path: root/src/nvim/README.md

Nvim core
=========

Module-specific details are documented at the top of each module (`terminal.c`, `undo.c`, …).

See `:help dev` for guidelines.

Filename conventions
--------------------

The source files use extensions to hint about their purpose.

- `*.c`, `*.generated.c` - full C files, with all includes, etc.
- `*.c.h` - parametrized C files, contain all necessary includes, but require
  defining macros before actually using. Example: `typval_encode.c.h`
- `*.h` - full headers, with all includes. Does *not* apply to `*.generated.h`.
- `*.h.generated.h` - exported functions’ declarations.
- `*.c.generated.h` - static functions’ declarations.

Common structures
-----------------

- StringBuilder
- kvec or garray.c for dynamic lists / vectors (use StringBuilder for strings)

Logs
----

Low-level log messages sink to `$NVIM_LOG_FILE`.

UI events are logged at DEBUG level.

    rm -rf build/
    make CMAKE_EXTRA_FLAGS="-DLOG_DEBUG"

Use `LOG_CALLSTACK()` (Linux only) to log the current stacktrace. To log to an
alternate file (e.g. stderr) use `LOG_CALLSTACK_TO_FILE(FILE*)`. Requires
`-no-pie` ([ref](https://bugs.debian.org/cgi-bin/bugreport.cgi?bug=860394#15)):

    rm -rf build/
    make CMAKE_EXTRA_FLAGS="-DLOG_DEBUG -DCMAKE_C_FLAGS=-no-pie"

Many log messages have a shared prefix, such as "UI" or "RPC". Use the shell to
filter the log, e.g. at DEBUG level you might want to exclude UI messages:

    tail -F ~/.local/state/nvim/log | cat -v | stdbuf -o0 grep -v UI | stdbuf -o0 tee -a log

Build with ASAN
---------------

Building Nvim with Clang sanitizers (Address Sanitizer: ASan, Undefined
Behavior Sanitizer: UBSan, Memory Sanitizer: MSan, Thread Sanitizer: TSan) is
a good way to catch undefined behavior, leaks and other errors as soon as they
happen.  It's significantly faster than Valgrind.

Requires clang 3.4 or later, and `llvm-symbolizer` must be in `$PATH`:

    clang --version

Build Nvim with sanitizer instrumentation (choose one):

    CC=clang make CMAKE_EXTRA_FLAGS="-DENABLE_ASAN_UBSAN=ON"
    CC=clang make CMAKE_EXTRA_FLAGS="-DENABLE_MSAN=ON"
    CC=clang make CMAKE_EXTRA_FLAGS="-DENABLE_TSAN=ON"

Create a directory to store logs:

    mkdir -p "$HOME/logs"

Configure the sanitizer(s) via these environment variables:

    # Change to detect_leaks=1 to detect memory leaks (slower, noisier).
    export ASAN_OPTIONS="detect_leaks=0:log_path=$HOME/logs/asan"
    # Show backtraces in the logs.
    export MSAN_OPTIONS="log_path=${HOME}/logs/msan"
    export TSAN_OPTIONS="log_path=${HOME}/logs/tsan"

Logs will be written to `${HOME}/logs/*san.PID` then.

For more information: https://github.com/google/sanitizers/wiki/SanitizerCommonFlags

Reproducible build
------------------

To make a reproducible build of Nvim, set cmake variable `LUA_GEN_PRG` to
a LuaJIT binary built with `LUAJIT_SECURITY_PRN=0`. See commit
cb757f2663e6950e655c6306d713338dfa66b18d.

Debug: Performance
------------------

### Profiling (easy)

For debugging performance bottlenecks in any code, there is a simple (and very
effective) approach:

1. Run the slow code in a loop.
2. Break execution ~5 times and save the stacktrace.
3. The cause of the bottleneck will (almost always) appear in most of the stacktraces.

### Profiling (fancy)

For more advanced profiling, consider `perf` + `flamegraph`.

### USDT profiling (powerful)

Or you can use USDT probes via `NVIM_PROBE` ([#12036](https://github.com/neovim/neovim/pull/12036)).

> USDT is basically a way to define stable probe points in userland binaries.
> The benefit of bcc is the ability to define logic to go along with the probe
> points.

