diff --git a/garak/generators/base.py b/garak/generators/base.py
index a69fa2d97..47559ca90 100644
--- a/garak/generators/base.py
+++ b/garak/generators/base.py
@@ -47,7 +47,9 @@ def __init__(self, name="", generations=10):
         )
         logging.info("generator init: %s", self)
 
-    def _call_model(self, prompt: str) -> Union[List[str], str, None]:
+    def _call_model(
+        self, prompt: str, generations_this_call: int = 1
+    ) -> Union[List[str], str, None]:
         """Takes a prompt and returns an API output
 
         _call_api() is fully responsible for the request, and should either
@@ -63,7 +65,7 @@ def _pre_generate_hook(self):
     def clear_history(self):
         pass
 
-    def generate(self, prompt: str) -> List[str]:
+    def generate(self, prompt: str, generations_this_call: int = -1) -> List[str]:
         """Manages the process of getting generations out from a prompt
 
         This will involve iterating through prompts, getting the generations
@@ -74,11 +76,22 @@ def generate(self, prompt: str) -> List[str]:
 
         self._pre_generate_hook()
 
+        assert (
+            generations_this_call >= -1
+        ), f"Unexpected value for generations_per_call: {generations_this_call}"
+
+        if generations_this_call == -1:
+            generations_this_call = self.generations
+
+        elif generations_this_call == 0:
+            logging.debug("generate() called with generations_this_call = 0")
+            return []
+
         if self.supports_multiple_generations:
-            return self._call_model(prompt)
+            return self._call_model(prompt, generations_this_call)
 
-        elif self.generations <= 1:
-            return [self._call_model(prompt)]
+        elif generations_this_call <= 1:
+            return [self._call_model(prompt, generations_this_call)]
 
         else:
             outputs = []
@@ -90,23 +103,23 @@ def generate(self, prompt: str) -> List[str]:
             ):
                 from multiprocessing import Pool
 
-                bar = tqdm.tqdm(total=self.generations, leave=False)
+                bar = tqdm.tqdm(total=generations_this_call, leave=False)
                 bar.set_description(self.fullname[:55])
 
                 with Pool(_config.system.parallel_requests) as pool:
                     for result in pool.imap_unordered(
-                        self._call_model, [prompt] * self.generations
+                        self._call_model, [prompt] * generations_this_call
                     ):
                         outputs.append(result)
                         bar.update(1)
 
             else:
                 generation_iterator = tqdm.tqdm(
-                    list(range(self.generations)), leave=False
+                    list(range(generations_this_call)), leave=False
                 )
                 generation_iterator.set_description(self.fullname[:55])
                 for i in generation_iterator:
-                    outputs.append(self._call_model(prompt))
+                    outputs.append(self._call_model(prompt, generations_this_call))
 
             cleaned_outputs = [
                 o for o in outputs if o is not None
diff --git a/garak/generators/cohere.py b/garak/generators/cohere.py
index 5e6eaf40c..76d1783ab 100644
--- a/garak/generators/cohere.py
+++ b/garak/generators/cohere.py
@@ -9,6 +9,7 @@
 
 import logging
 import os
+from typing import List, Union
 
 import backoff
 import cohere
@@ -81,10 +82,12 @@ def _call_cohere_api(self, prompt, request_size=COHERE_GENERATION_LIMIT):
             )
             return [g.text for g in response]
 
-    def _call_model(self, prompt):
+    def _call_model(
+        self, prompt: str, generations_this_call: int = 1
+    ) -> Union[List[str], str, None]:
         """Cohere's _call_model does sub-batching before calling,
         and so manages chunking internally"""
-        quotient, remainder = divmod(self.generations, COHERE_GENERATION_LIMIT)
+        quotient, remainder = divmod(generations_this_call, COHERE_GENERATION_LIMIT)
         request_sizes = [COHERE_GENERATION_LIMIT] * quotient
         if remainder:
             request_sizes += [remainder]
diff --git a/garak/generators/function.py b/garak/generators/function.py
index 5f3c6ca72..f77cfd678 100644
--- a/garak/generators/function.py
+++ b/garak/generators/function.py
@@ -31,7 +31,7 @@
 
 
 import importlib
-from typing import List
+from typing import List, Union
 
 from garak.generators.base import Generator
 
@@ -56,8 +56,12 @@ def __init__(self, name="", **kwargs):  # name="", generations=self.generations)
 
         super().__init__(name, generations=self.generations)
 
