15.4. AsyncIO Wait For

  • asyncio.wait_for(aw, timeout: int|float|None)

  • Timeout - number of seconds to wait for

  • If timeout=None, block until the future completes

  • wait_for() - when a timeout occurs: cancels the task and raises asyncio.TimeoutError

  • If aw is a coroutine it is automatically scheduled as a Task

  • If the wait is cancelled, the future aw is also cancelled.

15.4.1. SetUp

>>> import asyncio

15.4.2. Wait For

  • The function will wait until the future is actually cancelled

  • Therefore the total wait time may exceed the timeout

  • If an exception happens during cancellation, it is propagated

  • If coroutine does not finish by then, rises TimeoutError

>>> SECOND = 1
>>> MINUTE = 60 * SECOND
>>>
>>>
>>> async def hello():
...     while True:
...         print('hello')
...         await asyncio.sleep(MINUTE)
>>>
>>>
>>> async def main():
...     await asyncio.wait_for(hello(), SECOND)
>>>
>>>
>>> asyncio.run(main())  
waiting
waiting
waiting
asyncio.exceptions.CancelledError

During handling of the above exception, another exception occurred:

asyncio.exceptions.CancelledError

The above exception was the direct cause of the following exception:

asyncio.exceptions.TimeoutError

15.4.3. Handling Timeouts

>>> SECOND = 1
>>> MINUTE = 60 * SECOND
>>>
>>>
>>> async def hello():
...     while True:
...         print('hello')
...         await asyncio.sleep(MINUTE)
>>>
>>>
>>> async def main():
...     try:
...         await asyncio.wait_for(hello(), SECOND)
...     except asyncio.TimeoutError:
...         print('Timeout')
>>>
>>>
>>> asyncio.run(main())
hello
Timeout

15.4.4. Handling Timeouts Concurrently

>>> SECOND = 1
>>> MINUTE = 60 * SECOND
>>>
>>>
>>> async def hello():
...     print('hello')
...     await asyncio.sleep(MINUTE)
>>>
>>>
>>> async def main():
...     todo = asyncio.gather(hello(), hello(), hello())
...     try:
...         await asyncio.wait_for(todo, timeout=SECOND)
...     except asyncio.TimeoutError:
...         print('Timeout')
>>>
>>>
>>> asyncio.run(main())
hello
hello
hello
Timeout

15.4.5. Handling Cancellation

  • If gather() is cancelled (ie. on timeout), all submitted awaitables (that have not completed yet) are also cancelled

>>> SECOND = 1
>>> MINUTE = 60 * SECOND
>>>
>>>
>>> async def hello():
...     print('hello')
...     try:
...         await asyncio.sleep(MINUTE)
...     except asyncio.CancelledError:
...         print('Cancelled')
>>>
>>>
>>> async def main():
...     todo = asyncio.gather(hello(), hello(), hello())
...     try:
...         await asyncio.wait_for(todo, timeout=SECOND)
...     except asyncio.TimeoutError:
...         print('Timeout')
>>>
>>>
>>> asyncio.run(main())
hello
hello
hello
Cancelled
Cancelled
Cancelled
Timeout

15.4.6. Further Reading

  • Langa Ł. How Exception Groups Will Improve Error Handling in AsyncIO [1]

15.4.7. References