baby steps towards a Structured Concurrency API

Author: Johannes Weiss

Sources/AsyncHTTPClient/AsyncAwait/HTTPClient+execute.swift

@@ -26,6 +26,10 @@ extension HTTPClient {
     ///   - request: HTTP request to execute.
     ///   - deadline: Point in time by which the request must complete.
     ///   - logger: The logger to use for this request.
+    ///
+    /// - warning: This method may violates Structured Concurrency because it returns a `HTTPClientResponse` that needs to be
+    ///            streamed by the user. This means the request, the connection and other resources are still alive when the request returns.
+    ///
     /// - Returns: The response to the request. Note that the `body` of the response may not yet have been fully received.
     public func execute(
         _ request: HTTPClientRequest,
@@ -51,6 +55,10 @@ extension HTTPClient {
     ///   - request: HTTP request to execute.
     ///   - timeout: time the the request has to complete.
     ///   - logger: The logger to use for this request.
+    ///
+    /// - warning: This method may violates Structured Concurrency because it returns a `HTTPClientResponse` that needs to be
+    ///            streamed by the user. This means the request, the connection and other resources are still alive when the request returns.
+    ///
     /// - Returns: The response to the request. Note that the `body` of the response may not yet have been fully received.
     public func execute(
         _ request: HTTPClientRequest,
@@ -67,6 +75,8 @@ extension HTTPClient {
 
 @available(macOS 10.15, iOS 13.0, watchOS 6.0, tvOS 13.0, *)
 extension HTTPClient {
+    /// - warning: This method may violates Structured Concurrency because it returns a `HTTPClientResponse` that needs to be
+    ///            streamed by the user. This means the request, the connection and other resources are still alive when the request returns.
     private func executeAndFollowRedirectsIfNeeded(
         _ request: HTTPClientRequest,
         deadline: NIODeadline,
@@ -116,6 +126,8 @@ extension HTTPClient {
         }
     }
 
+    /// - warning: This method may violates Structured Concurrency because it returns a `HTTPClientResponse` that needs to be
+    ///            streamed by the user. This means the request, the connection and other resources are still alive when the request returns.
     private func executeCancellable(
         _ request: HTTPClientRequest.Prepared,
         deadline: NIODeadline,

Sources/AsyncHTTPClient/HTTPClient+StructuredConcurrency.swift

@@ -0,0 +1,30 @@
+import NIO
+import Logging
+
+@available(macOS 10.15, iOS 13.0, watchOS 6.0, tvOS 13.0, *)
+extension HTTPClient {
+    /// Start & automatically shut down a new ``HTTPClient``.
+    ///
+    /// This method allows to start & automatically dispose of a ``HTTPClient`` following the principle of Structured Concurrency.
+    /// The ``HTTPClient`` is guaranteed to be shut down upon return, whether `body` throws or not.
+    ///
+    /// This may be particularly useful if you cannot use the shared singleton (``HTTPClient/shared``).
+    public static func withHTTPClient<R: Sendable>(
+        eventLoopGroup: any EventLoopGroup = HTTPClient.defaultEventLoopGroup,
+        configuration: Configuration = Configuration(),
+        backgroundActivityLogger: Logger? = nil,
+        _ body: @escaping @Sendable (HTTPClient) async throws -> R
+    ) async throws -> R {
+        let logger = (backgroundActivityLogger ?? HTTPClient.loggingDisabled)
+        let httpClient = HTTPClient(
+            eventLoopGroup: eventLoopGroup,
+            configuration: configuration,
+            backgroundActivityLogger: logger
+        )
+        return try await asyncDo {
+            try await body(httpClient)
+        } finally: { _ in
+            try await httpClient.shutdown()
+        }
+    }
+}

