Restrict Threading Library Usage in Blender Add-ons to Improve Stability
Problem: Many Blender add-ons use Python's threading library incorrectly, causing crashes and instability because Blender's API is not thread-safe.
Solution: Implement restrictions to prevent add-ons from using threading with Blender APIs, while providing clear documentation and warnings.
Benefits: Improved stability, fewer crashes, better user experience.
3 Comments
For details check docs.blender.org/api/4.5/info_gotchas_threading.html there are cases that work, but we don’t provide support for it. It is clearly documented, removing the module however will also make other modules unable to load.
Any python file inside core python or installed python lib that imports the module needs to be modified. Even when no codepaths actually use threading or multiprocessing.
Your request will limit so much more than you might know.
Many of them, or all of them?
If some do it correctly, then preventing addons from doing it isn't a good solution.
I can see way too many ways this would break one option though is having a proxy library so if a library isn't playing nice, you can force it to use a single core with a setting. as far as it knows it's using real threads but in the back end it's just using scheduling or something. That'd be a pretty massive undertaking though