Revert the Celery countdown migration — it broke local dev (no worker) — back to threading.Timer

a6ce207 moved the 12s polarity confirm to a Celery task (apply_async countdown).
That requires a running Celery worker to execute it — but local dev runs only
uvicorn (the dev-server skill starts no worker; the original tasks.py docstring
chose threading.Timer precisely "so no separate Celery worker is needed in
development"). So locally the confirm was queued and never ran: the countdown hit
0, no significators saved, and a refresh stayed in SIG_SELECT (no skip to the
table hex). A regression in the core flow.

Restore tasks.py + test_tasks.py to the faaa4ec threading.Timer version (still
in-process, with the {token, deadline} cache + countdown_remaining restore-on-
load intact) and drop the now-unneeded CELERY_BROKER_URL='memory://' test
override.

Kept from a6ce207: the room.js WebSocket auto-reconnect — that is the actual fix
for the dropped-socket delivery bug (the SigSelectSpec bisection proved the
client restarts the numeral fine on re-received events; the failure was delivery,
which a dead socket with no reconnect explains). Celery was a misdiagnosis of an
in-process broadcast that works fine for a single-process dev/staging server.

23 task UTs + CARTE sig ITs green.

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.8 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>

src/apps/epic/tasks.py

@@ -1,35 +1,24 @@
 """
 Countdown scheduler for the polarity-room SAVE SIG gate.
 
-The 12s confirm runs as a **Celery task** (`apply_async` with a `countdown`) so
+Uses threading.Timer so no separate Celery worker is needed in development.
-the post-countdown significator assignment + the `polarity_room_done` /
+Single-process only — swap for a Celery task if production uses multiple
-`pick_sky_available` broadcasts originate in the long-lived Celery worker
+web workers (gunicorn -w N with N > 1).
-process. The old `threading.Timer` approach broadcast via
-`async_to_sync(group_send)` from an ephemeral per-call event loop inside the web
-process, which is unreliable with the Redis channel layer — the broadcast
-reached the consumer only sporadically (the production analog of the
-"broadcast must originate in daphne" test trap), so the tray→hex animation
-fired intermittently while the server-side state still committed. The worker is
-a stable process whose channel-layer singleton is never shared with a serving
-loop, so its `group_send` reaches daphne reliably.
-
-Cancellation / supersession needs no task revocation: the cache token guard
-makes a stale queued task a no-op. `schedule_polarity_confirm` writes a fresh
-token (superseding any prior queued task), and `cancel_polarity_confirm` just
-deletes it — either way a task that fires later finds a missing/replaced token
-and returns without assigning.
 """
+import threading
 import time
 import uuid
 
 from asgiref.sync import async_to_sync
-from celery import shared_task
 from channels.layers import get_channel_layer
 from django.core.cache import cache
 
 _LEVITY_ROLES = {'PC', 'NC', 'SC'}
 _GRAVITY_ROLES = {'BC', 'EC', 'AC'}
 
+# In-process registry of pending timers: "{room_id}_{polarity}" → Timer
+_timers = {}
+
 
 def _cache_key(room_id, polarity):
     return f'sig_countdown_{room_id}_{polarity}'
@@ -39,15 +28,13 @@ def _group_send(room_id, msg):
     async_to_sync(get_channel_layer().group_send)(f'room_{room_id}', msg)
 
 
-@shared_task
+def _fire(room_id, polarity, token):
-def confirm_polarity_room(room_id, polarity, token):
+    """Callback run by threading.Timer after the countdown expires."""
-    """Assign significators + broadcast room-done once a polarity's countdown
+    # Token guard: if cancelled or superseded, cache entry will differ. The
-    elapses. Enqueued by `schedule_polarity_confirm` with a `countdown`; run by
+    # entry is now a {token, deadline} dict (was a bare token string before the
-    the Celery worker. The cache token guard makes a cancelled or superseded
+    # restore-on-load sprint) — read either shape defensively so a stale plain
-    run a no-op (its token no longer matches what's in the cache)."""
+    # string left by an older deploy doesn't crash the timer callback.
     entry = cache.get(_cache_key(room_id, polarity))
-    # The entry is a {token, deadline} dict; tolerate a bare-string token from
-    # an older deploy so a stale value can't crash the task.
     stored_token = entry.get('token') if isinstance(entry, dict) else entry
     if stored_token != token:
         return
@@ -90,28 +77,35 @@ def confirm_polarity_room(room_id, polarity, token):
         _group_send(room_id, {'type': 'pick_sky_available'})
 