-    def _call_model(self, prompt: str) -> str:
-        return self.generator(prompt, **self.kwargs)
+    def _call_model(
+        self, prompt: str, generations_this_call: int = 1
+    ) -> Union[List[str], str, None]:
+        return self.generator(
+            prompt, generations_this_call=generations_this_call, **self.kwargs
+        )
 
 
 class Multiple(Single):
@@ -65,8 +69,10 @@ class Multiple(Single):
 
     supports_multiple_generations = True
 
-    def _call_model(self, prompt) -> List[str]:
-        return self.generator(prompt, generations=self.generations, **self.kwargs)
+    def _call_model(
+        self, prompt: str, generations_this_call: int = 1
+    ) -> Union[List[str], str, None]:
+        return self.generator(prompt, generations=generations_this_call, **self.kwargs)
 
 
 default_class = "Single"
diff --git a/garak/generators/ggml.py b/garak/generators/ggml.py
index ed6d5acdc..cc4415321 100644
--- a/garak/generators/ggml.py
+++ b/garak/generators/ggml.py
@@ -16,6 +16,7 @@
 import os
 import re
 import subprocess
+from typing import List, Union
 
 from garak import _config
 from garak.generators.base import Generator
@@ -77,7 +78,14 @@ def __init__(self, name, generations=10):
 
         super().__init__(name, generations=generations)
 
-    def _call_model(self, prompt):
+    def _call_model(
+        self, prompt: str, generations_this_call: int = 1
+    ) -> Union[List[str], str, None]:
+        if generations_this_call != 1:
+            logging.warning(
+                "GgmlGenerator._call_model invokes with generations_this_call=%s but only 1 supported",
+                generations_this_call,
+            )
         command = [
             self.path_to_ggml_main,
             "-p",
diff --git a/garak/generators/guardrails.py b/garak/generators/guardrails.py
index 3468fd0df..3c0512129 100644
--- a/garak/generators/guardrails.py
+++ b/garak/generators/guardrails.py
@@ -5,7 +5,7 @@
 
 from contextlib import redirect_stderr
 import io
-from typing import List
+from typing import List, Union
 
 from garak.generators.base import Generator
 
@@ -35,7 +35,9 @@ def __init__(self, name, generations=1):
 
         super().__init__(name, generations=generations)
 
-    def _call_model(self, prompt: str) -> List[str]:
+    def _call_model(
+        self, prompt: str, generations_this_call: int = 1
+    ) -> Union[List[str], str, None]:
         with redirect_stderr(io.StringIO()) as f:  # quieten the tqdm
             result = self.rails.generate(prompt)
 
diff --git a/garak/generators/huggingface.py b/garak/generators/huggingface.py
index 76087b88c..11ea86e2a 100644
--- a/garak/generators/huggingface.py
+++ b/garak/generators/huggingface.py
@@ -88,9 +88,9 @@ def __init__(self, name, do_sample=True, generations=10, device=0):
             if _config.run.deprefix is True:
                 self.deprefix_prompt = True
 
-        self._set_hf_context_len(self.generator.model.config)
+                self._set_hf_context_len(self.generator.model.config)
 
-    def _call_model(self, prompt: str) -> List[str]:
+    def _call_model(self, prompt: str, generations_this_call: int = 1) -> List[str]:
         with warnings.catch_warnings():
             warnings.simplefilter("ignore", category=UserWarning)
             try:
@@ -104,23 +104,22 @@ def _call_model(self, prompt: str) -> List[str]:
                         truncated_prompt,
                         pad_token_id=self.generator.tokenizer.eos_token_id,
                         max_new_tokens=self.max_tokens,
-                        num_return_sequences=self.generations,
+                        num_return_sequences=generations_this_call,
                     )
             except Exception as e:
                 logging.error(e)
                 raw_output = []  # could handle better than this
 
+        outputs = []
         if raw_output is not None:
-            generations = [
+            outputs = [
                 i["generated_text"] for i in raw_output
             ]  # generator returns 10 outputs by default in __init__
-        else:
-            generations = []
 
         if not self.deprefix_prompt:
-            return generations
+            return outputs
         else:
-            return [re.sub("^" + re.escape(prompt), "", i) for i in generations]
+            return [re.sub("^" + re.escape(prompt), "", _o) for _o in outputs]
 
 
 class OptimumPipeline(Pipeline, HFCompatible):
@@ -211,7 +210,9 @@ def clear_history(self):
 
         self.conversation = Conversation()
 
-    def _call_model(self, prompt: Union[str, list[dict]]) -> List[str]:
+    def _call_model(
+        self, prompt: Union[str, list[dict]], generations_this_call: int = 1
+    ) -> List[str]:
         """Take a conversation as a list of dictionaries and feed it to the model"""
 