Tools:
- bpftrace provides an awk-like language to the kernel bytecode, BPF.
- BCC provides a subset of C. Provides more complex logic than bpftrace, but takes a bit more effort.

Example using bpftrace to track slow vim functions, and print out any files
that were opened during the trace. At the end, it prints a histogram of
function timing:

    #!/usr/bin/env bpftrace

    BEGIN {
      @depth = -1;
    }

    tracepoint:sched:sched_process_fork /@pidmap[args->parent_pid]/ {
      @pidmap[args->child_pid] = 1;
    }

    tracepoint:sched:sched_process_exit /@pidmap[args->pid]/ {
      delete(@pidmap[args->pid]);
    }

    usdt:build/bin/nvim:neovim:eval__call_func__entry {
        @pidmap[pid] = 1;
        @depth++;
        @funcentry[@depth] = nsecs;
    }

    usdt:build/bin/nvim:neovim:eval__call_func__return {
        $func = str(arg0);
        $msecs = (nsecs - @funcentry[@depth]) / 1000000;

        @time_histo = hist($msecs);

        if ($msecs >= 1000) {
          printf("%u ms for %s\n", $msecs, $func);
          print(@files);
        }

        clear(@files);
        delete(@funcentry[@depth]);
        @depth--;
    }

    tracepoint:syscalls:sys_enter_open,
    tracepoint:syscalls:sys_enter_openat {
      if (@pidmap[pid] == 1 && @depth >= 0) {
        @files[str(args->filename)] = count();
      }
    }

    END {
      clear(@depth);
    }

    $ sudo bpftrace funcslower.bt
    1527 ms for Slower
    @files[/usr/lib/libstdc++.so.6]: 2
    @files[/etc/fish/config.fish]: 2
    <snip>

    ^C
    @time_histo:
    [0]                71430 |@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@|
    [1]                  346 |                                                    |
    [2, 4)               208 |                                                    |
    [4, 8)                91 |                                                    |
    [8, 16)               22 |                                                    |
    [16, 32)              85 |                                                    |
    [32, 64)               7 |                                                    |
    [64, 128)              0 |                                                    |
    [128, 256)             0 |                                                    |
    [256, 512)             6 |                                                    |
    [512, 1K)              1 |                                                    |
    [1K, 2K)               5 |                                                    |

Debug: TUI
----------

### TUI troubleshoot

Nvim logs its internal terminfo state at 'verbose' level 3.  This makes it
possible to see exactly what terminfo values Nvim is using on any system.

    nvim -V3log

### TUI Debugging with gdb/lldb

Launching the nvim TUI involves two processes, one for main editor state and one
for rendering the TUI. Both of these processes use the nvim binary, so somewhat
confusingly setting a breakpoint in either will generally succeed but may not be
hit depending on which process the breakpoints were set in.

To debug the main process, you can debug the nvim binary with the `--headless`
flag which does not launch the TUI and will allow you to set breakpoints in code
not related to TUI rendering like so:

    lldb -- ./build/bin/nvim --headless --listen ~/.cache/nvim/debug-server.pipe

While in lldb, enter `run`. You can then attach to the headless process in a
new terminal window to interact with the editor like so:

    ./build/bin/nvim --remote-ui --server ~/.cache/nvim/debug-server.pipe

Conversely for debugging TUI rendering, you can start a headless process and
debug the remote-ui process multiple times without losing editor state.

For details on using nvim-dap and automatically debugging the child (main)
process, see
[here](https://zignar.net/2023/02/17/debugging-neovim-with-neovim-and-nvim-dap/)

### TUI trace

The ancient `script` command is still the "state of the art" for tracing
terminal behavior. The libvterm `vterm-dump` utility formats the result for
human-readability.

Record a Nvim terminal session and format it with `vterm-dump`:

    script foo
    ./build/bin/nvim -u NONE
    # Exit the script session with CTRL-d

    # Use `vterm-dump` utility to format the result.
    ./.deps/usr/bin/vterm-dump foo > bar

Then you can compare `bar` with another session, to debug TUI behavior.

### TUI redraw

Set the 'writedelay' and 'redrawdebug' options to see where and when the UI is painted.

