[bug] Some placeholders are not expanded in certain conditions

[jxyyz]

Hi. This issue is related to my PR #14 (introducing {input} placeholder)

The root cause is the same, but my solution from the PR resolves it only partially.

Problem

In my situation, Neovim's state-dependent placeholders are not resolved correctly when using multiple sends with the picker.
Example:

{
    "<leader>awc",
    function()
        w.send({
            { label = "A", value = "{selection}"},
            { label = "B", value = "{selection}"},
        })
    end,
    mode = { "n", "x" },
    desc = "Foobar"
}

It's due to vim.ui.select() also being asynchronous, so there is the same problem that pushed me to implement #14.
When the picker window shows up, the selection is lost, and therefore the {selection} placeholder can't be expanded after choosing an item.

I'm using snacks.nvim's picker, which defaults to being an alternative implementation for vim.ui.select(). I don't have any explicit options that enable it as replacement for default vim.ui.select(), so it might be confusing for users with installed Snacks tools.

I'll investigate this problem more in my spare time :)

[jxyyz]

Minimal bug reproduction:

• nvim -u repro.lua
• create target instance
• select some text
• press <leader>awc
• choose one option

Result:
{selection} is not expanded

Reproduction code (repro.lua)

-- repro.lua

-- Just trivial setup (install lazy.nvim, set mapleader, etc.)
-- source: https://github.com/jxyyz/nvim/blob/main/lua/repro/core.lua
local R = require("repro.core")

-- BUG REPPRODUCTION:
local spec = {
    {
        "folke/snacks.nvim",
        lazy = false,
        opts = {
            picker = { enabled = true },
            input = { enabled = true },

        },
    },
    {
        "MSmaili/wiremux.nvim",
        lazy = false,
        opts = {
            targets = {
                definitions = {
                    cc = { cmd = "claude", kind = "pane", title = "cc", shell = false },
                }
            },
        },
        keys = function()
            local w = require("wiremux")
            return {
                {
                    "<leader>awc",
                    function()
                        w.send({
                            { label = "A", value = "{selection}" },
                            { label = "B", value = "{selection}" },
                        })
                    end,
                    mode = { "n", "x" },
                    desc = "Foobar"
                }
            }
        end
    }
}

require("lazy").setup({
        spec = spec,
        root = R.plugin_dir,
        lockfile = R.lockfile,
        state = R.lazy_state,
        checker = { enabled = false },
        change_detection = { enabled = false },
})

print("Running isolated repro in: " .. R.root)

[MSmaili]

Thanks a lot for the reproduction. I use fzf-lua. I could add an adapter for the snacks too, which I can control and would solve the issue, but I will analyze more details.

It seems interesting. I have not encountered this problem in fzf-lua, but I have snacks installed too, and will analyze and come back with something

[MSmaili]

FYI, I was able to identify the root cause. I’m seeing the same behavior on my end as well with fzf-lua, but earlier I did not have a list that had selection inside. I usually send the {selection} with send_motion.

It appears that the issue occurs when the picker is opened and the visual_mode is reset. After that, we expand the placeholders following the selection, but at that moment, nothing is actually selected.

To resolve this, we should expand the placeholders before opening the picker. The fix is straightforward, and I’ll implement it in the coming days.

Thanks a lot for pointing this out; it would have been quite difficult to track down without your help.

[MSmaili]

This should be fixed now, @jxyyz. Please check and confirm so we can close this issue.

[jxyyz]

Just tried your fix with the reproduction configuration from above and wiremux behavior is now correct.

Thanks!