pub struct JoinHandle<T> { /* private fields */ }
Expand description

An owned permission to join on a task (await its termination).

This can be thought of as the equivalent of std::thread::JoinHandle for a Tokio task rather than a thread. You do not need to .await the JoinHandle to make the task execute — it will start running in the background immediately.

A JoinHandle detaches the associated task when it is dropped, which means that there is no longer any handle to the task, and no way to join on it.

This struct is created by the task::spawn and task::spawn_blocking functions.

Cancel safety

The &mut JoinHandle<T> type is cancel safe. If it is used as the event in a tokio::select! statement and some other branch completes first, then it is guaranteed that the output of the task is not lost.

If a JoinHandle is dropped, then the task continues running in the background and its return value is lost.

Examples

Creation from task::spawn:

use tokio::task;

let join_handle: task::JoinHandle<_> = task::spawn(async {
    // some work here
});

Creation from task::spawn_blocking:

use tokio::task;

let join_handle: task::JoinHandle<_> = task::spawn_blocking(|| {
    // some blocking work here
});

The generic parameter T in JoinHandle<T> is the return type of the spawned task. If the return value is an i32, the join handle has type JoinHandle<i32>:

use tokio::task;

let join_handle: task::JoinHandle<i32> = task::spawn(async {
    5 + 3
});

If the task does not have a return value, the join handle has type JoinHandle<()>:

use tokio::task;

let join_handle: task::JoinHandle<()> = task::spawn(async {
    println!("I return nothing.");
});

Note that handle.await doesn’t give you the return type directly. It is wrapped in a Result because panics in the spawned task are caught by Tokio. The ? operator has to be double chained to extract the returned value:

use tokio::task;
use std::io;

#[tokio::main]
async fn main() -> io::Result<()> {
    let join_handle: task::JoinHandle<Result<i32, io::Error>> = tokio::spawn(async {
        Ok(5 + 3)
    });

    let result = join_handle.await??;
    assert_eq!(result, 8);
    Ok(())
}

If the task panics, the error is a JoinError that contains the panic:

use tokio::task;
use std::io;
use std::panic;

#[tokio::main]
async fn main() -> io::Result<()> {
    let join_handle: task::JoinHandle<Result<i32, io::Error>> = tokio::spawn(async {
        panic!("boom");
    });

    let err = join_handle.await.unwrap_err();
    assert!(err.is_panic());
    Ok(())
}

Child being detached and outliving its parent:

use tokio::task;
use tokio::time;
use std::time::Duration;

let original_task = task::spawn(async {
    let _detached_task = task::spawn(async {
        // Here we sleep to make sure that the first task returns before.
        time::sleep(Duration::from_millis(10)).await;
        // This will be called, even though the JoinHandle is dropped.
        println!("♫ Still alive ♫");
    });
});

original_task.await.expect("The task being joined has panicked");
println!("Original task is joined.");

// We make sure that the new task has time to run, before the main
// task returns.

time::sleep(Duration::from_millis(1000)).await;

Implementations

Abort the task associated with the handle.

Awaiting a cancelled task might complete as usual if the task was already completed at the time it was cancelled, but most likely it will fail with a cancelled JoinError.

use tokio::time;

#[tokio::main]
async fn main() {
   let mut handles = Vec::new();

   handles.push(tokio::spawn(async {
      time::sleep(time::Duration::from_secs(10)).await;
      true
   }));

   handles.push(tokio::spawn(async {
      time::sleep(time::Duration::from_secs(10)).await;
      false
   }));

   for handle in &handles {
       handle.abort();
   }

   for handle in handles {
       assert!(handle.await.unwrap_err().is_cancelled());
   }
}

Checks if the task associated with this JoinHandle has finished.

Please note that this method can return false even if abort has been called on the task. This is because the cancellation process may take some time, and this method does not return true until it has completed.

use tokio::time;

let handle1 = tokio::spawn(async {
    // do some stuff here
});
let handle2 = tokio::spawn(async {
    // do some other stuff here
    time::sleep(time::Duration::from_secs(10)).await;
});
// Wait for the task to finish
handle2.abort();
time::sleep(time::Duration::from_secs(1)).await;
assert!(handle1.is_finished());
assert!(handle2.is_finished());

Trait Implementations

Formats the value using the given formatter. Read more
Executes the destructor for this type. Read more
The type of value produced on completion.
Attempt to resolve the future to a final value, registering the current task for wakeup if the value is not yet available. Read more

Blanket Implementations

Gets the TypeId of self. Read more
Immutably borrows from an owned value. Read more
Mutably borrows from an owned value. Read more

Returns the argument unchanged.

Calls U::from(self).

That is, this conversion is whatever the implementation of From<T> for U chooses to do.

The output that the future will produce on completion.
Which kind of future are we turning this into?
Creates a future from a value. Read more
The type returned in the event of a conversion error.
Performs the conversion.
The type returned in the event of a conversion error.
Performs the conversion.