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# Pykka API

`pykka.``__version__`

  Pykka’s PEP 386 and PEP 396 compatible version number

## Actors

exception `pykka.``ActorDeadError`

  Exception raised when trying to use a dead or unavailable actor.

class `pykka.``Actor`(*args, **kwargs)

  To create an actor:

  1. subclass one of the `Actor` implementations, e.g. `GeventActor` or `ThreadingActor`,
  2. implement your methods, including `__init__()`, as usual,
  3. call `Actor.start()` on your actor class, passing the method any arguments for your constructor.

  To stop an actor, call `Actor.stop()` or `ActorRef.stop()`.

  For example:

      import pykka

      class MyActor(pykka.ThreadingActor):
          def __init__(self, my_arg=None):
              super(MyActor, self).__init__()
              ... # My optional init code with access to start() arguments

          def on_start(self):
              ... # My optional setup code in same context as on_receive()

          def on_stop(self):
              ... # My optional cleanup code in same context as on_receive()

          def on_failure(self, exception_type, exception_value, traceback):
              ... # My optional cleanup code in same context as on_receive()

          def on_receive(self, message):
              ... # My optional message handling code for a plain actor

          def a_method(self, ...):
              ... # My regular method to be used through an ActorProxy

      my_actor_ref = MyActor.start(my_arg=...)
      my_actor_ref.stop()

  classmethod `start`(*args, **kwargs)

    Start an actor and register it in the `ActorRegistry`.

    Any arguments passed to `start()` will be passed on to the class constructor.

    Behind the scenes, the following is happening when you call `start()`:

    1. The actor is created:
       1. `actor_urn` is initialized with the assigned URN.
       2. `actor_inbox` is initialized with a new actor inbox.
       3. `actor_ref` is initialized with a `pykka.ActorRef` object for safely communicating with the actor.
       4. At this point, your `__init__()` code can run.
    2. The actor is registered in `pykka.ActorRegistry`.
    3. The actor receive loop is started by the actor’s associated thread/greenlet.

    Returns: | a `ActorRef` which can be used to access the actor in a safe manner

  `actor_urn` = None

    The actor URN string is a universally unique identifier for the actor. It may be used for looking up a specific actor using `ActorRegistry.get_by_urn`.

  `actor_inbox` = None

    The actor’s inbox. Use `ActorRef.tell()`, `ActorRef.ask()`, and friends to put messages in the inbox.

  `actor_stopped` = None

    A `threading.Event` representing whether or not the actor should continue processing messages. Use `stop()` to change it.

  `actor_ref` = None

    The actor’s `ActorRef` instance.

  `stop`()

    Stop the actor.

    It’s equivalent to calling `ActorRef.stop()` with `block=False`.

  `on_start`()

    Hook for doing any setup that should be done after the actor is started, but before it starts processing messages.

    For `ThreadingActor`, this method is executed in the actor’s own thread, while `__init__()` is executed in the thread that created the actor.

    If an exception is raised by this method the stack trace will be logged, and the actor will stop.

  `on_stop`()

    Hook for doing any cleanup that should be done after the actor has processed the last message, and before the actor stops.

    This hook is not called when the actor stops because of an unhandled exception. In that case, the `on_failure()` hook is called instead.

    For `ThreadingActor` this method is executed in the actor’s own thread, immediately before the thread exits.

    If an exception is raised by this method the stack trace will be logged, and the actor will stop.

  `on_failure`(exception_type, exception_value, traceback)

    Hook for doing any cleanup after an unhandled exception is raised, and before the actor stops.

    For `ThreadingActor` this method is executed in the actor’s own thread, immediately before the thread exits.

    The method’s arguments are the relevant information from `sys.exc_info()`.

    If an exception is raised by this method the stack trace will be logged, and the actor will stop.

  `on_receive`(message)

    May be implemented for the actor to handle regular non-proxy messages.

    Messages where the value of the “command” key matches “pykka_*” are reserved for internal use in Pykka.

    Parameters: | message (picklable dict) – the message to handle
    Returns: | anything that should be sent as a reply to the sender

class `pykka.``ThreadingActor`(*args, **kwargs)

  `ThreadingActor` implements `Actor` using regular Python threads.

  This implementation is slower than `GeventActor`, but can be used in a process with other threads that are not Pykka actors.

  `use_daemon_thread` = False

    A boolean value indicating whether this actor is executed on a thread that is a daemon thread (`True`) or not (`False`). This must be set before `pykka.Actor.start()` is called, otherwise `RuntimeError` is raised.

