Skip to content

Add async XCom accessors for async tasks#68299

Open
dabla wants to merge 1 commit into
apache:mainfrom
dabla:feature/async-xcom-accessors
Open

Add async XCom accessors for async tasks#68299
dabla wants to merge 1 commit into
apache:mainfrom
dabla:feature/async-xcom-accessors

Conversation

@dabla

@dabla dabla commented Jun 9, 2026

Copy link
Copy Markdown
Contributor

Related PR's

Related to:
#68214
#60268
#62922

Why

Async @task functions currently cannot efficiently pull or push XCom values because the existing xcom_pull and xcom_push implementations rely on synchronous communication with the task supervisor. Invoking these methods from an async task blocks the event loop, reducing the benefits of asynchronous execution.

This change introduces asynchronous XCom operations, allowing async Python tasks to interact with XComs without blocking the event loop.

This capability is also an important building block for the upcoming Task Iteration feature (AIP-104). Task Iteration relies on the ability to persist intermediate progress and results during execution, which requires non-blocking XCom operations when used with async tasks. As such, this PR serves as preparatory work for AIP-104 while also providing immediate value by enabling fully asynchronous XCom interactions in existing async Python tasks.

In addition, this functionality lays the groundwork for future async operators. As more operators adopt native async implementations, they will be able to leverage asynchronous XCom operations without blocking the event loop, enabling more efficient and scalable async execution patterns throughout Airflow.

How

  • Add axcom_pull/axcom_push to RuntimeTaskInstance, awaiting the supervisor round-trip via asend instead of blocking.
  • Add aget_one/aget_all/aset to BaseXCom for async XCom retrieval and storage.

Was generative AI tooling used to co-author this PR?
  • [ x ] Yes (please specify the tool below)

Claude Opus 4.6


  • Read the Pull Request Guidelines for more information. Note: commit author/co-author name and email in commits become permanently public when merged.
  • For fundamental code changes, an Airflow Improvement Proposal (AIP) is needed.
  • When adding dependency, check compliance with the ASF 3rd Party License Policy.
  • For significant user-facing changes create newsfragment: {pr_number}.significant.rst, in airflow-core/newsfragments. You can add this file in a follow-up commit after the PR is created so you know the PR number.

@dabla dabla requested review from amoghrajesh, ashb and kaxil as code owners June 9, 2026 17:52
@dabla dabla self-assigned this Jun 9, 2026
Comment thread task-sdk/tests/task_sdk/execution_time/test_task_runner.py
Comment thread task-sdk/tests/task_sdk/execution_time/test_task_runner.py
@dabla dabla force-pushed the feature/async-xcom-accessors branch from bda0641 to 8831649 Compare June 10, 2026 07:20
@dabla dabla force-pushed the feature/async-xcom-accessors branch from 8831649 to 7ee450c Compare June 10, 2026 07:27
Sign up for free to join this conversation on GitHub. Already have an account? Sign in to comment

Projects

None yet

Development

Successfully merging this pull request may close these issues.

2 participants