Xin Zhaoanddino
ffd8a6d0d4
# Objective Closes #41744 When a multi-key binding switches from Insert mode to Helix normal mode, subsequent editing actions can place the cursor incorrectly. While a printable multi-key binding is pending, Zed temporarily inserts the pending keys into the buffer. Once the binding is matched, Zed dispatches the associated action and then deletes the pending text. Because the buffer uses a CRDT, the deleted text remains as tombstoned fragments. The cursor can still resolve to the correct visible offset while its selection anchor remains associated with one of those fragments, affecting the ordering of subsequent edits. Among the explicit Vim mode-switch actions, `SwitchToHelixNormalMode` is the only one that preserves the existing selections: https://github.com/zed-industries/zed/blob/377382e1966caee4bd829dea2b106c4ab2897045/crates/vim/src/vim.rs#L713-L719 As a result, the tombstone-associated anchor is carried into Helix normal mode, where later actions such as `o` can place the cursor on the wrong side of the inserted newline. The affected path is narrow: a multi-key binding must invoke `SwitchToHelixNormalMode` from Insert mode. This creates pending text and then preserves the resulting selection anchors when entering Helix normal mode. There are two possible layers at which to address this. At the Editor layer, selections could be refreshed whenever pending text is removed so that they no longer reference deleted fragments. At the Vim layer, the Helix mode transition can explicitly guard against preserving those anchors. PR #50918 attempted the broader Editor-layer solution by refreshing selections after resolving a multi-key binding. However, as discussed in this review comment: https://github.com/zed-industries/zed/pull/50918#issuecomment-4411319469, the more appropriate scope for this reported issue is the Vim mode-switching layer. ## Solution Based on PR #50918 and its review feedback, this PR limits the fix to `SwitchToHelixNormalMode`. When that action is triggered by pending Insert-mode keystrokes, Vim refreshes the preserved selection anchors after the pending text is removed. This keeps the fix scoped to the affected Helix transition without changing other multi-key bindings. ## Testing Added a GPUI regression test. ## Self-Review Checklist: - [x] I've reviewed my own diff for quality, security, and reliability - [x] Unsafe blocks (if any) have justifying comments - [x] The content adheres to Zed's UI standards ([UX/UI](https://github.com/zed-industries/zed/blob/main/CONTRIBUTING.md#uiux-checklist) and [icon](https://github.com/zed-industries/zed/blob/main/crates/icons/README.md) guidelines) - [x] Tests cover the new/changed behavior - [x] Performance impact has been considered and is acceptable --- Release Notes: - Fixed incorrect cursor placement after using a multi-key binding to leave insert mode in Vim or Helix mode. --------- Co-authored-by: dino <dinojoaocosta@gmail.com>
This contains the code for Zed's Vim emulation mode.
Vim mode in Zed is supposed to primarily "do what you expect": it mostly tries to copy vim exactly, but will use Zed-specific functionality when available to make things smoother. This means Zed will never be 100% vim compatible, but should be 100% vim familiar!
The backlog is maintained in the #vim channel notes.
Testing against Neovim
If you are making a change to make Zed's behavior more closely match vim/nvim, you can create a test using the NeovimBackedTestContext.
For example, the following test checks that Zed and Neovim have the same behavior when running * in visual mode:
#[gpui::test]
async fn test_visual_star_hash(cx: &mut gpui::TestAppContext) {
let mut cx = NeovimBackedTestContext::new(cx).await;
cx.set_shared_state("ˇa.c. abcd a.c. abcd").await;
cx.simulate_shared_keystrokes(["v", "3", "l", "*"]).await;
cx.assert_shared_state("a.c. abcd ˇa.c. abcd").await;
}
To keep CI runs fast, by default the neovim tests use a cached JSON file that records what neovim did (see crates/vim/test_data), but while developing this test you'll need to run it with the neovim flag enabled:
cargo test -p vim --features neovim test_visual_star_hash
This will run your keystrokes against a headless neovim and cache the results in the test_data directory. Note that neovim must be installed and reachable on your $PATH in order to run the feature.
Testing zed-only behavior
Zed does more than vim/neovim in their default modes. The VimTestContext can be used instead. This lets you test integration with the language server and other parts of zed's UI that don't have a NeoVim equivalent.