    The entire Python program exits when no alive non-daemon threads are left. This means that an actor running on a daemon thread may be interrupted at any time, and there is no guarantee that cleanup will be done or that `pykka.Actor.on_stop()` will be called.

    Actors do not inherit the daemon flag from the actor that made it. It always has to be set explicitly for the actor to run on a daemonic thread.

class `pykka.``ActorRef`(actor)

  Reference to a running actor which may safely be passed around.

  `ActorRef` instances are returned by `Actor.start()` and the lookup methods in `ActorRegistry`. You should never need to create `ActorRef` instances yourself.

  Parameters: | actor (`Actor`) – the actor to wrap

  `actor_class` = None

    The class of the referenced actor.

  `actor_urn` = None

    See `Actor.actor_urn`.

  `actor_inbox` = None

    See `Actor.actor_inbox`.

  `actor_stopped` = None

    See `Actor.actor_stopped`.

  `is_alive`()

    Check if actor is alive.

    This is based on the actor’s stopped flag. The actor is not guaranteed to be alive and responding even though `is_alive()` returns `True`.

    Returns: | Returns `True` if actor is alive, `False` otherwise.

  `tell`(message)

    Send message to actor without waiting for any response.

    Will generally not block, but if the underlying queue is full it will block until a free slot is available.

    Parameters: | message (picklable dict) – message to send
    Raise : | `pykka.ActorDeadError` if actor is not available
    Returns: | nothing

  `ask`(message, block=True, timeout=None)

    Send message to actor and wait for the reply.

    The message must be a picklable dict. If `block` is `False`, it will immediately return a `Future` instead of blocking.

    If `block` is `True`, and `timeout` is `None`, as default, the method will block until it gets a reply, potentially forever. If `timeout` is an integer or float, the method will wait for a reply for `timeout` seconds, and then raise `pykka.Timeout`.

    Parameters:

    - message (picklable dict) – message to send
    - block (boolean) – whether to block while waiting for a reply
    - timeout (float or `None`) – seconds to wait before timeout if blocking

    Raise : | `pykka.Timeout` if timeout is reached if blocking
    Raise : | any exception returned by the receiving actor if blocking
    Returns: | `pykka.Future`, or response if blocking

  `stop`(block=True, timeout=None)

    Send a message to the actor, asking it to stop.

    Returns `True` if actor is stopped or was being stopped at the time of the call. `False` if actor was already dead. If `block` is `False`, it returns a future wrapping the result.

    Messages sent to the actor before the actor is asked to stop will be processed normally before it stops.

    Messages sent to the actor after the actor is asked to stop will be replied to with `pykka.ActorDeadError` after it stops.

    The actor may not be restarted.

    `block` and `timeout` works as for `ask()`.

    Returns: | `pykka.Future`, or a boolean result if blocking

  `proxy`()

    Wraps the `ActorRef` in an `ActorProxy`.

    Using this method like this:

        proxy = AnActor.start().proxy()

    is analogous to:

        proxy = ActorProxy(AnActor.start())

    Raise : | `pykka.ActorDeadError` if actor is not available
    Returns: | `pykka.ActorProxy`

## Proxies

class `pykka.``ActorProxy`(actor_ref, attr_path=None)

  An `ActorProxy` wraps an `ActorRef` instance. The proxy allows the referenced actor to be used through regular method calls and field access.

  You can create an `ActorProxy` from any `ActorRef`:

      actor_ref = MyActor.start()
      actor_proxy = ActorProxy(actor_ref)

  You can also get an `ActorProxy` by using `proxy()`:

      actor_proxy = MyActor.start().proxy()

  When reading an attribute or getting a return value from a method, you get a `Future` object back. To get the enclosed value from the future, you must call `get()` on the returned future:

      print actor_proxy.string_attribute.get()
      print actor_proxy.count().get() + 1

  If you call a method just for it’s side effects and do not care about the return value, you do not need to accept the returned future or call `get()` on the future. Simply call the method, and it will be executed concurrently with your own code:

      actor_proxy.method_with_side_effect()

  If you want to block your own code from continuing while the other method is processing, you can use `get()` to block until it completes:

      actor_proxy.method_with_side_effect().get()

  An actor can use a proxy to itself to schedule work for itself. The scheduled work will only be done after the current message and all messages already in the inbox are processed.

  For example, if an actor can split a time consuming task into multiple parts, and after completing each part can ask itself to start on the next part using proxied calls or messages to itself, it can react faster to other incoming messages as they will be interleaved with the parts of the time consuming task. This is especially useful for being able to stop the actor in the middle of a time consuming task.

