From 18c64db826dcda1adc75122451e9e0566fc5f793 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: =?UTF-8?q?Mose=20M=C3=BCller?= <mosemueller@gmail.com>
Date: Tue, 20 May 2025 15:06:42 +0200
Subject: [PATCH] client: allow reconnecting by moving loop and thread
 initialization out of constructor

- Refactored Client to delay event loop and thread creation until
connect() is called.
- Introduced _initialize_loop_and_thread() helper for consistent
loop/thread/proxy setup.
- Updated disconnect() to stop the loop and join the thread without
closing the loop immediately. This allows proper cleanup and supports
reconnecting a client instance after disconnection.
- Fixes issues with restarting closed event loops and improves lifecycle
control in testing and production.
---
 src/pydase/client/client.py | 48 +++++++++++++++++++++++++++----------
 1 file changed, 36 insertions(+), 12 deletions(-)

diff --git a/src/pydase/client/client.py b/src/pydase/client/client.py
index c429331..620d2df 100644
--- a/src/pydase/client/client.py
+++ b/src/pydase/client/client.py
@@ -101,17 +101,12 @@ class Client:
         self._path_prefix = parsed_url.path.rstrip("/")  # Remove trailing slash if any
         self._url = url
         self._sio = socketio.AsyncClient(**sio_client_kwargs)
-        self._loop = asyncio.new_event_loop()
         self._client_id = client_id
-        self.proxy = ProxyClass(
-            sio_client=self._sio, loop=self._loop, reconnect=self.connect
-        )
+        self._loop: asyncio.AbstractEventLoop | None = None
+        self._thread: threading.Thread | None = None
+        self.proxy: ProxyClass
         """A proxy object representing the remote service, facilitating interaction as
         if it were local."""
-        self._thread = threading.Thread(
-            target=asyncio_loop_thread, args=(self._loop,), daemon=True
-        )
-        self._thread.start()
         self.connect(block_until_connected=block_until_connected)
 
     def __enter__(self) -> Self:
@@ -126,17 +121,46 @@ class Client:
         self.disconnect()
 
     def connect(self, block_until_connected: bool = True) -> None:
+        if self._thread is None or self._loop is None:
+            self._loop = self._initialize_loop_and_thread()
+
         connection_future = asyncio.run_coroutine_threadsafe(
             self._connect(), self._loop
         )
         if block_until_connected:
             connection_future.result()
 
-    def disconnect(self) -> None:
-        connection_future = asyncio.run_coroutine_threadsafe(
-            self._disconnect(), self._loop
+    def _initialize_loop_and_thread(self) -> asyncio.AbstractEventLoop:
+        """Initialize a new asyncio event loop, start it in a background thread,
+        and create the ProxyClass instance bound to that loop.
+        """
+
+        loop = asyncio.new_event_loop()
+        self.proxy = ProxyClass(
+            sio_client=self._sio,
+            loop=loop,
+            reconnect=self.connect,
         )
-        connection_future.result()
+        self._thread = threading.Thread(
+            target=asyncio_loop_thread,
+            args=(loop,),
+            daemon=True,
+        )
+        self._thread.start()
+
+        return loop
+
+    def disconnect(self) -> None:
+        if self._loop is not None and self._thread is not None:
+            connection_future = asyncio.run_coroutine_threadsafe(
+                self._disconnect(), self._loop
+            )
+            connection_future.result()
+
+            # Stop the event loop and thread
+            self._loop.call_soon_threadsafe(self._loop.stop)
+            self._thread.join()
+            self._thread = None
 
     async def _connect(self) -> None:
         logger.debug("Connecting to server '%s' ...", self._url)