         # If conversation is provided as a list of dicts, create the conversation.
@@ -230,14 +231,14 @@ def _call_model(self, prompt: Union[str, list[dict]]) -> List[str]:
             with torch.no_grad():
                 conversation = self.generator(conversation)
 
-            generations = [conversation[-1]["content"]]
+            outputs = [conversation[-1]["content"]]
         else:
             raise TypeError(f"Expected list or str, got {type(prompt)}")
 
         if not self.deprefix_prompt:
-            return generations
+            return outputs
         else:
-            return [re.sub("^" + re.escape(prompt), "", i) for i in generations]
+            return [re.sub("^" + re.escape(prompt), "", _o) for _o in outputs]
 
 
 class InferenceAPI(Generator, HFCompatible):
@@ -275,7 +276,7 @@ def __init__(self, name="", generations=10):
         ),
         max_value=125,
     )
-    def _call_model(self, prompt: str) -> List[str]:
+    def _call_model(self, prompt: str, generations_this_call: int = 1) -> List[str]:
         import json
         import requests
 
@@ -283,7 +284,7 @@ def _call_model(self, prompt: str) -> List[str]:
             "inputs": prompt,
             "parameters": {
                 "return_full_text": not self.deprefix_prompt,
-                "num_return_sequences": self.generations,
+                "num_return_sequences": generations_this_call,
                 "max_time": self.max_time,
             },
             "options": {
@@ -293,7 +294,7 @@ def _call_model(self, prompt: str) -> List[str]:
         if self.max_tokens:
             payload["parameters"]["max_new_tokens"] = self.max_tokens
 
-        if self.generations > 1:
+        if generations_this_call > 1:
             payload["parameters"]["do_sample"] = True
 
         req_response = requests.request(
@@ -366,6 +367,8 @@ class InferenceEndpoint(InferenceAPI, HFCompatible):
     supports_multiple_generations = False
     import requests
 
+    timeout = 120
+
     def __init__(self, name="", generations=10):
         super().__init__(name, generations=generations)
         self.api_url = name
@@ -380,7 +383,7 @@ def __init__(self, name="", generations=10):
         ),
         max_value=125,
     )
-    def _call_model(self, prompt: str) -> List[str]:
+    def _call_model(self, prompt: str, generations_this_call: int = 1) -> List[str]:
         import requests
 
         payload = {
@@ -396,18 +399,18 @@ def _call_model(self, prompt: str) -> List[str]:
         if self.max_tokens:
             payload["parameters"]["max_new_tokens"] = self.max_tokens
 
-        if self.generations > 1:
+        if generations_this_call > 1:
             payload["parameters"]["do_sample"] = True
 
         response = requests.post(
-            self.api_url, headers=self.headers, json=payload
+            self.api_url, headers=self.headers, json=payload, timeout=self.timeout
         ).json()
         try:
             output = response[0]["generated_text"]
-        except:
+        except Exception as exc:
             raise IOError(
                 "Hugging Face 🤗 endpoint didn't generate a response. Make sure the endpoint is active."
-            )
+            ) from exc
         return output
 
 
@@ -471,10 +474,10 @@ def __init__(self, name, do_sample=True, generations=10, device=0):
         self.generation_config.eos_token_id = self.model.config.eos_token_id
         self.generation_config.pad_token_id = self.model.config.eos_token_id
 
-    def _call_model(self, prompt):
+    def _call_model(self, prompt: str, generations_this_call: int = 1):
         self.generation_config.max_new_tokens = self.max_tokens
         self.generation_config.do_sample = self.do_sample
-        self.generation_config.num_return_sequences = self.generations
+        self.generation_config.num_return_sequences = generations_this_call
         if self.temperature is not None:
             self.generation_config.temperature = self.temperature
         if self.top_k is not None:
@@ -494,7 +497,7 @@ def _call_model(self, prompt):
                     )
                 except IndexError as e:
                     if len(prompt) == 0:
-                        return [""] * self.generations
+                        return [""] * generations_this_call
                     else:
                         raise e
                 text_output = self.tokenizer.batch_decode(
diff --git a/garak/generators/langchain.py b/garak/generators/langchain.py
index 5d10b30d7..9c9332783 100644
--- a/garak/generators/langchain.py
+++ b/garak/generators/langchain.py
@@ -56,7 +56,7 @@ def __init__(self, name, generations=10):
 
         self.generator = llm
 
-    def _call_model(self, prompt: str) -> str:
+    def _call_model(self, prompt: str, generations_this_call: int = 1) -> str:
         """
         Continuation generation method for LangChain LLM integrations.
 
