[vim/vim] Whitespace in the middle of the line can be removed when exiting into Normal mode with enabled 'autoindent' (Issue #19363)

Evgeni Chasnovski

unread,

Feb 8, 2026, 2:07:15 PMFeb 8

to vim/vim, Subscribed

echasnovski created an issue (vim/vim#19363)

Steps to reproduce

Start vim --clean with the following config file:

set nocompatible
set autoindent
inoremap <M-t> <Cmd>call setline('.', 'v  v')<CR><Cmd>call setpos('.', [0, line('.'), 2, 0])<CR>

Start Insert mode with i and press <M-t>. It inserts v v with cursor after the first v.
Exit into Normal mode with <Esc>. The line stays the same v v, which is expected.
Start Insert mode on an empty line with cc (or o, or O) and press <M-t>. It still inserts v v with cursor after first v.
Exit into Normal mode with <Esc> (or <C-o>). Line becomes vv.

This seems to be a by-product of the following documented behavior:

If you do not type anything on the new line except <BS> or CTRL-D and
then type <Esc>, CTRL-O or <CR>, the indent is deleted again

Expected behaviour

Whitespace in the middle of the line is not changed when exiting into Normal mode.

Version of Vim

9.1.2132

Environment

OS: EndeavourOS Linux x86_64, 6.18.7-arch1-1
Terminal: Ghostty 1.2.3-arch2
$TERM: xterm-ghostty
Shell: Nushell 0.110.0

Logs and stack traces

—
Reply to this email directly, view it on GitHub.
You are receiving this because you are subscribed to this thread.

Christian Brabandt

unread,

Feb 8, 2026, 3:46:13 PMFeb 8

to vim/vim, Subscribed

chrisbra left a comment (vim/vim#19363)

yes correct for the documentation change. I guess the obvious question is, why do you enable autoindent? I guess that is automatically enabled by Neovim?

Something like this would fix it:

diff --git a/src/edit.c b/src/edit.c
index 2392361fb..45c71cbcb 100644
--- a/src/edit.c
+++ b/src/edit.c
@@ -30,7 +30,7 @@ static void start_arrow_common(pos_T *end_insert_pos, int change);
 #ifdef FEAT_SPELL
 static void check_spell_redraw(void);
 #endif
-static void stop_insert(pos_T *end_insert_pos, int esc, int nomove);
+static void stop_insert(pos_T *end_insert_pos, int esc, int nomove, int doformat);
 static int  echeck_abbr(int);
 static void mb_replace_pop_ins(int cc);
 static void replace_flush(void);
@@ -39,7 +39,7 @@ static int del_char_after_col(int limit_col);
 static void ins_reg(void);
 static void ins_ctrl_g(void);
 static void ins_ctrl_hat(void);
-static int  ins_esc(long *count, int cmdchar, int nomove);
+static int  ins_esc(long *count, int cmdchar, int nomove, int doformat);
 #ifdef FEAT_RIGHTLEFT
 static void ins_ctrl_(void);
 #endif
@@ -159,6 +159,7 @@ edit(
     int                inserted_space = FALSE;     // just inserted a space
     int                replaceState = MODE_REPLACE;
     int                nomove = FALSE;             // don't move cursor on return
+    int                doformat = TRUE;
 #ifdef FEAT_JOB_CHANNEL
     int                cmdchar_todo = cmdchar;
 #endif
@@ -899,7 +900,7 @@ doESCkey:
            if (ins_at_eol && gchar_cursor() == NUL)
                o_lnum = curwin->w_cursor.lnum;

-           if (ins_esc(&count, cmdchar, nomove))
+           if (ins_esc(&count, cmdchar, nomove, doformat))
            {
                // When CTRL-C was typed got_int will be set, with the result
                // that the autocommands won't be executed. When mapped got_int
@@ -1133,6 +1134,7 @@ doESCkey:
        case K_SCRIPT_COMMAND:      // <ScriptCmd>command<CR>
            {
                do_cmdkey_command(c, 0);
+               doformat = FALSE;

