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gh-129165: Clarify that signal.raise_signal() sends signal to calling thread - #129167

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Emir2099:fix-signal-docs
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gh-129165: Clarify that signal.raise_signal() sends signal to calling thread#129167
Emir2099 wants to merge 3 commits into
python:mainfrom
Emir2099:fix-signal-docs

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@Emir2099

@Emir2099 Emir2099 commented Jan 22, 2025

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The documentation for signal.raise_signal(signum) previously stated that it
"sends a signal to the calling process," which is misleading. In reality,
the signal is sent to the calling thread, which may cause different behavior
in multi-threaded applications.

This PR updates the documentation to clarify that raise_signal() sends
the signal to the calling thread instead of the entire process.

Fixes gh-129165.


📚 Documentation preview 📚: https://cpython-previews--129167.org.readthedocs.build/

Comment thread Doc/library/signal.rst
.. function:: raise_signal(signum)

Sends a signal to the calling process. Returns nothing.
Sends a signal to the calling thread, not the entire process. Returns nothing.

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  • While we're here, it might be worth mentioning that on POSIX systems, this is equivalent to calling signal.pthread_kill(threading.get_ident(), signum). Or, we could just link to the manpages for raise.
  • This is the correct description for POSIX, but what about Windows?

@ZeroIntensity ZeroIntensity added needs backport to 3.12 only security fixes needs backport to 3.13 bugs and security fixes labels Jan 22, 2025
@hugovk hugovk removed the needs backport to 3.12 only security fixes label Apr 10, 2025
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python-cla-bot Bot commented Apr 18, 2025

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All commit authors signed the Contributor License Agreement.

CLA signed

@serhiy-storchaka serhiy-storchaka added the needs backport to 3.14 bugs and security fixes label May 8, 2025
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This PR is stale because it has been open for 30 days with no activity.

@github-actions github-actions Bot added the stale Stale PR or inactive for long period of time. label Apr 21, 2026
@serhiy-storchaka serhiy-storchaka added the needs backport to 3.15 pre-release feature fixes, bugs and security fixes label May 30, 2026
@github-actions github-actions Bot removed the stale Stale PR or inactive for long period of time. label May 31, 2026
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raise_signal docs imply process receives signal not thread

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