fix: Handle thread locks in Flow state serialization

- Add custom serialization for thread locks in Flow state
- Add test coverage for thread locks and async primitives
- Maintain backward compatibility
- Fix issue #2120

Co-Authored-By: Joe Moura <joao@crewai.com>

src/crewai/flow/flow.py

@@ -1,7 +1,8 @@
 import asyncio
-import copy
+import dataclasses
 import inspect
 import logging
+import threading
 from typing import (
     Any,
     Callable,
@@ -569,8 +570,138 @@ class Flow(Generic[T], metaclass=FlowMeta):
             f"Initial state must be dict or BaseModel, got {type(self.initial_state)}"
         )
 
+    def _get_thread_safe_primitive_type(self, value: Any) -> Optional[Type[Union[threading.Lock, threading.RLock, threading.Semaphore, threading.Event, threading.Condition, asyncio.Lock, asyncio.Event, asyncio.Condition, asyncio.Semaphore]]]:
+        """Get the type of a thread-safe primitive for recreation.
+        
+        Args:
+            value: Any Python value to check
+            
+        Returns:
+            The type of the thread-safe primitive, or None if not a primitive
+        """
+        if hasattr(value, '_is_owned') and hasattr(value, 'acquire'):
+            # Get the actual types since some are factory functions
+            rlock_type = type(threading.RLock())
+            lock_type = type(threading.Lock())
+            semaphore_type = type(threading.Semaphore())
+            event_type = type(threading.Event())
+            condition_type = type(threading.Condition())
+            async_lock_type = type(asyncio.Lock())
+            async_event_type = type(asyncio.Event())
+            async_condition_type = type(asyncio.Condition())
+            async_semaphore_type = type(asyncio.Semaphore())
+
+            if isinstance(value, rlock_type):
+                return threading.RLock
+            elif isinstance(value, lock_type):
+                return threading.Lock
+            elif isinstance(value, semaphore_type):
+                return threading.Semaphore
+            elif isinstance(value, event_type):
+                return threading.Event
+            elif isinstance(value, condition_type):
+                return threading.Condition
+            elif isinstance(value, async_lock_type):
+                return asyncio.Lock
+            elif isinstance(value, async_event_type):
+                return asyncio.Event
+            elif isinstance(value, async_condition_type):
+                return asyncio.Condition
+            elif isinstance(value, async_semaphore_type):
+                return asyncio.Semaphore
+        return None
+
+    def _serialize_dataclass(self, value: Any) -> Union[Dict[str, Any], Any]:
+        """Serialize a dataclass instance.
+        
+        Args:
+            value: A dataclass instance
+            
+        Returns:
+            A new instance of the dataclass with thread-safe primitives recreated
+        """
+        if not hasattr(value, '__class__'):
+            return value
+            
+        if hasattr(value, '__pydantic_validate__'):
+            return value.__pydantic_validate__()
+            
+        # Get field values, handling thread-safe primitives
+        field_values = {}
+        for field in dataclasses.fields(value):
+            field_value = getattr(value, field.name)
+            primitive_type = self._get_thread_safe_primitive_type(field_value)
+            if primitive_type is not None:
+                field_values[field.name] = primitive_type()
+            else:
+                field_values[field.name] = self._serialize_value(field_value)
+                
+        # Create new instance
+        return value.__class__(**field_values)
+
+    def _serialize_value(self, value: Any) -> Any:
+        """Recursively serialize a value, handling thread locks.
+        
+        Args:
+            value: Any Python value to serialize
+            
+        Returns:
+            Serialized version of the value with thread-safe primitives handled
+        """
+        # Handle None
+        if value is None:
+            return None
+            
+        # Handle thread-safe primitives
+        primitive_type = self._get_thread_safe_primitive_type(value)
+        if primitive_type is not None:
+            return primitive_type()
+            
+        # Handle Pydantic models
+        if isinstance(value, BaseModel):
+            model_class = type(value)
+            model_data = value.model_dump(exclude_none=True)
+            
+            # Create new instance
+            instance = model_class(**model_data)
+            
+            # Copy excluded fields that are thread-safe primitives
+            for field_name, field in value.__class__.model_fields.items():
+                if field.exclude:
+                    field_value = getattr(value, field_name, None)
+                    if field_value is not None:
+                        primitive_type = self._get_thread_safe_primitive_type(field_value)
+                        if primitive_type is not None:
+                            setattr(instance, field_name, primitive_type())
+            
+            return instance
+            
+        # Handle dataclasses
+        if dataclasses.is_dataclass(value):
+            return self._serialize_dataclass(value)
+            
+        # Handle dictionaries
+        if isinstance(value, dict):
+            return {
+                k: self._serialize_value(v)
+                for k, v in value.items()
+            }
+            
+        # Handle lists, tuples, and sets
+        if isinstance(value, (list, tuple, set)):
+            serialized = [self._serialize_value(item) for item in value]
+            return (
+                serialized if isinstance(value, list)
+                else tuple(serialized) if isinstance(value, tuple)
+                else set(serialized)
+            )
+            
+        # Handle other types
+        return value
+
     def _copy_state(self) -> T:
-        return copy.deepcopy(self._state)
+        """Create a deep copy of the current state."""
+        return self._serialize_value(self._state)
 
