/route.ts
@@ -1,16 +1,9 @@
 import { NextResponse } from "next/server";
+import { ALLOWED_MIME, MAX_FILE_BYTES } from "@/lib/purchase-order-schema";
 
 export const dynamic = "force-dynamic";
 export const runtime = "nodejs";
 
-const ALLOWED_MIME = new Set([
-  "application/pdf",
-  "image/jpeg",
-  "image/png",
-  "image/webp",
-]);
-const MAX_FILE_BYTES = 20 * 1024 * 1024;
-
 export async function POST(request: Request) {
   const start = Date.now();
 
@@ -55,14 +48,43 @@ export async function POST(request: Request) {
   n8nForm.append("size", String(file.size));
 
   let n8nRes: Response;
+  const controller = new AbortController();
+  const timeoutId = setTimeout(() => controller.abort(), 10_000);
   try {
-    n8nRes = await fetch(n8nUrl, { method: "POST", body: n8nForm });
+    n8nRes = await fetch(n8nUrl, {
+      method: "POST",
+      body: n8nForm,
+      signal: controller.signal,
+    });
   } catch (err) {
+    clearTimeout(timeoutId);
+    const isAbort = err instanceof Error && err.name === "AbortError";
     console.error("[po-upload] n8n unreachable", {
       filename: file.name,
+      timed_out: isAbort,
       err: String(err),
     });
-    return NextResponse.json({ error: "n8n_unreachable" }, { status: 502 });
+    return NextResponse.json(
+      { error: isAbort ? "n8n_timeout" : "n8n_unreachable" },
+      { status: isAbort ? 504 : 502 },
+    );
+  }
+  clearTimeout(timeoutId);
+
+  if (!n8nRes.ok) {
+    console.error("[po-upload] n8n rejected", {
+      filename: file.name,
+      n8n_status: n8nRes.status,
+      statusText: n8nRes.statusText,
+    });
+    return NextResponse.json(
+      {
+        error: "n8n_rejected",
+        n8n_status: n8nRes.status,
+        statusText: n8nRes.statusText,
+      },
+      { status: 502 },
+    );
   }
 
   console.log("[po-upload] forwarded", {
diff --git a/src/lib/purchase-order-schema.ts b/src/lib/purchase-order-schema.ts
index cfed077..4a066c7 100644
--- a/src/lib/purchase-order-schema.ts
+++ b/src/lib/purchase-order-schema.ts
@@ -24,13 +24,13 @@ export type PurchaseOrderIngestPayload = {
   raw_ocr: Record<string, unknown>;
 };
 
-const ALLOWED_MIME = new Set([
+export const ALLOWED_MIME = new Set([
   "application/pdf",
   "image/jpeg",
   "image/png",
   "image/webp",
 ]);
-const MAX_FILE_BYTES = 20 * 1024 * 1024;
+export const MAX_FILE_BYTES = 20 * 1024 * 1024;
 
 export type ValidationResult =
   | { ok: true; payload: PurchaseOrderIngestPayload }