improvement: fall back to disk storage when shared memory cannot allocate

marimo/_runtime/context/kernel_context.py

@@ -152,6 +152,8 @@ def create_kernel_context(
     from marimo._plugins.ui._core.registry import UIElementRegistry
     from marimo._runtime.state import StateRegistry
     from marimo._runtime.virtual_file import (
+        DiskStorage,
+        FallbackStorage,
         InMemoryStorage,
         SharedMemoryStorage,
         VirtualFileRegistry,
@@ -163,8 +165,11 @@ def create_kernel_context(
     # Storage is chosen explicitly by the caller. None means virtual files
     # are not supported; we still construct an (inert) InMemoryStorage so
     # the registry has a backend, but ctx.virtual_files_supported is False.
+    # In EDIT mode, fall back to disk if shared memory cannot allocate
+    # (e.g., /dev/shm is full). Disk is cross-process readable, so the
+    # main-process server can still serve files via the /@file endpoint.
     storage: VirtualFileStorage = (
-        SharedMemoryStorage()
+        FallbackStorage([SharedMemoryStorage(), DiskStorage()])
         if virtual_file_storage == "shared_memory"
         else InMemoryStorage()
     )

marimo/_runtime/virtual_file/__init__.py

@@ -8,6 +8,8 @@
 from __future__ import annotations
 
 from marimo._runtime.virtual_file.storage import (
+    DiskStorage,
+    FallbackStorage,
     InMemoryStorage,
     SharedMemoryStorage,
     VirtualFileStorage,
@@ -31,6 +33,8 @@
     "VirtualFileStorageType",
     "SharedMemoryStorage",
     "InMemoryStorage",
+    "DiskStorage",
+    "FallbackStorage",
     "VirtualFileStorageManager",
     # Virtual files
     "VirtualFile",

marimo/_runtime/virtual_file/storage.py

@@ -1,14 +1,20 @@
 # Copyright 2026 Marimo. All rights reserved.
 from __future__ import annotations
 
+import os
 import sys
-from typing import TYPE_CHECKING, Literal, Protocol
+import tempfile
+from pathlib import Path
+from typing import IO, TYPE_CHECKING, Literal, Protocol
 
+from marimo import _loggers
 from marimo._utils.platform import is_pyodide
 
 if TYPE_CHECKING:
     from collections.abc import Iterable, Iterator
 
+LOGGER = _loggers.marimo_logger()
+
 DEFAULT_CHUNK_SIZE = 256 * 1024  # 256KB
 
 VirtualFileStorageType = Literal["in_memory", "shared_memory"]
@@ -196,7 +202,18 @@ def shutdown(self, keys: Iterable[str] | None = None) -> None:
                 self._stale = True
 
     def has(self, key: str) -> bool:
-        return key in self._storage
+        if key in self._storage:
+            return True
+        # Cross-process probe: try to open the segment by name. Used by
+        # FallbackStorage to locate keys written by another process.
+        if is_pyodide():
+            return False
+        try:
+            shm = shared_memory.SharedMemory(name=key)
+        except FileNotFoundError:
+            return False
+        shm.close()
+        return True
 
 
 class InMemoryStorage(VirtualFileStorage):
@@ -248,6 +265,190 @@ def has(self, key: str) -> bool:
         return key in self._storage
 