Sources/AsyncHTTPClient/HTTPHandler.swift

@@ -885,19 +885,26 @@ extension HTTPClient {
 
         /// Provides the result of this request.
         ///
+        /// - warning: This method may violates Structured Concurrency because doesn't respect cancellation.
+        ///
         /// - returns: The value of ``futureResult`` when it completes.
         /// - throws: The error value of ``futureResult`` if it errors.
         @available(macOS 10.15, iOS 13.0, watchOS 6.0, tvOS 13.0, *)
         public func get() async throws -> Response {
             try await self.promise.futureResult.get()
         }
 
-        /// Cancels the request execution.
+        /// Initiate cancellation of a HTTP request.
+        ///
+        /// This method will return immeidately and doesn't wait for the cancellation to complete.
         public func cancel() {
             self.fail(reason: HTTPClientError.cancelled)
         }
 
-        /// Cancels the request execution with a custom `Error`.
+        /// Initiate cancellation of a HTTP request with an `error`.
+        ///
+        /// This method will return immeidately and doesn't wait for the cancellation to complete.
+        ///
         /// - Parameter error: the error that is used to fail the promise
         public func fail(reason error: Error) {
             let taskDelegate = self.lock.withLock { () -> HTTPClientTaskDelegate? in

Sources/AsyncHTTPClient/StructuredConcurrencyHelpers.swift

@@ -0,0 +1,34 @@
+//===----------------------------------------------------------------------===//
+//
+// This source file is part of the AsyncHTTPClient open source project
+//
+// Copyright (c) 2025 Apple Inc. and the AsyncHTTPClient project authors
+// Licensed under Apache License v2.0
+//
+// See LICENSE.txt for license information
+// See CONTRIBUTORS.txt for the list of AsyncHTTPClient project authors
+//
+// SPDX-License-Identifier: Apache-2.0
+//
+//===----------------------------------------------------------------------===//
+
+@inlinable
+@available(macOS 10.15, iOS 13.0, watchOS 6.0, tvOS 13.0, *)
+internal func asyncDo<R: Sendable>(
+    _ body: @escaping @Sendable () async throws -> R,
+    finally: @escaping @Sendable ((any Error)?) async throws -> Void
+) async throws -> R {
+    do {
+        let result = try await body()
+        try await finally(nil)
+        return result
+    } catch {
+        // This _looks_ unstructured but isn't really because we unconditionally always await the return.
+        // We need to have an uncancelled task here to assure this is actually running in case we hit a
+        // cancellation error.
+        try await Task {
+            try await finally(error)
+        }.value
+        throw error
+    }
+}

Tests/AsyncHTTPClientTests/HTTPClient+StructuredConcurrencyTests.swift

@@ -0,0 +1,42 @@
+import AsyncHTTPClient
+import XCTest
+import NIO
+import NIOFoundationCompat
+
+final class HTTPClientStructuredConcurrencyTests: XCTestCase {
+    func testDoNothingWorks() async throws {
+        let actual = try await HTTPClient.withHTTPClient { httpClient in
+            "OK"
+        }
+        XCTAssertEqual("OK", actual)
+    }
+
+    func testShuttingDownTheClientInBodyLeadsToError() async {
+        do {
+            let actual = try await HTTPClient.withHTTPClient { httpClient in
+                try await httpClient.shutdown()
+                return "OK"
+            }
+            XCTFail("Expected error, got \(actual)")
+        } catch let error as HTTPClientError where error == .alreadyShutdown {
+            // OK
+        } catch {
+            XCTFail("unexpected error: \(error)")
+        }
+    }
+
+    func testBasicRequest() async throws {
+        let httpBin = HTTPBin()
+        defer { XCTAssertNoThrow(try httpBin.shutdown()) }
+
+        let actualBytes = try await HTTPClient.withHTTPClient { httpClient in
+            let response = try await httpClient.get(url: httpBin.baseURL).get()
+            XCTAssertEqual(response.status, .ok)
+            return response.body ?? ByteBuffer(string: "n/a")
+        }
+        let actual = try JSONDecoder().decode(RequestInfo.self, from: actualBytes)
+
+        XCTAssertGreaterThanOrEqual(actual.requestNumber, 0)
+        XCTAssertGreaterThanOrEqual(actual.connectionNumber, 0)
+    }
+}