  To create a proxy to yourself, use the actor’s `actor_ref` attribute:

      proxy_to_myself_in_the_future = self.actor_ref.proxy()

  If you create a proxy in your actor’s constructor or `on_start` method, you can create a nice API for deferring work to yourself in the future:

      def __init__(self):
          ...
          self.in_future = self.actor_ref.proxy()
          ...

      def do_work(self):
          ...
          self.in_future.do_more_work()
          ...

      def do_more_work(self):
          ...

  An example of `ActorProxy` usage:

      #! /usr/bin/env python

      import pykka

      class Adder(pykka.ThreadingActor):
          def add_one(self, i):
              print('{} is increasing {}'.format(self, i))
              return i + 1

      class Bookkeeper(pykka.ThreadingActor):
          def __init__(self, adder):
              super(Bookkeeper, self).__init__()
              self.adder = adder

          def count_to(self, target):
              i = 0
              while i < target:
                  i = self.adder.add_one(i).get()
                  print('{} got {} back'.format(self, i))

      if __name__ == '__main__':
          adder = Adder.start().proxy()
          bookkeeper = Bookkeeper.start(adder).proxy()
          bookkeeper.count_to(10).get()
          pykka.ActorRegistry.stop_all()

  Parameters: | actor_ref (`pykka.ActorRef`) – reference to the actor to proxy
  Raise : | `pykka.ActorDeadError` if actor is not available

  `actor_ref` = None

    The actor’s `pykka.ActorRef` instance.

## Futures

exception `pykka.``Timeout`

  Exception raised at future timeout.

class `pykka.``Future`

  A `Future` is a handle to a value which are available or will be available in the future.

  Typically returned by calls to actor methods or accesses to actor fields.

  To get hold of the encapsulated value, call `Future.get()`.

  `get`(timeout=None)

    Get the value encapsulated by the future.

    If the encapsulated value is an exception, it is raised instead of returned.

    If `timeout` is `None`, as default, the method will block until it gets a reply, potentially forever. If `timeout` is an integer or float, the method will wait for a reply for `timeout` seconds, and then raise `pykka.Timeout`.

    The encapsulated value can be retrieved multiple times. The future will only block the first time the value is accessed.

    Parameters: | timeout (float or `None`) – seconds to wait before timeout
    Raise : | `pykka.Timeout` if timeout is reached
    Raise : | encapsulated value if it is an exception
    Returns: | encapsulated value if it is not an exception

  `set`(value=None)

    Set the encapsulated value.

    Parameters: | value (any picklable object or `None`) – the encapsulated value or nothing
    Raise : | an exception if set is called multiple times

  `set_exception`(exc_info=None)

    Set an exception as the encapsulated value.

    You can pass an `exc_info` three-tuple, as returned by `sys.exc_info()`. If you don’t pass `exc_info`, `sys.exc_info()` will be called and the value returned by it used.

    In other words, if you’re calling `set_exception()`, without any arguments, from an except block, the exception you’re currently handling will automatically be set on the future.

    Changed in version 0.15: Previously, `set_exception()` accepted an exception instance as its only argument. This still works, but it is deprecated and will be removed in a future release.

    Parameters: | exc_info (three-tuple of (exc_class, exc_instance, traceback)) – the encapsulated exception

  `set_get_hook`(func)

    Set a function to be executed when `get()` is called.

    The function will be called when `get()` is called, with the `timeout` value as the only argument. The function’s return value will be returned from `get()`.

    New in version 1.2.

    Parameters: | func (function accepting a timeout value) – called to produce return value of `get()`

  `filter`(func)

    Return a new future with only the items passing the predicate function.

    If the future’s value is an iterable, `filter()` will return a new future whose value is another iterable with only the items from the first iterable for which `func(item)` is true. If the future’s value isn’t an iterable, a `TypeError` will be raised when `get()` is called.

    Example:

        >>> import pykka
        >>> f = pykka.ThreadingFuture()
        >>> g = f.filter(lambda x: x > 10)
        >>> g
        <pykka.future.ThreadingFuture at ...>
        >>> f.set(range(5, 15))
        >>> f.get()
        [5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14]
        >>> g.get()
        [11, 12, 13, 14]

    New in version 1.2.

  `join`(*futures)

    Return a new future with a list of the result of multiple futures.

    One or more futures can be passed as arguments to `join()`. The new future returns a list with the results from all the joined futures.

    Example:

        >>> import pykka
        >>> a = pykka.ThreadingFuture()
        >>> b = pykka.ThreadingFuture()
        >>> c = pykka.ThreadingFuture()
        >>> f = a.join(b, c)
        >>> a.set('def')
        >>> b.set(123)
        >>> c.set(False)
        >>> f.get()
        ['def', 123, False]

    New in version 1.2.

