From cbd91e1953cf747423e0b7db819657a3d0a94b86 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Jake LoRocco <jake.lorocco@ibm.com>
Date: Wed, 11 Mar 2026 13:50:32 -0400
Subject: [PATCH] fix: add special handling for mellea global event loop when
 forked

---
 mellea/helpers/event_loop_helper.py    | 26 +++++++++++++++++----
 test/helpers/test_event_loop_helper.py | 32 ++++++++++++++++++++++++++
 2 files changed, 53 insertions(+), 5 deletions(-)

diff --git a/mellea/helpers/event_loop_helper.py b/mellea/helpers/event_loop_helper.py
index 749be4d02..d40f95df5 100644
--- a/mellea/helpers/event_loop_helper.py
+++ b/mellea/helpers/event_loop_helper.py
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 """Helper for event loop management. Allows consistently running async generate requests in sync code."""
 
 import asyncio
+import os
 import threading
 from collections.abc import Coroutine
 from typing import Any, TypeVar
@@ -13,11 +14,11 @@
 class _EventLoopHandler:
     """A class that handles the event loop for Mellea code. Do not directly instantiate this. Use `_run_async_in_thread`."""
 
-    def __init__(self):
-        """Instantiates an EventLoopHandler. Used to ensure consistency when calling async code from sync code in Mellea.
-
-        Do not instantiate this class. Rely on the exported `_run_async_in_thread` function.
-        """
+    def _event_loop_setup(self):
+        """Sets up the event loop and thread."""
+        # This code lives in a helper function since both __init__ and _reinit_if_forked
+        # will need to use it.
+        self._pid = os.getpid()  # Store the pid in case users fork this process.
         self._event_loop = asyncio.new_event_loop()
         self._thread: threading.Thread = threading.Thread(  # type: ignore[annotation-unchecked]
             target=self._event_loop.run_forever,
@@ -25,6 +26,20 @@ def __init__(self):
         )
         self._thread.start()
 
+    def __init__(self):
+        """Instantiates an EventLoopHandler. Used to ensure consistency when calling async code from sync code in Mellea.
+
+        Do not instantiate this class. Rely on the exported `_run_async_in_thread` function.
+        """
+        self._event_loop_setup()
+
+    def _reinit_if_forked(self) -> None:
+        """Reinitialize the event loop and thread if we're in a forked child to prevent hanging on awaited tasks."""
+        if os.getpid() != self._pid:
+            # If the process has been forked, reset the event loop and thread.
+            # Don't cleanup the parent's objects.
+            self._event_loop_setup()
+
     def __del__(self):
         """Delete the event loop handler."""
         self._close_event_loop()
@@ -55,6 +70,7 @@ async def finalize_tasks():
 
     def __call__(self, co: Coroutine[Any, Any, R]) -> R:
         """Runs the coroutine in the event loop."""
+        self._reinit_if_forked()
         if self._event_loop == get_current_event_loop():
             # If this gets called from the same event loop, launch in a separate thread to prevent blocking.
             return _EventLoopHandler()(co)
diff --git a/test/helpers/test_event_loop_helper.py b/test/helpers/test_event_loop_helper.py
index e8469ece4..28d234282 100644
--- a/test/helpers/test_event_loop_helper.py
+++ b/test/helpers/test_event_loop_helper.py
@@ -1,3 +1,5 @@
+import multiprocessing
+
 import pytest
 
 import mellea.helpers.event_loop_helper as elh
@@ -32,6 +34,36 @@ async def testing() -> int:
     assert elh.__event_loop_handler is not None
 
 
+def test_event_loop_handler_with_forking():
+    """Importing mellea before fork must not crash the child process."""
+
+    ctx = multiprocessing.get_context("fork")
+
+    def child():
+        import mellea.helpers.event_loop_helper as elh
+
+        async def hello():
+            return 42
+
+        result = elh._run_async_in_thread(hello())
+        assert result == 42
+
+    p = ctx.Process(target=child)
+
+    try:
+        p.start()
+        p.join(timeout=15)
+        assert p.exitcode == 0, (
+            f"Child process failed after fork (exit code: {p.exitcode if p.exitcode is not None else 'timed out'})"
+        )
+
+    finally:
+        # Make sure we always clean up the process.
+        if p.is_alive():
+            p.kill()
+            p.join(timeout=15)
+
+
 if __name__ == "__main__":
     import pytest