asyncio run or run_until_complete

Is there a simple way to make [code making use of asyncio.run] backwards compatible with Python 3.6?

You can implement a simple substitute for asyncio.run and call it on older Python versions:

import asyncio, sys, types

def run(coro):
    if sys.version_info >= (3, 7):
        return asyncio.run(coro)

    # Emulate asyncio.run() on older versions

    # asyncio.run() requires a coroutine, so require it here as well
    if not isinstance(coro, types.CoroutineType):
        raise TypeError("run() requires a coroutine object")

    loop = asyncio.new_event_loop()
    asyncio.set_event_loop(loop)
    try:
        return loop.run_until_complete(coro)
    finally:
        loop.close()
        asyncio.set_event_loop(None)

The advantage of this approach over just using loop.run_until_complete() is that you're executing your code under the semantics close to those of the new asyncio.run, even on older Python versions. (For example, you will always run on a freshly created event loop.) Dropping support for pre-3.7 Python will be as easy as removing the run shim and calling asyncio.run directly.

It's possible to replicate asyncio.run by copying the code from the asyncio.runners.py. The one below is from Python 3.8.

from asyncio import coroutines, events, tasks


def run(main, *, debug=False):
    """Execute the coroutine and return the result.

    This function runs the passed coroutine, taking care of
    managing the asyncio event loop and finalizing asynchronous
    generators.

    This function cannot be called when another asyncio event loop is
    running in the same thread.

    If debug is True, the event loop will be run in debug mode.

    This function always creates a new event loop and closes it at the end.
    It should be used as a main entry point for asyncio programs, and should
    ideally only be called once.

    Example:

        async def main():
            await asyncio.sleep(1)
            print('hello')

        asyncio.run(main())
    """
    if events._get_running_loop() is not None:
        raise RuntimeError(
            "asyncio.run() cannot be called from a running event loop")

    if not coroutines.iscoroutine(main):
        raise ValueError("a coroutine was expected, got {!r}".format(main))

    loop = events.new_event_loop()
    try:
        events.set_event_loop(loop)
        loop.set_debug(debug)
        return loop.run_until_complete(main)
    finally:
        try:
            _cancel_all_tasks(loop)
            loop.run_until_complete(loop.shutdown_asyncgens())
        finally:
            events.set_event_loop(None)
            loop.close()


def _cancel_all_tasks(loop):
    to_cancel = tasks.all_tasks(loop)
    if not to_cancel:
        return

    for task in to_cancel:
        task.cancel()

    loop.run_until_complete(
        tasks.gather(*to_cancel, loop=loop, return_exceptions=True))

    for task in to_cancel:
        if task.cancelled():
            continue
        if task.exception() is not None:
            loop.call_exception_handler({
                'message': 'unhandled exception during asyncio.run() shutdown',
                'exception': task.exception(),
                'task': task,
            })