prompt-toolkit / prompt-toolkit/python-prompt-toolkit

Calling create_background_task() from other threads

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Python
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Description

Calling create_background_task from a thread that isn't the main thread raises RuntimeError:

RuntimeError: There is no current event loop in thread 'Thread-1'.

The issue is that create_background_task uses asyncio.get_event_loop to get the loop, which only guarantees to return a loop in the main thread and raises the error above otherwise.

Storing the event loop on the Application instance in __init__ (run would probably be better?) and using that in create_background_task instead of calling get_event_loop seems to work fine for me. Would this be the correct fix for this issue?

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  2. Comment on the issue to say you are picking it up — it saves two people doing the same work.
  3. Fork the repository and make your change on a branch.
  4. Open a pull request that references the issue number.

Research direction

Start by locating create_background_task and the Application lifecycle, especially init and run, then trace how asyncio.get_event_loop is currently used. Reproduce the failure from a non-main thread and verify that the completed change allows the task to be created there without raising the reported RuntimeError.

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Assessment

Tech stack
python
Domain
cli
Issue type
Bug
Difficulty
3/5
Estimated time
1-2 days
Activity status
Stale
Clarity
Mostly clear
Newbie friendliness
45/100

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