  `map`(func)

    Return a new future with the result of the future passed through a function.

    If the future’s result is a single value, it is simply passed to the function. If the future’s result is an iterable, the function is applied to each item in the iterable.

    Example:

        >>> import pykka
        >>> f = pykka.ThreadingFuture()
        >>> g = f.map(lambda x: x + 10)
        >>> f.set(30)
        >>> g.get()
        40

        >>> f = pykka.ThreadingFuture()
        >>> g = f.map(lambda x: x + 10)
        >>> f.set([30, 300, 3000])
        >>> g.get()
        [40, 310, 3010]

    New in version 1.2.

  `reduce`(func[, initial])

    Return a new future with the result of reducing the future’s iterable into a single value.

    The function of two arguments is applied cumulatively to the items of the iterable, from left to right. The result of the first function call is used as the first argument to the second function call, and so on, until the end of the iterable. If the future’s value isn’t an iterable, a `TypeError` is raised.

    `reduce()` accepts an optional second argument, which will be used as an initial value in the first function call. If the iterable is empty, the initial value is returned.

    Example:

        >>> import pykka
        >>> f = pykka.ThreadingFuture()
        >>> g = f.reduce(lambda x, y: x + y)
        >>> f.set(['a', 'b', 'c'])
        >>> g.get()
        'abc'

        >>> f = pykka.ThreadingFuture()
        >>> g = f.reduce(lambda x, y: x + y)
        >>> f.set([1, 2, 3])
        >>> (1 + 2) + 3
        6
        >>> g.get()
        6

        >>> f = pykka.ThreadingFuture()
        >>> g = f.reduce(lambda x, y: x + y, 5)
        >>> f.set([1, 2, 3])
        >>> ((5 + 1) + 2) + 3
        11
        >>> g.get()
        11

        >>> f = pykka.ThreadingFuture()
        >>> g = f.reduce(lambda x, y: x + y, 5)
        >>> f.set([], 5)
        >>> g.get()
        5

    New in version 1.2.

class `pykka.``ThreadingFuture`

  `ThreadingFuture` implements `Future` for use with `ThreadingActor`.

  The future is implemented using a `Queue.Queue`.

  The future does not make a copy of the object which is `set()` on it. It is the setters responsibility to only pass immutable objects or make a copy of the object before setting it on the future.

  Changed in version 0.14: Previously, the encapsulated value was a copy made with `copy.deepcopy()`, unless the encapsulated value was a future, in which case the original future was encapsulated.

`pykka.``get_all`(futures, timeout=None)

  Collect all values encapsulated in the list of futures.

  If `timeout` is not `None`, the method will wait for a reply for `timeout` seconds, and then raise `pykka.Timeout`.

  Parameters:

  - futures (list of `pykka.Future`) – futures for the results to collect
  - timeout (float or `None`) – seconds to wait before timeout

  Raise : | `pykka.Timeout` if timeout is reached
  Returns: | list of results

## Registry

class `pykka.``ActorRegistry`

  Registry which provides easy access to all running actors.

  Contains global state, but should be thread-safe.

  classmethod `broadcast`(message, target_class=None)

    Broadcast `message` to all actors of the specified `target_class`.

    If no `target_class` is specified, the message is broadcasted to all actors.

    Parameters:

    - message (picklable dict) – the message to send
    - target_class (class or class name) – optional actor class to broadcast the message to

  classmethod `get_all`()

    Get `ActorRef` for all running actors.

    Returns: | list of `pykka.ActorRef`

  classmethod `get_by_class`(actor_class)

    Get `ActorRef` for all running actors of the given class, or of any subclass of the given class.

    Parameters: | actor_class (class) – actor class, or any superclass of the actor
    Returns: | list of `pykka.ActorRef`

  classmethod `get_by_class_name`(actor_class_name)

    Get `ActorRef` for all running actors of the given class name.

    Parameters: | actor_class_name (string) – actor class name
    Returns: | list of `pykka.ActorRef`

  classmethod `get_by_urn`(actor_urn)

    Get an actor by its universally unique URN.

    Parameters: | actor_urn (string) – actor URN
    Returns: | `pykka.ActorRef` or `None` if not found

  classmethod `register`(actor_ref)

    Register an `ActorRef` in the registry.

    This is done automatically when an actor is started, e.g. by calling `Actor.start()`.

    Parameters: | actor_ref (`pykka.ActorRef`) – reference to the actor to register

  classmethod `stop_all`(block=True, timeout=None)

    Stop all running actors.