     cache.delete(_cache_key(room_id, polarity))
+    _timers.pop(f'{room_id}_{polarity}', None)
 
 
 def schedule_polarity_confirm(room_id, polarity, seconds):
-    """Schedule a polarity confirm `seconds` from now. A fresh token supersedes
+    """Schedule a polarity confirm `seconds` seconds from now. Cancels any prior timer."""
-    any prior queued task (which then no-ops on the token guard)."""
+    cancel_polarity_confirm(room_id, polarity)
+
     token = str(uuid.uuid4())
-    # Store the absolute deadline alongside the token so a gamer loading a fresh
+    # Store the absolute deadline alongside the token so a gamer loading a
-    # seat view mid-countdown can derive the seconds left (the flashing numeral)
+    # fresh seat view mid-countdown can derive the seconds left (the flashing
-    # instead of a static WAIT NVM. See countdown_remaining() + sig-select.js.
+    # numeral) instead of falling back to a static WAIT NVM. See
+    # countdown_remaining() + sig-select.js's restore-on-load.
     cache.set(
         _cache_key(room_id, polarity),
         {'token': token, 'deadline': time.time() + seconds},
         timeout=int(seconds) + 60,
     )
-    confirm_polarity_room.apply_async(
+
-        args=[str(room_id), polarity, token], countdown=int(seconds),
+    timer = threading.Timer(seconds, _fire, args=[str(room_id), polarity, token])
-    )
+    timer.daemon = True
+    timer.start()
+    _timers[f'{room_id}_{polarity}'] = timer
 
 
 def cancel_polarity_confirm(room_id, polarity):
-    """Cancel any pending confirm for this room + polarity. Deleting the token
+    """Cancel any pending confirm for this room + polarity."""
-    is enough — the already-queued task finds no matching token and no-ops."""
+    timer = _timers.pop(f'{room_id}_{polarity}', None)
+    if timer:
+        timer.cancel()
     cache.delete(_cache_key(room_id, polarity))
 
 

src/apps/epic/tests/unit/test_tasks.py

@@ -19,22 +19,27 @@ class CancelPolarityConfirmTest(TestCase):
         self.user = User.objects.create(email="owner@tasks.io")
         self.room = Room.objects.create(name="R", owner=self.user)
 
-    def test_cancel_with_no_entry_is_a_noop(self):
+    def test_cancel_with_no_timer_is_a_noop(self):
         cancel_polarity_confirm(str(self.room.id), SigReservation.LEVITY)
 
     def test_cancel_clears_cache_entry(self):
-        # Deleting the token is the whole cancel: a queued confirm task that
-        # fires later finds no matching token and no-ops.
         from django.core.cache import cache
         key = _cache_key(str(self.room.id), SigReservation.LEVITY)
         cache.set(key, "sometoken", timeout=60)
         cancel_polarity_confirm(str(self.room.id), SigReservation.LEVITY)
         self.assertIsNone(cache.get(key))
 
+    @patch("apps.epic.tasks._timers")
+    def test_cancel_calls_timer_cancel_when_present(self, mock_timers):
+        mock_timer = MagicMock()
+        key = f"{self.room.id}_levity"
+        mock_timers.pop.return_value = mock_timer
+        cancel_polarity_confirm(str(self.room.id), SigReservation.LEVITY)
+        mock_timer.cancel.assert_called_once()
+
 
 class FireFunctionTest(TestCase):
-    """Tests for the confirm_polarity_room() Celery task body (called directly,
+    """Tests for the _fire() callback executed by threading.Timer."""
-    synchronously, here — the worker runs it via apply_async in production)."""
 
     def setUp(self):
         self.owner = User.objects.create(email="owner@fire.io")
@@ -65,23 +70,23 @@ class FireFunctionTest(TestCase):
 
     @patch("apps.epic.tasks._group_send")
     def test_fire_does_nothing_if_token_mismatch(self, mock_send):
-        from apps.epic.tasks import confirm_polarity_room
+        from apps.epic.tasks import _fire
         self._set_token()
-        confirm_polarity_room(str(self.room.id), SigReservation.LEVITY, "wrong-token")
+        _fire(str(self.room.id), SigReservation.LEVITY, "wrong-token")
         mock_send.assert_not_called()
 
     @patch("apps.epic.tasks._group_send")
     def test_fire_does_nothing_if_room_not_sig_select(self, mock_send):
-        from apps.epic.tasks import confirm_polarity_room
+        from apps.epic.tasks import _fire
         token = self._set_token()
         self.room.table_status = Room.ROLE_SELECT
         self.room.save()
-        confirm_polarity_room(str(self.room.id), SigReservation.LEVITY, token)
+        _fire(str(self.room.id), SigReservation.LEVITY, token)
         mock_send.assert_not_called()
 