     @property
     def state(self) -> T:

tests/test_flow_thread_locks.py

@@ -0,0 +1,159 @@
+"""Tests for Flow with thread locks."""
+import asyncio
+import threading
+from typing import Optional
+from uuid import uuid4
+
+import pytest
+from pydantic import BaseModel, Field, field_validator
+
+from crewai.flow.flow import Flow, start, listen
+
+
+class ThreadSafeState(BaseModel):
+    """Test state model with thread locks."""
+    model_config = {
+        "arbitrary_types_allowed": True,
+        "exclude": {"lock"}
+    }
+    
+    id: str = Field(default_factory=lambda: str(uuid4()))
+    lock: Optional[threading.RLock] = Field(default=None, exclude=True)
+    value: str = ""
+    
+    def __init__(self, **data):
+        super().__init__(**data)
+        if self.lock is None:
+            self.lock = threading.RLock()
+
+
+class LockFlow(Flow[ThreadSafeState]):
+    """Test flow with thread locks."""
+    initial_state = ThreadSafeState
+
+    @start()
+    async def step_1(self):
+        with self.state.lock:
+            self.state.value = "step 1"
+            return "step 1"
+
+    @listen(step_1)
+    async def step_2(self, result):
+        with self.state.lock:
+            self.state.value += " -> step 2"
+            return result + " -> step 2"
+
+
+def test_flow_with_thread_locks():
+    """Test Flow with thread locks in state."""
+    flow = LockFlow()
+    result = asyncio.run(flow.kickoff_async())
+    assert result == "step 1 -> step 2"
+    assert flow.state.value == "step 1 -> step 2"
+
+
+def test_kickoff_async_with_lock_inputs():
+    """Test kickoff_async with thread lock inputs."""
+    flow = LockFlow()
+    inputs = {
+        "lock": threading.RLock(),
+        "value": "test"
+    }
+    result = asyncio.run(flow.kickoff_async(inputs=inputs))
+    assert result == "step 1 -> step 2"
+    assert flow.state.value == "step 1 -> step 2"
+
+
+class ComplexState(BaseModel):
+    """Test state model with nested thread locks."""
+    model_config = {
+        "arbitrary_types_allowed": True,
+        "exclude": {"outer_lock"}
+    }
+    
+    id: str = Field(default_factory=lambda: str(uuid4()))
+    outer_lock: Optional[threading.RLock] = Field(default=None, exclude=True)
+    inner: Optional[ThreadSafeState] = Field(default_factory=ThreadSafeState)
+    value: str = ""
+    
+    def __init__(self, **data):
+        super().__init__(**data)
+        if self.outer_lock is None:
+            self.outer_lock = threading.RLock()
+
+
+class NestedLockFlow(Flow[ComplexState]):
+    """Test flow with nested thread locks."""
+    initial_state = ComplexState
+
+    @start()
+    async def step_1(self):
+        with self.state.outer_lock:
+            with self.state.inner.lock:
+                self.state.value = "outer"
+                self.state.inner.value = "inner"
+                return "step 1"
+
+    @listen(step_1)
+    async def step_2(self, result):
+        with self.state.outer_lock:
+            with self.state.inner.lock:
+                self.state.value += " -> outer 2"
+                self.state.inner.value += " -> inner 2"
+                return result + " -> step 2"
+
+
+def test_flow_with_nested_locks():
+    """Test Flow with nested thread locks in state."""
+    flow = NestedLockFlow()
+    result = asyncio.run(flow.kickoff_async())
+    assert result == "step 1 -> step 2"
+    assert flow.state.value == "outer -> outer 2"
+    assert flow.state.inner.value == "inner -> inner 2"
+
+
+class AsyncLockState(BaseModel):
+    """Test state model with async locks."""
+    model_config = {
+        "arbitrary_types_allowed": True,
+        "exclude": {"lock", "event"}
+    }
+    
+    id: str = Field(default_factory=lambda: str(uuid4()))
+    lock: Optional[asyncio.Lock] = Field(default=None, exclude=True)
+    event: Optional[asyncio.Event] = Field(default=None, exclude=True)
+    value: str = ""
+    
+    def __init__(self, **data):
+        super().__init__(**data)
+        if self.lock is None:
+            self.lock = asyncio.Lock()
+        if self.event is None:
+            self.event = asyncio.Event()
+
+
+class AsyncLockFlow(Flow[AsyncLockState]):
+    """Test flow with async locks."""
+    initial_state = AsyncLockState
+
+    @start()
+    async def step_1(self):
+        async with self.state.lock:
+            self.state.value = "step 1"
+            self.state.event.set()
+            return "step 1"
+
+    @listen(step_1)
+    async def step_2(self, result):
+        async with self.state.lock:
+            await self.state.event.wait()
+            self.state.value += " -> step 2"
+            return result + " -> step 2"
+
+
+def test_flow_with_async_locks():
+    """Test Flow with async locks in state."""
+    flow = AsyncLockFlow()
+    result = asyncio.run(flow.kickoff_async())
+    assert result == "step 1 -> step 2"
+    assert flow.state.value == "step 1 -> step 2"