diff --git a/.github/workflows/ci.yml b/.github/workflows/ci.yml
index 6f7d0ac..88d12da 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/ci.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/ci.yml
@@ -113,3 +113,27 @@ jobs:
         STREAM_API_SECRET: ${{ secrets.STREAM_VIDEO_API_SECRET }}
         STREAM_BASE_URL: ${{ vars.STREAM_VIDEO_BASE_URL }}
       run: make test-integration-video
+
+  integration-gcp-lb:
+    name: GCP load balancer keep-alive
+    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+    environment: ci
+
+    steps:
+    - name: Checkout code
+      uses: actions/checkout@v4
+
+    - name: Set up Ruby
+      uses: ruby/setup-ruby@v1
+      with:
+        ruby-version: '3.1.0'
+
+    - name: Install dependencies
+      run: bundle install --jobs 4 --retry 3
+
+    - name: Run GCP keep-alive integration test
+      env:
+        STREAM_API_KEY: ${{ vars.STREAM_GCP_API_KEY || vars.STREAM_API_KEY }}
+        STREAM_API_SECRET: ${{ secrets.STREAM_GCP_API_SECRET || secrets.STREAM_API_SECRET }}
+        STREAM_BASE_URL: ${{ vars.STREAM_GCP_BASE_URL }}
+      run: make test-integration-gcp-lb
diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 3c76dce..71ecf64 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -1,5 +1,13 @@
 ## [Unreleased]
 
+### Fixed
+
+- Default `idle_timeout` for `net_http_persistent` is now `25` seconds (was `55`).
+  GCP SSL-proxy load balancers close idle TLS around ~30s; keeping pooled
+  connections for 55s (AWS ALB idle minus 5s) caused
+  `SSL_read: unexpected eof while reading` (`GetStreamRuby::TransportError`)
+  on the next request. Override with `idle_timeout:` or `STREAM_IDLE_TIMEOUT`.
+
 ## [10.0.0] - 2026-07-24
 
 ### Added
diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index 6803a91..0933015 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 # GetStream Ruby SDK Makefile
 
-.PHONY: help install test test-unit test-integration test-integration-chat test-integration-video lint format clean setup
+.PHONY: help install test test-unit test-integration test-integration-chat test-integration-video test-integration-gcp-lb lint format clean setup
 
 # Default target
 help: ## Show this help message
@@ -40,6 +40,9 @@ test-integration-feed: ## Run feed integration tests only
 test-integration-video: ## Run video integration tests only
 	bundle exec rspec spec/integration/video_integration_spec.rb spec/integration/video_client_integration_spec.rb
 
+test-integration-gcp-lb: ## Run GCP load-balancer keep-alive integration test
+	bundle exec rspec spec/integration/gcp_lb_keepalive_spec.rb
+
 test-all: ## Run all tests (unit + integration)
 	bundle exec rspec spec/
 
diff --git a/lib/getstream_ruby/client.rb b/lib/getstream_ruby/client.rb
index 0a0e847..d262c54 100644
--- a/lib/getstream_ruby/client.rb
+++ b/lib/getstream_ruby/client.rb
@@ -325,6 +325,7 @@ def configure_adapter(connection)
 
       # Default: net_http_persistent with the 5-knob config.
       # Never set Connection: close; net_http_persistent keeps connections alive natively.
+      # idle_timeout must be below the GCP SSL-proxy idle (~30s); AWS ALB is 60s.
       idle = @configuration.idle_timeout
       connection.adapter :net_http_persistent, pool_size: @configuration.max_conns_per_host do |http|
 