    :set writedelay=50 rdb=compositor

Note: neovim uses an internal screenbuffer to only send minimal updates even if a large
region is repainted internally. To also highlight excess internal redraws, use

    :set writedelay=50 rdb=compositor,nodelta

### Terminal reference

- `man terminfo`
- http://bazaar.launchpad.net/~libvterm/libvterm/trunk/view/head:/doc/seqs.txt
- http://invisible-island.net/xterm/ctlseqs/ctlseqs.html

Data structures
---------------

Buffer text is stored as a tree of line segments, defined in [memline.c](https://github.com/neovim/neovim/blob/v0.9.5/src/nvim/memline.c#L8-L35).
The central idea is found in [ml_find_line](https://github.com/neovim/neovim/blob/v0.9.5/src/nvim/memline.c#L2800).

Nvim lifecycle
--------------

Following describes how Nvim processes input.

Consider a typical Vim-like editing session:

01. Vim displays the welcome screen
02. User types: `:`
03. Vim enters command-line mode
04. User types: `edit README.txt<CR>`
05. Vim opens the file and returns to normal mode
06. User types: `G`
07. Vim navigates to the end of the file
09. User types: `5`
10. Vim enters count-pending mode
11. User types: `d`
12. Vim enters operator-pending mode
13. User types: `w`
14. Vim deletes 5 words
15. User types: `g`
16. Vim enters the "g command mode"
17. User types: `g`
18. Vim goes to the beginning of the file
19. User types: `i`
20. Vim enters insert mode
21. User types: `word<ESC>`
22. Vim inserts "word" at the beginning and returns to normal mode

Note that we split user actions into sequences of inputs that change the state
of the editor. While there's no documentation about a "g command mode" (step
16), internally it is implemented similarly to "operator-pending mode".

From this we can see that Vim has the behavior of an input-driven state machine
(more specifically, a pushdown automaton since it requires a stack for
transitioning back from states). Assuming each state has a callback responsible
for handling keys, this pseudocode represents the main program loop:

```py
def state_enter(state_callback, data):
  do
    key = readkey()                 # read a key from the user
  while state_callback(data, key)   # invoke the callback for the current state
```

That is, each state is entered by calling `state_enter` and passing a
state-specific callback and data. Here is a high-level pseudocode for a program
that implements something like the workflow described above:

```py
def main()
  state_enter(normal_state, {}):

def normal_state(data, key):
  if key == ':':
    state_enter(command_line_state, {})
  elif key == 'i':
    state_enter(insert_state, {})
  elif key == 'd':
    state_enter(delete_operator_state, {})
  elif key == 'g':
    state_enter(g_command_state, {})
  elif is_number(key):
    state_enter(get_operator_count_state, {'count': key})
  elif key == 'G'
    jump_to_eof()
  return true

def command_line_state(data, key):
  if key == '<cr>':
    if data['input']:
      execute_ex_command(data['input'])
    return false
  elif key == '<esc>'
    return false

  if not data['input']:
    data['input'] = ''

  data['input'] += key
  return true

def delete_operator_state(data, key):
  count = data['count'] or 1
  if key == 'w':
    delete_word(count)
  elif key == '$':
    delete_to_eol(count)
  return false  # return to normal mode

def g_command_state(data, key):
  if key == 'g':
    go_top()
  elif key == 'v':
    reselect()
  return false  # return to normal mode

def get_operator_count_state(data, key):
  if is_number(key):
    data['count'] += key
    return true
  unshift_key(key)  # return key to the input buffer
  state_enter(delete_operator_state, data)
  return false

def insert_state(data, key):
  if key == '<esc>':
    return false  # exit insert mode
  self_insert(key)
  return true
```

The above gives an idea of how Nvim is organized internally. Some states like
the `g_command_state` or `get_operator_count_state` do not have a dedicated
`state_enter` callback, but are implicitly embedded into other states (this
will change later as we continue the refactoring effort). To start reading the
actual code, here's the recommended order:

1. `state_enter()` function (state.c). This is the actual program loop,
   note that a `VimState` structure is used, which contains function pointers
   for the callback and state data.
2. `main()` function (main.c). After all startup, `normal_enter` is called
   at the end of function to enter normal mode.
3. `normal_enter()` function (normal.c) is a small wrapper for setting
   up the NormalState structure and calling `state_enter`.
4. `normal_check()` function (normal.c) is called before each iteration of
   normal mode.
5. `normal_execute()` function (normal.c) is called when a key is read in normal
   mode.

