separate autostop check into dedicated thread

runhouse/servers/cluster_servlet.py

@@ -100,6 +100,12 @@ async def __init__(
         )
         self.cluster_checks_thread.start()
 
+        logger.debug("Creating autostop check thread.")
+        self.autostop_check_thread = threading.Thread(
+            target=self.periodic_autostop_check, daemon=True
+        )
+        self.autostop_check_thread.start()
+
     ##############################################
     # Cluster config state storage methods
     ##############################################
@@ -330,6 +336,42 @@ async def acheck_cluster_logs(self, interval_size: int):
 
         return logs_den_resp, new_start_log_line, new_end_log_line
 
+    async def aperiodic_autostop_check(self):
+        """Periodically check the autostop of the cluster"""
+        while True:
+            should_update_autostop: bool = self.autostop_helper is not None
+            cluster_config = await self.aget_cluster_config()
+            interval_size = cluster_config.get(
+                "status_check_interval", DEFAULT_STATUS_CHECK_INTERVAL
+            )
+
+            if not should_update_autostop:
+                logger.debug(
+                    f"Not updating autostop, checking again in {interval_size} minutes"
+                )
+                break
+
+            try:
+                status, den_resp_code = await self.acheck_cluster_status(
+                    send_to_den=False
+                )
+
+                if should_update_autostop:
+                    logger.debug("Updating autostop")
+                    await self._update_autostop(status)
+
+                if interval_size == -1:
+                    continue
+
+            except Exception as e:
+                logger.error(
+                    f"Autostop check has failed: {e}.\n"
+                    "Please check cluster logs for more info.\n"
+                )
+
+            finally:
+                await asyncio.sleep(interval_size)
+
     async def aperiodic_cluster_checks(self):
         """Periodically check the status of the cluster, gather metrics about the cluster's utilization & memory,
         and save it to Den."""
@@ -338,9 +380,8 @@ async def aperiodic_cluster_checks(self):
             should_send_status_and_logs_to_den: bool = (
                 configs.token is not None and self._cluster_uri is not None
             )
-            should_update_autostop: bool = self.autostop_helper is not None
 
-            if not should_send_status_and_logs_to_den and not should_update_autostop:
+            if not should_send_status_and_logs_to_den:
                 break
 
             cluster_config = await self.aget_cluster_config()
@@ -353,10 +394,6 @@ async def aperiodic_cluster_checks(self):
                     send_to_den=should_send_status_and_logs_to_den
                 )
 
-                if should_update_autostop:
-                    logger.debug("Updating autostop")
-                    await self._update_autostop(status)
-
                 if interval_size == -1 or not should_send_status_and_logs_to_den:
                     continue
 
@@ -404,10 +441,9 @@ async def aperiodic_cluster_checks(self):
                 if den_resp_code == 200:
                     await self.acheck_cluster_logs(interval_size=interval_size)
 
-            except Exception:
+            except Exception as e:
                 logger.error(
-                    "Cluster checks have failed.\n"
-                    "Please check cluster logs for more info.\n"
+                    f"Cluster checks have failed: {e}.\n"
                     "Temporarily increasing the interval between status checks."
                 )
                 await asyncio.sleep(INCREASED_STATUS_CHECK_INTERVAL)
@@ -427,6 +463,9 @@ def periodic_cluster_checks(self):
         # sync_function.
         asyncio.run(self.aperiodic_cluster_checks())
 
+    def periodic_autostop_check(self):
+        asyncio.run(self.aperiodic_autostop_check())
+
     async def _update_autostop(self, status: dict):
         function_running = any(
             any(