How to Fix Runtime Error: Cannot close a running event loop - Python Discord Bot

Question

I am trying to create a Discord bot with Python, however whenever I run the sample code here:

import discord

client = discord.Client()

@client.event
async def on_message(message):
    # we do not want the bot to reply to itself
    if message.author == client.user:
        return

    if message.content.startswith('!hello'):
        msg = 'Hello {0.author.mention}'.format(message)
        await client.send_message(message.channel, msg)

@client.event
async def on_ready():
    print('Logged in as')
    print(client.user.name)
    print(client.user.id)
    print('------')

client.run('tokenhere')

It returns the error:

Traceback (most recent call last):

  File "<ipython-input-6-ea5a13e5703d>", line 1, in <module>
    runfile('C:/Users/User/Pictures/rito_bot.py', wdir='C:/Users/User/Pictures')

  File "C:\Users\User\Anaconda3\lib\site-packages\spyder_kernels\customize\spydercustomize.py", line 703, in runfile
    execfile(filename, namespace)

  File "C:\Users\User\Anaconda3\lib\site-packages\spyder_kernels\customize\spydercustomize.py", line 108, in execfile
    exec(compile(f.read(), filename, 'exec'), namespace)

  File "C:/Users/User/Pictures/rito_bot.py", line 22, in <module>
    client.run('token')

  File "C:\Users\User\Anaconda3\lib\site-packages\discord\client.py", line 595, in run
    _cleanup_loop(loop)

  File "C:\Users\User\Anaconda3\lib\site-packages\discord\client.py", line 97, in _cleanup_loop
    loop.close()

  File "C:\Users\User\Anaconda3\lib\asyncio\selector_events.py", line 94, in close
    raise RuntimeError("Cannot close a running event loop")

RuntimeError: Cannot close a running event loop

Every other line seems to run just fine, but without the last line it doesn't connect to the server, which makes it useless.

Note: I have seen the question here, however OP's solution doesn't seem applicable to my situation.

What version are you using? Run `print(discord.__version__)`. — Patrick Haugh, Aug 24 '19 at 21:25
(*Spyder maintainer here*) To run async code in our consoles you first need to install the [nest_asyncio](https://github.com/erdewit/nest_asyncio) package and then call it in our consoles before running any of your code. — Carlos Cordoba, Aug 25 '19 at 09:34
@Carlos Cordoba Thank you so much dude! Can you add it as an answer so I can accept your question? Again, Thank you! — 12 rhombi in grid w no corners, Aug 25 '19 at 16:06

score 9 · Accepted Answer · answered Aug 25 '19 at 16:17

9

(Spyder maintainer here) To run async code in our consoles you first need to install the nest_asyncio package and then call it before running any of your code as described on its Readme.

answered Aug 25 '19 at 16:17

Carlos Cordoba

33,273
10
95
124

The correct approach is given here: https://stackoverflow.com/questions/50243393/runtimeerror-this-event-loop-is-already-running-debugging-aiohttp-asyncio-a Check for a running event loop and if there is one, use await otherwise run. – Blaze Oct 20 '20 at 17:34

score 2 · Answer 2 · answered May 04 '20 at 12:08

2

I encountered the same problem trying to run Discord examples on Jupyter Notebook. Moving to plain python script solved it for me.

answered May 04 '20 at 12:08

Nir

1,618
16
24

it turns out that this problem seems to be unique to anaconda, so this would work. i was looking for a solution for all compilers, so switching to plain Python script wouldn't really be applicable. – 12 rhombi in grid w no corners May 04 '20 at 19:50

How to Fix Runtime Error: Cannot close a running event loop - Python Discord Bot

2 Answers2

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