diff --git a/garak/generators/litellm.py b/garak/generators/litellm.py
index 4511692cb..b6367f615 100644
--- a/garak/generators/litellm.py
+++ b/garak/generators/litellm.py
@@ -135,7 +135,7 @@ def __init__(self, name: str, generations: int = 10):
 
     @backoff.on_exception(backoff.fibo, Exception, max_value=70)
     def _call_model(
-        self, prompt: Union[str, List[dict]]
+        self, prompt: str, generations_this_call: int = 1
     ) -> Union[List[str], str, None]:
         if isinstance(prompt, str):
             prompt = [{"role": "user", "content": prompt}]
@@ -155,7 +155,7 @@ def _call_model(
             messages=prompt,
             temperature=self.temperature,
             top_p=self.top_p,
-            n=self.generations,
+            n=generations_this_call,
             stop=self.stop,
             max_tokens=self.max_tokens,
             frequency_penalty=self.frequency_penalty,
diff --git a/garak/generators/nemo.py b/garak/generators/nemo.py
index 694e170b6..dadc3fd3f 100644
--- a/garak/generators/nemo.py
+++ b/garak/generators/nemo.py
@@ -70,7 +70,7 @@ def __init__(self, name=None, generations=10):
         ),
         max_value=70,
     )
-    def _call_model(self, prompt):
+    def _call_model(self, prompt: str, generations_this_call: int = 1):
         # avoid:
         #    doesn't match schema #/components/schemas/CompletionRequestBody: Error at "/prompt": minimum string length is 1
         if prompt == "":
@@ -80,7 +80,7 @@ def _call_model(self, prompt):
         if self.seed is None:  # nemo gives the same result every time
             reset_none_seed = True
             self.seed = random.randint(0, 2147483648 - 1)
-        elif self.generations > 1:
+        elif generations_this_call > 1:
             logging.info(
                 "fixing a seed means nemollm gives the same result every time, recommend setting generations=1"
             )
diff --git a/garak/generators/nvcf.py b/garak/generators/nvcf.py
index 41d9599d8..f8a3db4da 100644
--- a/garak/generators/nvcf.py
+++ b/garak/generators/nvcf.py
@@ -64,7 +64,7 @@ def __init__(self, name=None, generations=10):
         ),
         max_value=70,
     )
-    def _call_model(self, prompt: str) -> str:
+    def _call_model(self, prompt: str, generations_this_call: int = 1) -> str:
         if prompt == "":
             return ""
 
diff --git a/garak/generators/octo.py b/garak/generators/octo.py
index f22ebf502..d76e17309 100644
--- a/garak/generators/octo.py
+++ b/garak/generators/octo.py
@@ -48,7 +48,7 @@ def __init__(self, name, generations=10):
         self.client = Client(token=octoai_token)
 
     @backoff.on_exception(backoff.fibo, octoai.errors.OctoAIServerError, max_value=70)
-    def _call_model(self, prompt):
+    def _call_model(self, prompt: str, generations_this_call: int = 1):
         outputs = self.client.chat.completions.create(
             messages=[
                 {
@@ -84,7 +84,7 @@ def __init__(self, name, generations=10):
         )
 
