Rediger

Complete your tasks

When you expose a task from TaskCompletionSource<TResult>, you own the task's lifetime. Complete that task on every path. If any path skips completion, callers wait forever.

Complete every code path

Always complete the task in success and failure paths. Use a catch block for cleanup logic when the task fails. Use a finally block for cleanup logic that must always run. The following code block shows adding cleanup for a failure path:

public sealed class MissingSetExceptionFix
{
    public Task<string> StartAsync(bool fail)
    {
        var tcs = new TaskCompletionSource<string>(TaskCreationOptions.RunContinuationsAsynchronously);

        try
        {
            if (fail)
            {
                throw new InvalidOperationException("Simulated failure");
            }

            tcs.TrySetResult("success");
        }
        catch (Exception ex)
        {
            tcs.TrySetException(ex);
        }

        return tcs.Task;
    }
}

Public NotInheritable Class MissingSetExceptionFix
    Public Function StartAsync(fail As Boolean) As Task(Of String)
        Dim tcs = New TaskCompletionSource(Of String)(TaskCreationOptions.RunContinuationsAsynchronously)

        Try
            If fail Then
                Throw New InvalidOperationException("Simulated failure")
            End If

            tcs.TrySetResult("success")
        Catch ex As Exception
            tcs.TrySetException(ex)
        End Try

        Return tcs.Task
    End Function
End Class

The following code catches an exception, logs it, and forgets to call SetException or TrySetException. This bug appears often and causes callers to wait forever. For more details about exception handling with tasks, see Task exception handling.

// ⚠️ DON'T copy this snippet. It demonstrates a problem that causes hangs.
public sealed class MissingSetExceptionBug
{
    public Task<string> StartAsync(bool fail)
    {
        var tcs = new TaskCompletionSource<string>(TaskCreationOptions.RunContinuationsAsynchronously);

        try
        {
            if (fail)
            {
                throw new InvalidOperationException("Simulated failure");
            }

            tcs.SetResult("success");
        }
        catch (Exception)
        {
            // BUG: forgot SetException or TrySetException.
        }

        return tcs.Task;
    }
}

' ⚠️ DON'T copy this snippet. It demonstrates a problem that causes hangs.
Public NotInheritable Class MissingSetExceptionBug
    Public Function StartAsync(fail As Boolean) As Task(Of String)
        Dim tcs = New TaskCompletionSource(Of String)(TaskCreationOptions.RunContinuationsAsynchronously)

        Try
            If fail Then
                Throw New InvalidOperationException("Simulated failure")
            End If

            tcs.SetResult("success")
        Catch ex As Exception
            ' BUG: forgot SetException or TrySetException.
        End Try

        Return tcs.Task
    End Function
End Class

Prefer TrySet* in completion races

Concurrent paths often race to complete the same TaskCompletionSource. SetResult, SetException, and SetCanceled throw if the task already completed. In race-prone code, use TrySetResult, TrySetException, and TrySetCanceled. For more patterns to avoid in concurrent scenarios, see Common async/await bugs.

public static class TrySetRaceExample
{
    public static void ShowRaceSafeCompletion()
    {
        var tcs = new TaskCompletionSource<int>(TaskCreationOptions.RunContinuationsAsynchronously);

        bool first = tcs.TrySetResult(42);
        bool second = tcs.TrySetException(new TimeoutException("Too late"));

        Console.WriteLine($"First completion won: {first}");
        Console.WriteLine($"Second completion accepted: {second}");
        Console.WriteLine($"Result: {tcs.Task.Result}");
    }
}

Public Module TrySetRaceExample
    Public Sub ShowRaceSafeCompletion()
        Dim tcs = New TaskCompletionSource(Of Integer)(TaskCreationOptions.RunContinuationsAsynchronously)

        Dim first As Boolean = tcs.TrySetResult(42)
        Dim second As Boolean = tcs.TrySetException(New TimeoutException("Too late"))

        Console.WriteLine($"First completion won: {first}")
        Console.WriteLine($"Second completion accepted: {second}")
        Console.WriteLine($"Result: {tcs.Task.Result}")
    End Sub
End Module

Don't drop references during reset

A common bug appears in resettable async primitives. Fix the reset path by atomically swapping references and completing the previous task (for example, with cancellation):

public sealed class ResetFix
{
    private TaskCompletionSource<bool> _signal = NewSignal();

    public Task WaitAsync() => _signal.Task;

    public void Reset()
    {
        TaskCompletionSource<bool> previous = Interlocked.Exchange(ref _signal, NewSignal());
        previous.TrySetCanceled();
    }

    public void Pulse()
    {
        _signal.TrySetResult(true);
    }

    private static TaskCompletionSource<bool> NewSignal() =>
        new(TaskCreationOptions.RunContinuationsAsynchronously);
}

Public NotInheritable Class ResetFix
    Private _signal As TaskCompletionSource(Of Boolean) = NewSignal()

    Public Function WaitAsync() As Task
        Return _signal.Task
    End Function

    Public Sub Reset()
        Dim previous As TaskCompletionSource(Of Boolean) = Interlocked.Exchange(_signal, NewSignal())
        previous.TrySetCanceled()
    End Sub

    Public Sub Pulse()
        _signal.TrySetResult(True)
    End Sub

    Private Shared Function NewSignal() As TaskCompletionSource(Of Boolean)
        Return New TaskCompletionSource(Of Boolean)(TaskCreationOptions.RunContinuationsAsynchronously)
    End Function
End Class

Don't do this: If you replace a TaskCompletionSource instance before completing the previous one, waiters that hold the old task might never complete.

// ⚠️ DON'T copy this snippet. It demonstrates a problem where old waiters never complete.
public sealed class ResetBug
{
    private TaskCompletionSource<bool> _signal = NewSignal();

    public Task WaitAsync() => _signal.Task;

    public void Reset()
    {
        // BUG: waiters on the old task might never complete.
        _signal = NewSignal();
    }

    public void Pulse()
    {
        _signal.TrySetResult(true);
    }

    private static TaskCompletionSource<bool> NewSignal() =>
        new(TaskCreationOptions.RunContinuationsAsynchronously);
}

' ⚠️ DON'T copy this snippet. It demonstrates a problem where old waiters never complete.
Public NotInheritable Class ResetBug
    Private _signal As TaskCompletionSource(Of Boolean) = NewSignal()

    Public Function WaitAsync() As Task
        Return _signal.Task
    End Function

    Public Sub Reset()
        ' BUG: waiters on the old task might never complete.
        _signal = NewSignal()
    End Sub

    Public Sub Pulse()
        _signal.TrySetResult(True)
    End Sub

    Private Shared Function NewSignal() As TaskCompletionSource(Of Boolean)
        Return New TaskCompletionSource(Of Boolean)(TaskCreationOptions.RunContinuationsAsynchronously)
    End Function
End Class

Checklist

  • Complete every exposed TaskCompletionSource task on success, failure, and cancellation paths.
  • Use TrySet* APIs in paths that might race.
  • During reset, complete or cancel the old task before you drop its reference.
  • Add timeout-based tests so hangs fail fast in CI.

See also

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