diff --git a/lib/getstream_ruby/configuration.rb b/lib/getstream_ruby/configuration.rb
index e9f89fc..c3e5857 100644
--- a/lib/getstream_ruby/configuration.rb
+++ b/lib/getstream_ruby/configuration.rb
@@ -137,12 +137,14 @@ def assign_timeouts_and_pool(options, use_env:)
         env_request_timeout = ENV.fetch('STREAM_REQUEST_TIMEOUT', nil) || ENV.fetch('STREAM_TIMEOUT', nil)
         @request_timeout = (request_timeout || timeout || env_request_timeout || 30).to_i
         @max_conns_per_host = (max_conns_per_host || ENV.fetch('STREAM_MAX_CONNS_PER_HOST', nil) || 5).to_i
-        @idle_timeout = (idle_timeout || ENV.fetch('STREAM_IDLE_TIMEOUT', nil) || 55).to_i
+        # 25s sits under GCP SSL-proxy idle (~30s) and AWS ALB idle (60s) so
+        # net_http_persistent drops the conn before the LB does (CHA-4943).
+        @idle_timeout = (idle_timeout || ENV.fetch('STREAM_IDLE_TIMEOUT', nil) || 25).to_i
         @connect_timeout = (connect_timeout || ENV.fetch('STREAM_CONNECT_TIMEOUT', nil) || 10).to_i
       else
         @request_timeout = (request_timeout || timeout || 30).to_i
         @max_conns_per_host = (max_conns_per_host || 5).to_i
-        @idle_timeout = (idle_timeout || 55).to_i
+        @idle_timeout = (idle_timeout || 25).to_i
         @connect_timeout = (connect_timeout || 10).to_i
       end
     end
diff --git a/spec/connection_pooling_spec.rb b/spec/connection_pooling_spec.rb
index 9a6202f..e30da57 100644
--- a/spec/connection_pooling_spec.rb
+++ b/spec/connection_pooling_spec.rb
@@ -230,7 +230,7 @@ def capture_adapter_call
       line = info_lines.first
       expect(line).to include('client.initialized')
       expect(line).to include('stream.client.max_conns_per_host=5')
-      expect(line).to include('stream.client.idle_timeout_seconds=55')
+      expect(line).to include('stream.client.idle_timeout_seconds=25')
       expect(line).to include('stream.client.connect_timeout_seconds=10')
       expect(line).to include('stream.client.request_timeout_seconds=30')
       expect(line).to include('stream.client.user_http_client=false')
diff --git a/spec/getstream_ruby_spec.rb b/spec/getstream_ruby_spec.rb
index 775ad73..0437ad7 100644
--- a/spec/getstream_ruby_spec.rb
+++ b/spec/getstream_ruby_spec.rb
@@ -27,7 +27,7 @@
       expect(client.configuration.faraday_adapter_options).to eq({})
       expect(client.configuration.connection_keep_alive).to eq(true)
       expect(client.configuration.max_conns_per_host).to eq(5)
-      expect(client.configuration.idle_timeout).to eq(55)
+      expect(client.configuration.idle_timeout).to eq(25)
       expect(client.configuration.connect_timeout).to eq(10)
       expect(client.configuration.request_timeout).to eq(30)
       expect(client.configuration.http_client).to be_nil
diff --git a/spec/integration/gcp_lb_keepalive_spec.rb b/spec/integration/gcp_lb_keepalive_spec.rb
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..876d610
--- /dev/null
+++ b/spec/integration/gcp_lb_keepalive_spec.rb
@@ -0,0 +1,48 @@
+# frozen_string_literal: true
+
+require 'rspec'
+require 'uri'
+require_relative 'chat_test_helpers'
+
+# CHA-4943: GCP SSL-proxy LBs close idle TLS around ~30s. The SDK pool must
+# drop connections before that, otherwise the next request raises
+# GetStreamRuby::TransportError (SSL_read: unexpected eof while reading).
+#
+# Skipped unless STREAM_BASE_URL is a GCP edge hostname so default CI (AWS /
+# geo-routed chat.stream-io-api.com) does not wait 35s for a no-op.
+RSpec.describe 'GCP load balancer keep-alive', type: :integration do
+
+  include ChatTestHelpers
+
+  # Match on the parsed host suffix rather than a substring so a URL like
+  # https://gcp.stream-io-api.com.example.com does not slip through.
+  def gcp_edge_base_url?
+    host = URI(ENV.fetch('STREAM_BASE_URL', '')).host.to_s
+    host.end_with?('.gcp.stream-io-api.com')
+  rescue URI::InvalidURIError
+    false
+  end
+
+  before(:all) do
+
+    skip 'STREAM_BASE_URL must be a *.gcp.stream-io-api.com edge' unless gcp_edge_base_url?
+    init_chat_client
+
+  end
+
+  after(:all) do
+
+    cleanup_chat_resources if gcp_edge_base_url?
+
+  end
+
+  it 'reuses the pooled client after 35s idle without TLS EOF' do
+
+    ids, = create_test_users(1)
+    sleep ENV.fetch('STREAM_GCP_LB_IDLE_SLEEP', '35').to_i
+    expect { create_test_users(1) }.not_to raise_error
+    expect(ids).not_to be_empty
+
+  end
+
+end