     @patch("apps.epic.tasks._group_send")
     def test_fire_does_nothing_if_fewer_than_3_ready(self, mock_send):
-        from apps.epic.tasks import confirm_polarity_room
+        from apps.epic.tasks import _fire
         token = self._set_token()
         cards = list(TarotCard.objects.all()[:2])
         seats = list(TableSeat.objects.filter(room=self.room, role__in=["PC", "NC"]))
@@ -90,12 +95,12 @@ class FireFunctionTest(TestCase):
                 room=self.room, gamer=seat.gamer, card=cards[i],
                 polarity=SigReservation.LEVITY, seat=seat, ready=True,
             )
-        confirm_polarity_room(str(self.room.id), SigReservation.LEVITY, token)
+        _fire(str(self.room.id), SigReservation.LEVITY, token)
         mock_send.assert_not_called()
 
     @patch("apps.epic.tasks._group_send")
     def test_fire_assigns_significators_and_broadcasts_when_all_ready(self, mock_send):
-        from apps.epic.tasks import confirm_polarity_room
+        from apps.epic.tasks import _fire
         token = self._set_token()
         cards = list(TarotCard.objects.all()[:3])
         seats = list(TableSeat.objects.filter(room=self.room, role__in=["PC", "NC", "SC"]))
@@ -104,7 +109,7 @@ class FireFunctionTest(TestCase):
                 room=self.room, gamer=seat.gamer, card=cards[i],
                 polarity=SigReservation.LEVITY, seat=seat, ready=True,
             )
-        confirm_polarity_room(str(self.room.id), SigReservation.LEVITY, token)
+        _fire(str(self.room.id), SigReservation.LEVITY, token)
         self.assertTrue(mock_send.called)
         levity_seats = TableSeat.objects.filter(room=self.room, role__in=["PC", "NC", "SC"])
         for i, seat in enumerate(levity_seats):
@@ -112,29 +117,29 @@ class FireFunctionTest(TestCase):
             self.assertEqual(seat.significator, cards[i])
 
     def test_fire_does_nothing_for_nonexistent_room(self):
-        from apps.epic.tasks import confirm_polarity_room
+        from apps.epic.tasks import _fire
         from django.core.cache import cache
         fake_id = "00000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000000"
         token = "known-token"
         cache.set(_cache_key(fake_id, SigReservation.LEVITY), token, 60)
-        confirm_polarity_room(fake_id, SigReservation.LEVITY, token)
+        _fire(fake_id, SigReservation.LEVITY, token)
 
     @patch("apps.epic.tasks._group_send")
     def test_fire_does_nothing_if_all_sigs_already_assigned(self, mock_send):
-        from apps.epic.tasks import confirm_polarity_room
+        from apps.epic.tasks import _fire
         token = self._set_token()
         cards = list(TarotCard.objects.all()[:3])
         seats = list(TableSeat.objects.filter(room=self.room, role__in=["PC", "NC", "SC"]))
         for i, seat in enumerate(seats):
             seat.significator = cards[i]
             seat.save(update_fields=["significator"])
-        confirm_polarity_room(str(self.room.id), SigReservation.LEVITY, token)
+        _fire(str(self.room.id), SigReservation.LEVITY, token)
         mock_send.assert_not_called()
 
     @patch("apps.epic.tasks._group_send")
     def test_fire_broadcasts_pick_sky_when_all_polarity_sigs_assigned(self, mock_send):
         """When both levity AND gravity seats all have significators, fire() triggers SKY_SELECT."""
-        from apps.epic.tasks import confirm_polarity_room
+        from apps.epic.tasks import _fire
         token = self._set_token()
         cards = list(TarotCard.objects.all()[:6])
         # Give gravity seats significators so the all-assigned check passes
@@ -150,7 +155,7 @@ class FireFunctionTest(TestCase):
                 room=self.room, gamer=seat.gamer, card=levity_cards[i],
                 polarity=SigReservation.LEVITY, seat=seat, ready=True,
             )
-        confirm_polarity_room(str(self.room.id), SigReservation.LEVITY, token)
+        _fire(str(self.room.id), SigReservation.LEVITY, token)
         call_types = [c.args[1]["type"] for c in mock_send.call_args_list]
         self.assertIn("polarity_room_done", call_types)
         self.assertIn("pick_sky_available", call_types)
@@ -165,30 +170,27 @@ class SchedulePolarityConfirmTest(TestCase):
 
     def test_schedule_sets_cache_token(self):
         from django.core.cache import cache
-        with patch("apps.epic.tasks.confirm_polarity_room.apply_async"):
         schedule_polarity_confirm(str(self.room.id), SigReservation.LEVITY, 60)
-        entry = cache.get(_cache_key(str(self.room.id), SigReservation.LEVITY))
+        token = cache.get(_cache_key(str(self.room.id), SigReservation.LEVITY))
-        self.assertIsNotNone(entry)
+        self.assertIsNotNone(token)
 