    `block` and `timeout` works as for `ActorRef.stop()`.

    If `block` is `True`, the actors are guaranteed to be stopped in the reverse of the order they were started in. This is helpful if you have simple dependencies in between your actors, where it is sufficient to shut down actors in a LIFO manner: last started, first stopped.

    If you have more complex dependencies in between your actors, you should take care to shut them down in the required order yourself, e.g. by stopping dependees from a dependency’s `on_stop()` method.

    Returns: | If not blocking, a list with a future for each stop action. If blocking, a list of return values from `pykka.ActorRef.stop()`.

  classmethod `unregister`(actor_ref)

    Remove an `ActorRef` from the registry.

    This is done automatically when an actor is stopped, e.g. by calling `Actor.stop()`.

    Parameters: | actor_ref (`pykka.ActorRef`) – reference to the actor to unregister

## Gevent support

class `pykka.gevent.``GeventFuture`(async_result=None)

  `GeventFuture` implements `pykka.Future` for use with `GeventActor`.

  It encapsulates a `gevent.event.AsyncResult` object which may be used directly, though it will couple your code with gevent.

  `async_result` = None

    The encapsulated `gevent.event.AsyncResult`

class `pykka.gevent.``GeventActor`(*args, **kwargs)

  `GeventActor` implements `pykka.Actor` using the gevent library. gevent is a coroutine-based Python networking library that uses greenlet to provide a high-level synchronous API on top of libevent event loop.

  This is a very fast implementation, but as of gevent 0.13.x it does not work in combination with other threads.

## Eventlet support

class `pykka.eventlet.``EventletEvent`

  `EventletEvent` adapts `eventlet.event.Event` to `threading.Event` interface.

class `pykka.eventlet.``EventletFuture`

  `EventletFuture` implements `pykka.Future` for use with `EventletActor`.

class `pykka.eventlet.``EventletActor`(*args, **kwargs)

  `EventletActor` implements `pykka.Actor` using the eventlet library.

  This implementation uses eventlet green threads.

## Logging

Pykka uses Python’s standard `logging` module for logging debug statements and any unhandled exceptions in the actors. All log records emitted by Pykka are issued to the logger named “pykka”, or a sublogger of it.

Out of the box, Pykka is set up with `logging.NullHandler` as the only log record handler. This is the recommended approach for logging in libraries, so that the application developer using the library will have full control over how the log records from the library will be exposed to the application’s users. In other words, if you want to see the log records from Pykka anywhere, you need to add a useful handler to the root logger or the logger named “pykka” to get any log output from Pykka. The defaults provided by `logging.basicConfig()` is enough to get debug log statements out of Pykka:

    import logging
    logging.basicConfig(level=logging.DEBUG)

If your application is already using `logging`, and you want debug log output from your own application, but not from Pykka, you can ignore debug log messages from Pykka by increasing the threshold on the Pykka logger to “info” level or higher:

    import logging
    logging.basicConfig(level=logging.DEBUG)
    logging.getLogger('pykka').setLevel(logging.INFO)

For more details on how to use `logging`, please refer to the Python standard library documentation.

## Debug helpers

`pykka.debug.``log_thread_tracebacks`(*args, **kwargs)

  Logs at `INFO` level a traceback for each running thread.

  This can be a convenient tool for debugging deadlocks.

  The function accepts any arguments so that it can easily be used as e.g. a signal handler, but it does not use the arguments for anything.

  To use this function as a signal handler, setup logging with a `logging.INFO` threshold or lower and make your main thread register this with the `signal` module:

      import logging
      import signal

      import pykka.debug

      logging.basicConfig(level=logging.DEBUG)
      signal.signal(signal.SIGUSR1, pykka.debug.log_thread_tracebacks)

  If your application deadlocks, send the SIGUSR1 signal to the process:

      kill -SIGUSR1 <pid of your process>

  Signal handler caveats:

  - The function must be registered as a signal handler by your main thread. If not, `signal.signal()` will raise a `ValueError`.
  - All signals in Python are handled by the main thread. Thus, the signal will only be handled, and the tracebacks logged, if your main thread is available to do some work. Making your main thread idle using `time.sleep()` is OK. The signal will awaken your main thread. Blocking your main thread on e.g. `Queue.Queue.get()` or `pykka.Future.get()` will break signal handling, and thus you won’t be able to signal your process to print the thread tracebacks.

  The morale is: setup signals using your main thread, start your actors, then let your main thread relax for the rest of your application’s life cycle.

  For a complete example of how to use this, see `examples/deadlock_debugging.py` in Pykka’s source code.

  New in version 1.1.

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