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Redesign plan argument handling #1624

Description

@tpoliaw

We currently build a pydantic model from the plan args and use that model to convert from the JSON params sent as part of a TaskRequest. This leads to several issues

  • All arguments must be addressable via keywords. Positional only args and varargs are not supported
  • Devices need special handling to convert from strings to devices Deserialise plan method arguments by replacing types instead of building custom validators #154
  • Composite devices (built at runtime from existing devices) have their handling intertwined with the device name to device handling
  • The inject method we currently use to provide default arguments to plans means plans can't be run outside blueapi but this is not restricted by python. Eg, calling a plan defined as def foo(mov: Movable = inject("bar")): ... fails with a run time error when trying to move the string instead of giving a type error. Type-checkers can't pick this up.
  • Non-devices are not supported (eg plans or clients for external services.)

Not directly related to using a model for validation but plan args are validated twice, once on submission and again when the plan is actually started.

Redesigning the way args are handled has been discussed several times and the general consensus was for the following requirements

  • We shouldn't have to change every existing plan. This would need a huge amount of churn and introduce new version dependencies
  • No new dependencies between blueapi and dodal/plan repo in either direction. A third API only package is not out of the question. (This may also be useful for utilities like the DeviceManager)
  • Devices built by a device manager should be injectable in a similar way to the current system
  • Non-devices should be available. Eg a config service client should be usable by plans without relying on global state
  • Composite devices should be built at runtime with overrides of individual components if possible
  • Type-checking should work
  • Vararg and positional only args should be supported
  • Plan definitions should remain as simple as possible. A bit subjective but the current inject method is fairly concise.
    • If possible, less duplication than the current system would be good, eg foo: Movable = inject("foo") could be reduced to something like foo: Injected(Movable) and the name would not need to be duplicated.

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