-    def test_schedule_enqueues_confirm_task_with_countdown(self):
+    def test_schedule_registers_timer(self):
-        # The deferred confirm is a Celery task fired `seconds` from now (the
+        from apps.epic.tasks import _timers
-        # worker process broadcasts reliably, unlike the old timer thread).
+        key = f"{self.room.id}_{SigReservation.LEVITY}"
-        with patch("apps.epic.tasks.confirm_polarity_room.apply_async") as mock_async:
+        schedule_polarity_confirm(str(self.room.id), SigReservation.LEVITY, 60)
-            schedule_polarity_confirm(str(self.room.id), SigReservation.LEVITY, 12)
+        self.assertIn(key, _timers)
-        mock_async.assert_called_once()
+        _timers[key].cancel()  # clean up
-        self.assertEqual(mock_async.call_args.kwargs["countdown"], 12)
 
-    def test_schedule_supersedes_prior_via_fresh_token(self):
+    def test_schedule_cancels_prior_timer_before_scheduling(self):
-        # No task revocation: a new schedule just writes a fresh token, so the
+        from apps.epic.tasks import _timers
-        # previously-queued task no-ops on the token guard when it fires.
+        schedule_polarity_confirm(str(self.room.id), SigReservation.LEVITY, 60)
-        from django.core.cache import cache
+        key = f"{self.room.id}_{SigReservation.LEVITY}"
-        key = _cache_key(str(self.room.id), SigReservation.LEVITY)
+        first_timer = _timers.get(key)
-        with patch("apps.epic.tasks.confirm_polarity_room.apply_async"):
+        schedule_polarity_confirm(str(self.room.id), SigReservation.LEVITY, 60)
-            schedule_polarity_confirm(str(self.room.id), SigReservation.LEVITY, 12)
+        second_timer = _timers.get(key)
-            first = cache.get(key)["token"]
+        self.assertIsNotNone(second_timer)
-            schedule_polarity_confirm(str(self.room.id), SigReservation.LEVITY, 12)
+        self.assertIsNot(first_timer, second_timer)
-            second = cache.get(key)["token"]
+        second_timer.cancel()
-        self.assertNotEqual(first, second)
 
 
 class CountdownRemainingTest(TestCase):
@@ -204,8 +206,7 @@ class CountdownRemainingTest(TestCase):
     def tearDown(self):
         cancel_polarity_confirm(str(self.room.id), SigReservation.LEVITY)
 
-    @patch("apps.epic.tasks.confirm_polarity_room.apply_async")
+    def test_schedule_stores_deadline_alongside_token(self):
-    def test_schedule_stores_deadline_alongside_token(self, _async):
         from django.core.cache import cache
         schedule_polarity_confirm(str(self.room.id), SigReservation.LEVITY, 12)
         entry = cache.get(_cache_key(str(self.room.id), SigReservation.LEVITY))
@@ -213,8 +214,7 @@ class CountdownRemainingTest(TestCase):
         self.assertIn("token", entry)
         self.assertIn("deadline", entry)
 
-    @patch("apps.epic.tasks.confirm_polarity_room.apply_async")
+    def test_countdown_remaining_returns_seconds_left(self):
-    def test_countdown_remaining_returns_seconds_left(self, _async):
         from apps.epic.tasks import countdown_remaining
         schedule_polarity_confirm(str(self.room.id), SigReservation.LEVITY, 12)
         remaining = countdown_remaining(str(self.room.id), SigReservation.LEVITY)

src/core/settings.py

@@ -250,9 +250,3 @@ if 'test' in sys.argv:
             'BACKEND': 'channels.layers.InMemoryChannelLayer',
         }
     }
-    # In-process Kombu broker so Celery `apply_async` (the polarity-confirm
-    # countdown) queues without a live Redis + without running the task (no
-    # worker consumes it) — mirrors the old threading.Timer that was scheduled
-    # but never fired inside a sub-12s test. NOT eager: eager would ignore the
-    # countdown and assign significators synchronously during the ready POST.
-    CELERY_BROKER_URL = 'memory://'