Vim: List keyboard navigation broken in VS Code 1.31.0

[davewasmer]

Describe the bug
The new list navigation support (#3432 ?) appears to be broken for me. I'm trying to narrow down exactly what the behavior is, and it seems to be timing related.

When I first focus into the file explorer tree (whether via mouse click or a keyboard shortcut), pressing j does _not_ navigate down one list item, but instead jumps to the first file that starts with the letter "j".

If immediately hit j again, it behaves as expected: the focus moves down one item in the list.

However, if I wait and allow a couple seconds to elapse between the keypresses, it reverts to the broken behavior: it jumps back to the first file starting with j. This is true of k as well.

I've also noticed that l has a similar pattern: subsequent immediate keypresses behave as expected (toggling a directory or opening the file selected). But the first keypress after a short delay jumps to the first list item that begins with "l" (regardless of where it appears - it will jump _up_ directory levels to find it).

To Reproduce
Steps to reproduce the behavior:

1. Focus into file explorer
2. Type j

Focus jumps to first list item beginning with "j".

Expected behavior
Focus moves down one item in the list

Screenshots
Focusing into the file explorer and hitting j:

Environment (please complete the following information):

• Extension (VsCodeVim) version: 1.0.8
• VSCode version: 1.31.0
• OS: macOS Mojave

All other extensions disabled. No custom single letter keyboard shortcuts bound in the file explorer context. workbench.list.keyboardNavigation set to simple

[zaynv]

Yep, this is really annoying as a VIM user who is used to using j or k to move up/down. Is there any way to disable this new filtering feature for now until there is a way to handle this?

[jon301]

The same behavior happens also on previous versions of VsCodeVim too :(

[davewasmer]

@zaynv I couldn't find a simple workaround, so I've simply downgraded my VS Code version for now. You can download the previous release here

[micimize]

@jon301 the behavior is due to a new feature in vscode itself, so this is expected - you've got to downgrade.

I already reverted, but my behavior was differently buggy. At some point in a session, the explorer would get stuck in "non-vim" filtering mode, and I wouldn't be able to escape.

Anyone reverting as @davewasmer suggested should probably disable automatic updates until this is resolved

[jpoon]

Dupe of https://github.com/VSCodeVim/Vim/issues/3466. See https://github.com/VSCodeVim/Vim/issues/3466#issuecomment-461716148 for resolution.

[davewasmer]

@jpoon perhaps I'm misreading, but I don't think this is a dup, and I don't see how the linked comment provides resolution.

The comment seems to indicate that the default behavior of the list view should be to respond to traditional vim movement keys (hjkl) and only enter filtering mode with / is typed.

But as you can see in the gif above in my original post, the default behavior of the list view seems to be neither vim movement or the new filtering functionality in VS Code 1.31. Instead it jumps down the list to the closest matching list item. Plus there's the timing aspect - immediately repeated j keystrokes for example revert to vim movement, but delayed repeated keystrokes continue with the jumping behavior.

Would you mind expanding a bit on that linked comment if I've misunderstood it?

[micimize]

@jpoon The linked issue is the converse. Their issue is "vim keybindings interfere with filtering", and ours is "filtering interferes with vim keybindings"

[micimize]

@jpoon This issue returns after extended usage with Vim v1.1.0 and vscode 1.31.1, breaks the plugin entirely on vscode v1.30

[davewasmer]

@jpoon would you consider reopening this, or expanding on the linked comment to help explain how to revert to the old navigation behavior?

[nosajio]

@micimize no need to downgrade, just add this to your settings.json:

"workbench.list.keyboardNavigation": "simple"

[martinjaime]

@nosajio, that does not work for me. The issue described originally persists. Anyone else having this issue after taking @nosajio's suggestion?

[tommcgurl]

@martinjaime What worked for me was adding "workbench.list.automaticKeyboardNavigation": false to my settings.json 👍

[brennongs]

@tommcgurl That got it for me. Thanks! I've been dealing with this for weeks!

[tommcgurl]

Awesome @brennongs glad to hear it 👍