 #ifdef FEAT_TERMINAL
                if (term_use_loop())
@@ -2439,7 +2441,7 @@ start_arrow_common(
     if (!arrow_used && end_change)     // something has been inserted
     {
        AppendToRedobuff(ESC_STR);
-       stop_insert(end_insert_pos, FALSE, FALSE);
+       stop_insert(end_insert_pos, FALSE, FALSE, TRUE);
        arrow_used = TRUE;      // this means we stopped the current insert
     }
 #ifdef FEAT_SPELL
@@ -2522,7 +2524,8 @@ stop_arrow(void)
 stop_insert(
     pos_T      *end_insert_pos,
     int                esc,                    // called by ins_esc()
-    int                nomove)                 // <c-\><c-o>, don't move cursor
+    int                nomove,                 // <c-\><c-o>, don't move cursor
+    int                doformat)               // do not reformat
 {
     int                cc;
     string_T   inserted;
@@ -2591,7 +2594,8 @@ stop_insert(
        // Do this when ESC was used or moving the cursor up/down.
        // Check for the old position still being valid, just in case the text
        // got changed unexpectedly.
-       if (!nomove && did_ai && (esc || (vim_strchr(p_cpo, CPO_INDENT) == NULL
+       if (doformat && !nomove && did_ai &&
+               (esc || (vim_strchr(p_cpo, CPO_INDENT) == NULL
                        && curwin->w_cursor.lnum != end_insert_pos->lnum))
                && end_insert_pos->lnum <= curbuf->b_ml.ml_line_count)
        {
@@ -3726,7 +3730,8 @@ ins_ctrl_hat(void)
 ins_esc(
     long       *count,
     int                cmdchar,
-    int                nomove)     // don't move cursor
+    int                nomove,     // don't move cursor
+    int                doformat)   // don't reformat
 {
     int                temp;
     static int disabled_redraw = FALSE;
@@ -3781,7 +3786,7 @@ ins_esc(
            disabled_redraw = TRUE;
            return FALSE;       // repeat the insert
        }
-       stop_insert(&curwin->w_cursor, TRUE, nomove);
+       stop_insert(&curwin->w_cursor, TRUE, nomove, doformat);
        undisplay_dollar();
     }

Note: be aware of whitespace changes. This is copied pasted using my terminal, it won't include tab changes and probably won't apply directly using patch/git

—
Reply to this email directly, view it on GitHub.

You are receiving this because you are subscribed to this thread.

Evgeni Chasnovski

unread,

Feb 8, 2026, 3:49:19 PMFeb 8

to vim/vim, Subscribed

echasnovski left a comment (vim/vim#19363)

I guess the obvious question is, why do you enable autoindent? I guess that is automatically enabled by Neovim?

Yes, it is enabled by Neovim by default. But I also prefer the behavior of when it is on.

—
Reply to this email directly, view it on GitHub.

You are receiving this because you are subscribed to this thread.

Christian Brabandt

unread,

Feb 9, 2026, 2:42:37 PMFeb 9

to vim/vim, Subscribed

chrisbra left a comment (vim/vim#19363)

yes, you could try the above patch.

—
Reply to this email directly, view it on GitHub.

You are receiving this because you are subscribed to this thread.

Evgeni Chasnovski

unread,

Feb 9, 2026, 2:57:23 PMFeb 9

to vim/vim, Subscribed

echasnovski left a comment (vim/vim#19363)

yes, you could try the above patch.

Yes, it seems to have fixed this particular issue. Do you prefer me creating a PR with this change? I can do that, but without much understanding of any line of code here :)

—
Reply to this email directly, view it on GitHub.

You are receiving this because you are subscribed to this thread.

Artem

unread,

Feb 17, 2026, 9:56:40 PMFeb 17

to vim/vim, Subscribed

vanaigr left a comment (vim/vim#19363)

With the patch applied, it's still possible to reproduce the bug by not using <cmd>:

set nocompatible
set autoindent
set updatetime=500

autocmd CursorHoldI * call setline(line("."), "v v")

call setline(1, ' 1')
call cursor(1, 2)
" Press o, wait 1s, then press <Esc>

—
Reply to this email directly, view it on GitHub.

You are receiving this because you are subscribed to this thread.

Christian Brabandt

unread,

2:06 PM (2 hours ago) 2:06 PM

to vim/vim, Subscribed

Closed #19363 as completed via e3dedac.

—
Reply to this email directly, view it on GitHub, or unsubscribe.
Triage notifications on the go with GitHub Mobile for iOS or Android.
You are receiving this because you are subscribed to this thread.

Reply all

Reply to author

Forward