     @backoff.on_exception(backoff.fibo, octoai.errors.OctoAIServerError, max_value=70)
-    def _call_model(self, prompt):
+    def _call_model(self, prompt: str, generations_this_call: int = 1):
         outputs = self.client.infer(
             endpoint_url=self.name,
             inputs={
diff --git a/garak/generators/openai.py b/garak/generators/openai.py
index 013635586..191547b4e 100644
--- a/garak/generators/openai.py
+++ b/garak/generators/openai.py
@@ -147,7 +147,9 @@ def __init__(self, name, generations=10):
         ),
         max_value=70,
     )
-    def _call_model(self, prompt: Union[str, list[dict]]) -> List[str]:
+    def _call_model(
+        self, prompt: Union[str, list[dict]], generations_this_call: int = 1
+    ) -> List[str]:
         if self.generator == self.client.completions:
             if not isinstance(prompt, str):
                 msg = (
@@ -163,7 +165,7 @@ def _call_model(self, prompt: Union[str, list[dict]]) -> List[str]:
                 prompt=prompt,
                 temperature=self.temperature,
                 max_tokens=self.max_tokens,
-                n=self.generations,
+                n=generations_this_call,
                 top_p=self.top_p,
                 frequency_penalty=self.frequency_penalty,
                 presence_penalty=self.presence_penalty,
@@ -189,7 +191,7 @@ def _call_model(self, prompt: Union[str, list[dict]]) -> List[str]:
                 messages=messages,
                 temperature=self.temperature,
                 top_p=self.top_p,
-                n=self.generations,
+                n=generations_this_call,
                 stop=self.stop,
                 max_tokens=self.max_tokens,
                 presence_penalty=self.presence_penalty,
diff --git a/garak/generators/openai_v0.py b/garak/generators/openai_v0.py
index 43acac259..ba07fb871 100644
--- a/garak/generators/openai_v0.py
+++ b/garak/generators/openai_v0.py
@@ -133,14 +133,14 @@ def __init__(self, name, generations=10):
             ),
             max_value=70,
         )
-        def _call_model(self, prompt: str) -> List[str]:
+        def _call_model(self, prompt: str, generations_this_call: int = 1) -> List[str]:
             if self.generator == openai.Completion:
                 response = self.generator.create(
                     model=self.name,
                     prompt=prompt,
                     temperature=self.temperature,
                     max_tokens=self.max_tokens,
-                    n=self.generations,
+                    n=generations_this_call,
                     top_p=self.top_p,
                     frequency_penalty=self.frequency_penalty,
                     presence_penalty=self.presence_penalty,
@@ -154,7 +154,7 @@ def _call_model(self, prompt: str) -> List[str]:
                     messages=[{"role": "user", "content": prompt}],
                     temperature=self.temperature,
                     top_p=self.top_p,
-                    n=self.generations,
+                    n=generations_this_call,
                     stop=self.stop,
                     max_tokens=self.max_tokens,
                     presence_penalty=self.presence_penalty,
diff --git a/garak/generators/rasa.py b/garak/generators/rasa.py
index e4f572927..3515c657f 100644
--- a/garak/generators/rasa.py
+++ b/garak/generators/rasa.py
@@ -161,7 +161,7 @@ def __init__(self, uri=None, generations=10):
 
     # we'll overload IOError for recoverable server errors
     @backoff.on_exception(backoff.fibo, (RESTRateLimitError, IOError), max_value=70)
-    def _call_model(self, prompt):
+    def _call_model(self, prompt: str, generations_this_call: int = 1):
         """Individual call to get a rest from the REST API
 
         :param prompt: the input to be placed into the request template and sent to the endpoint
diff --git a/garak/generators/replicate.py b/garak/generators/replicate.py
index 5d164bb46..0ce3579b9 100644
--- a/garak/generators/replicate.py
+++ b/garak/generators/replicate.py
@@ -50,7 +50,7 @@ def __init__(self, name, generations=10):
     @backoff.on_exception(
         backoff.fibo, replicate.exceptions.ReplicateError, max_value=70
     )
-    def _call_model(self, prompt):
+    def _call_model(self, prompt: str, generations_this_call: int = 1):
         response_iterator = self.replicate.run(
             self.name,
             input={
diff --git a/garak/generators/rest.py b/garak/generators/rest.py
index b54a3ffe2..614841841 100644
--- a/garak/generators/rest.py
+++ b/garak/generators/rest.py
@@ -210,7 +210,7 @@ def _populate_template(
 
     # we'll overload IOError as the rate limit exception
     @backoff.on_exception(backoff.fibo, RESTRateLimitError, max_value=70)
-    def _call_model(self, prompt):
+    def _call_model(self, prompt: str, generations_this_call: int = 1):
         """Individual call to get a rest from the REST API
 
         :param prompt: the input to be placed into the request template and sent to the endpoint
diff --git a/garak/generators/test.py b/garak/generators/test.py
index b1e2492c9..ed02448a2 100644
--- a/garak/generators/test.py
+++ b/garak/generators/test.py
@@ -15,8 +15,8 @@ class Blank(Generator):
     generator_family_name = "Test"
     name = "Blank"
 
-    def _call_model(self, prompt: str) -> List[str]:
-        return [""] * self.generations
+    def _call_model(self, prompt: str, generations_this_call: int = 1) -> List[str]:
+        return [""] * generations_this_call
 
 
 class Repeat(Generator):
@@ -26,8 +26,8 @@ class Repeat(Generator):
     generator_family_name = "Test"
     name = "Repeat"
 
-    def _call_model(self, prompt: str) -> List[str]:
-        return [prompt] * self.generations
+    def _call_model(self, prompt: str, generations_this_call: int = 1) -> List[str]:
+        return [prompt] * generations_this_call
 
 
 default_class = "Blank"