 
+class DiskStorage(VirtualFileStorage):
+    """Storage backend that writes virtual file bytes to a temp directory.
+
+    Cross-process safe: any process can read a key by computing the same path.
+    Used as a fallback tier when ``SharedMemoryStorage`` cannot allocate
+    (e.g., ``/dev/shm`` is full).
+    """
+
+    def __init__(self, base_dir: str | Path | None = None) -> None:
+        self._base_dir = (
+            Path(base_dir)
+            if base_dir is not None
+            else Path(tempfile.gettempdir()) / "marimo-vfs"
+        )
+        self._owned_keys: set[str] = set()
+        self._stale = False
+
+    @property
+    def stale(self) -> bool:
+        return self._stale
+
+    def _path(self, key: str) -> Path:
+        return self._base_dir / key
+
+    def _open(self, key: str) -> IO[bytes]:
+        try:
+            return self._path(key).open("rb")
+        except FileNotFoundError as err:
+            raise KeyError(f"Virtual file not found: {key}") from err
+
+    def store(self, key: str, buffer: bytes) -> None:
+        self._base_dir.mkdir(parents=True, exist_ok=True)
+        # Atomic write: write to a unique temp sibling then rename. Prevents
+        # cross-process readers from seeing a half-written file; mkstemp's
+        # uniqueness avoids collisions when two stores race on one key.
+        fd, tmp_str = tempfile.mkstemp(
+            prefix=f"{key}.", suffix=".tmp", dir=self._base_dir
+        )
+        tmp = Path(tmp_str)
+        try:
+            with os.fdopen(fd, "wb") as f:
+                f.write(buffer)
+            tmp.replace(self._path(key))
+        except BaseException:
+            tmp.unlink(missing_ok=True)
+            raise
+        self._owned_keys.add(key)
+
+    def read(self, key: str, byte_length: int) -> bytes:
+        with self._open(key) as f:
+            return f.read(byte_length)
+
+    def read_chunked(
+        self,
+        key: str,
+        byte_length: int,
+        chunk_size: int = DEFAULT_CHUNK_SIZE,
+    ) -> Iterator[bytes]:
+        with self._open(key) as f:
+            remaining = byte_length
+            while remaining > 0:
+                chunk = f.read(min(chunk_size, remaining))
+                if not chunk:
+                    break
+                remaining -= len(chunk)
+                yield chunk
+
+    def remove(self, key: str) -> None:
+        self._path(key).unlink(missing_ok=True)
+        self._owned_keys.discard(key)
+
+    def shutdown(self, keys: Iterable[str] | None = None) -> None:
+        # When keys is None, only remove keys this instance wrote — avoids
+        # racing other kernels that share the temp directory.
+        target = list(keys) if keys is not None else list(self._owned_keys)
+        for key in target:
+            self.remove(key)
+        if keys is None:
+            self._owned_keys.clear()
+            self._stale = True
+
+    def has(self, key: str) -> bool:
+        return self._path(key).exists()
+
+
+class FallbackStorage(VirtualFileStorage):
+    """Composite storage that tries each backend in order.
+
+    On ``store``, attempts each backend in order and falls back to the next
+    when the current one raises ``OSError`` (e.g., shared memory exhaustion).
+    Reads, removes, and existence checks are routed to the backend that
+    accepted the original ``store``; if no routing is recorded (e.g., a fresh
+    instance used only for cross-process reads), each backend is probed in
+    order via ``has``.
+    """
+
+    def __init__(self, backends: list[VirtualFileStorage]) -> None:
+        if not backends:
+            raise ValueError("FallbackStorage requires at least one backend")
+        self._backends = backends
+        self._routing: dict[str, int] = {}
+
+    @property
+    def stale(self) -> bool:
+        return all(b.stale for b in self._backends)
+
+    def store(self, key: str, buffer: bytes) -> None:
+        if key in self._routing:
+            return
+        last_err: OSError | None = None
+        for i, backend in enumerate(self._backends):
+            if backend.stale:
+                continue
+            try:
+                backend.store(key, buffer)
+            except OSError as err:
+                last_err = err
+                LOGGER.warning(
+                    "Virtual file storage backend %d (%s) failed to store "
+                    "key %r (%d bytes): %s; trying next backend",
+                    i,
+                    type(backend).__name__,
+                    key,
+                    len(buffer),
+                    err,
+                )
+                continue
+            self._routing[key] = i
+            return
+        assert last_err is not None
+        raise last_err
+
+    def _backend_for(self, key: str) -> VirtualFileStorage | None:
+        idx = self._routing.get(key)
+        if idx is not None:
+            return self._backends[idx]
+        for backend in self._backends:
+            if backend.has(key):
+                return backend
+        return None
+
+    def read(self, key: str, byte_length: int) -> bytes:
+        backend = self._backend_for(key)
+        if backend is None:
+            raise KeyError(f"Virtual file not found: {key}")
+        return backend.read(key, byte_length)
+
+    def read_chunked(
+        self,
+        key: str,
+        byte_length: int,
+        chunk_size: int = DEFAULT_CHUNK_SIZE,
+    ) -> Iterator[bytes]:
+        backend = self._backend_for(key)
+        if backend is None:
+            raise KeyError(f"Virtual file not found: {key}")
+        yield from backend.read_chunked(key, byte_length, chunk_size)
+
+    def remove(self, key: str) -> None:
+        idx = self._routing.pop(key, None)
+        if idx is not None:
+            self._backends[idx].remove(key)
+            return
+        for backend in self._backends:
+            backend.remove(key)
+
+    def shutdown(self, keys: Iterable[str] | None = None) -> None:
+        if keys is None:
+            for backend in self._backends:
+                backend.shutdown()
+            self._routing.clear()
+            return
+        key_list = list(keys)
+        for backend in self._backends:
+            backend.shutdown(keys=key_list)
+        for key in key_list:
+            self._routing.pop(key, None)
+
+    def has(self, key: str) -> bool:
+        if key in self._routing:
+            return self._backends[self._routing[key]].has(key)
+        return any(b.has(key) for b in self._backends)
+
+
 class VirtualFileStorageManager:
     """Singleton manager for virtual file storage access."""
 
@@ -269,6 +470,13 @@ def storage(self) -> VirtualFileStorage | None:
     def storage(self, value: VirtualFileStorage | None) -> None:
         self._storage = value
 
+    @staticmethod
+    def _cross_process_storage() -> VirtualFileStorage:
+        """Build an ad-hoc reader that can locate files in either tier
+        written by the kernel subprocess in EDIT mode.
+        """
+        return FallbackStorage([SharedMemoryStorage(), DiskStorage()])
+
     def read(self, filename: str, byte_length: int) -> bytes:
         """Read from storage, with cross-process fallback for EDIT mode server.
 
@@ -279,8 +487,9 @@ def read(self, filename: str, byte_length: int) -> bytes:
         storage = self.storage
         if storage is None:
             # Never initialized so in a separate thread from the kernel.
-            # Use SharedMemoryStorage to read by name across processes
-            return SharedMemoryStorage().read(filename, byte_length)
+            # Probe shared memory first, then disk, to locate files written
+            # by the kernel subprocess.
+            return self._cross_process_storage().read(filename, byte_length)
         return storage.read(filename, byte_length)
 
     def read_chunked(
@@ -300,7 +509,7 @@ def read_chunked(
         """
         storage = self.storage
         if storage is None:
-            yield from SharedMemoryStorage().read_chunked(
+            yield from self._cross_process_storage().read_chunked(
                 filename, byte_length, chunk_size
             )
         else: