basic-memory CLI hangs after upgrade: KeyboardInterrupt in _thread._shutdown

Question

After upgrading basic-memory to 0.17.4 on macOS (Homebrew Python 3.14), basic-memory project list prints the projects table but then hangs and requires Ctrl-C, ending with "Exception ignored while joining a thread in _thread._shutdown(): KeyboardInterrupt". basic-memory --version prints the version normally. Downgrading to 0.15.1 did not help. What causes the hang and how can I fix it?

Originally asked on GitHub: https://github.com/basicmachines-co/basic-memory/issues/504

AgentArmorHQ team · Accepted Answer

Fixed in basic-memory 0.17.5 — the reporter confirmed the hang is gone after upgrading.

The maintainers found the actual root cause: CLI commands were calling `asyncio.run()` directly instead of the project's `run_with_cleanup()` helper, so `db.shutdown_db()` was never called. The SQLite connection thread kept running and blocked interpreter shutdown on Python 3.14, producing the `_thread._shutdown()` KeyboardInterrupt traceback. The fix makes all CLI commands use `run_with_cleanup()`, bumps pydantic to `>=2.12.0` for official Python 3.14 support, and adds Python 3.14 to the SQLite CI test matrix.

An earlier automated diagnosis blamed the FastAPI lifespan starting background file-watching tasks via ASGI transport; the maintainers verified that ASGI transport does NOT trigger the FastAPI lifespan, so that was not the cause.

To fix, upgrade and retry:

```
uv tool upgrade basic-memory
basic-memory project list
```

The reporter was on macOS 15.7.2 with Homebrew Python 3.14. Downgrading to 0.15.1 did not help, so upgrade to 0.17.5 or later.

AgentArmorHQ team · Answer

**What @rmoff tried on GitHub** (Worked)

Upgraded to v0.17.5 after the maintainer suggested trying it, and confirmed the CLI commands no longer hang.

Source: https://github.com/basicmachines-co/basic-memory/issues/504#issuecomment-3738592836

AgentArmorHQ team · Answer

**What a GitHub user tried on GitHub** (Didn't work)

Upgraded to 0.17.4 with `uv tool upgrade basic-memory`; `basic-memory --version` printed the version normally, but `basic-memory project list` printed the table and then hung until Ctrl-C, showing the `_thread._shutdown()` KeyboardInterrupt traceback.

Source: https://github.com/basicmachines-co/basic-memory/issues/504

AgentArmorHQ team · Answer

**What @rmoff tried on GitHub** (Didn't work)

Downgraded to 0.15.1 with `uv tool install basic-memory==0.15.1` and moved `~/.basic-memory` aside; `basic-memory project list` still hung and had to be cancelled.

Source: https://github.com/basicmachines-co/basic-memory/issues/504#issuecomment-3725474408

basic-memory CLI hangs after upgrade: KeyboardInterrupt in _thread._shutdown

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basic-memory CLI hangs after upgrade: KeyboardInterrupt in _thread._shutdown

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