The basic structure described for normal mode in 3, 4 and 5 is used for other
modes managed by the `state_enter` loop:

- command-line mode: `command_line_{enter,check,execute}()`(`ex_getln.c`)
- insert mode: `insert_{enter,check,execute}()`(`edit.c`)
- terminal mode: `terminal_{enter,execute}()`(`terminal.c`)

## Important variables

The current mode is stored in `State`.  The values it can have are `MODE_NORMAL`,
`MODE_INSERT`, `MODE_CMDLINE`, and a few others.

The current window is `curwin`.  The current buffer is `curbuf`.  These point
to structures with the cursor position in the window, option values, the file
name, etc.

All the global variables are declared in `globals.h`.

### The main loop

The main loop is implemented in state_enter. The basic idea is that Vim waits
for the user to type a character and processes it until another character is
needed.  Thus there are several places where Vim waits for a character to be
typed.  The `vgetc()` function is used for this.  It also handles mapping.

Updating the screen is mostly postponed until a command or a sequence of
commands has finished.  The work is done by `update_screen()`, which calls
`win_update()` for every window, which calls `win_line()` for every line.
See the start of [drawscreen.c](drawscreen.c) for more explanations.

### Command-line mode

When typing a `:`, `normal_cmd()` will call `getcmdline()` to obtain a line with
an Ex command.  `getcmdline()` calls a loop that will handle each typed
character.  It returns when hitting `<CR>` or `<Esc>` or some other character that
ends the command line mode.

### Ex commands

Ex commands are handled by the function `do_cmdline()`.  It does the generic
parsing of the `:` command line and calls `do_one_cmd()` for each separate
command.  It also takes care of while loops.

`do_one_cmd()` parses the range and generic arguments and puts them in the
exarg_t and passes it to the function that handles the command.

The `:` commands are listed in [ex_cmds.lua](ex_cmds.lua).

### Normal mode commands

The Normal mode commands are handled by the `normal_cmd()` function.  It also
handles the optional count and an extra character for some commands.  These
are passed in a `cmdarg_T` to the function that handles the command.

There is a table `nv_cmds` in [normal.c](normal.c) which
lists the first character of every
command.  The second entry of each item is the name of the function that
handles the command.

### Insert mode commands

When doing an `i` or `a` command, `normal_cmd()` will call the `edit()` function.
It contains a loop that waits for the next character and handles it.  It
returns when leaving Insert mode.

### Options

There is a list with all option names in [options.lua](options.lua).

Async event support
-------------------

One of the features Nvim added is the support for handling arbitrary
asynchronous events, which can include:

- RPC requests
- job control callbacks
- timers

Nvim implements this functionality by entering another event loop while
waiting for characters, so instead of:

```py
def state_enter(state_callback, data):
  do
    key = readkey()                 # read a key from the user
  while state_callback(data, key)   # invoke the callback for the current state
```

Nvim program loop is more like:

```py
def state_enter(state_callback, data):
  do
    event = read_next_event()       # read an event from the operating system
  while state_callback(data, event) # invoke the callback for the current state
```

where `event` is something the operating system delivers to us, including (but
not limited to) user input. The `read_next_event()` part is internally
implemented by libuv, the platform layer used by Nvim.

Since Nvim inherited its code from Vim, the states are not prepared to receive
"arbitrary events", so we use a special key to represent those (When a state
receives an "arbitrary event", it normally doesn't do anything other than
update the screen).

Main loop
---------

The `Loop` structure (which describes `main_loop`) abstracts multiple queues
into one loop:

    uv_loop_t uv;
    MultiQueue *events;
    MultiQueue *thread_events;
    MultiQueue *fast_events;

`loop_poll_events` checks `Loop.uv` and `Loop.fast_events` whenever Nvim is
idle, and also at `os_breakcheck` intervals.

MultiQueue is cool because you can attach throw-away "child queues" trivially.
For example `do_os_system()` does this (for every spawned process!) to
automatically route events onto the `main_loop`:

    Process *proc = &uvproc.process;
    MultiQueue *events = multiqueue_new_child(main_loop.events);
    proc->events = events;