vimtex + nvim-cmp crash when typing *some* commands

[dajuno]

Description

Hi all,
the good: latex completion using nvim-cmp seems to be working generally. But when I type some commands, nvim and it's containing terminal crash.

For example, in the below MWE, typing \be (e.g., for \begin or \beta) will show completion for commands starting with be, then crash, making vimtex+nvim-cmp impossible to use together. Other latex commands are fine.

The crash always happens when typing \be after \begin{document}, but only about 50% of the time when typed in the preamble. Super weird.

Not sure if related, but with the setup below entering insert mode (by hitting i, a, o, etc) gives this error message:

E5108: Error executing lua [string "v:lua"]:1: attempt to index field 'utils' (a nil value)                  
stack traceback:
        [string "v:lua"]:1: in main chunk

This does not happen with my full config, where the crashes happen, too (and for more commands! e.g. \au, \da, ...)

Steps to reproduce

1. Run nvim -u minimal.vim minimal.tex
2. Type in the document body: \be
3. Observe crash or repeat

minimal.tex

\documentclass{minimal}
\begin{document}
Test
\end{document}

minimal.vim

call plug#begin('~/.config/nvim/plugged')
    Plug 'hrsh7th/cmp-omni'
    Plug 'hrsh7th/nvim-cmp'
    Plug 'lervag/vimtex'
call plug#end()

lua << EOF
-- Adjust VimTeX config
vim.g.vimtex_view_method = "zathura"
vim.g.vimtex_syntax_enabled = 0
vim.g.vimtex_quickfix_enabled = 0

-- Setup nvim-cmp
cmp = require("cmp")
cmp.setup {
  sources = cmp.config.sources {
    { name = "omni", },
  },
}
EOF

Expected behavior

Should not crash.

Actual behavior

1. error message whenever entering nvim's insert mode:

   E5108: Error executing lua [string "v:lua"]:1: attempt to index field 'utils' (a nil value)                  
   stack traceback:
           [string "v:lua"]:1: in main chunk
   

2. nvim + terminal crash

Do you use a latexmkrc file?

No

VimtexInfo

System info:
  OS: Linux 6.2.1-arch1-1
  Vim version: NVIM v0.8.3
  Has clientserver: true
  Servername: /run/user/1000/nvim.72546.0

VimTeX project: minimal
  base: minimal.tex
  root: /home/david/mwe_tex
  tex: /home/david/mwe_tex/minimal.tex
  main parser: current file verified
  document class: minimal
  compiler: latexmk
    engine: -pdf
    options:
      -verbose
      -file-line-error
      -synctex=1
      -interaction=nonstopmode
    callback: 1
    continuous: 1
    executable: latexmk
  viewer: Zathura
    xwin id: 0

[lervag]

Interesting. On my end, this does not lead to a crash, but I do get the error. I use this slightly different minimal.vim (which does not depend on vim-plug):

set runtimepath^=~/.local/plugged/vimtex
set runtimepath^=~/.local/plugged/cmp-omni/
set runtimepath^=~/.local/plugged/nvim-cmp/
filetype plugin on

lua << EOF
cmp = require("cmp")
cmp.setup {
  sources = cmp.config.sources {
    { name = "omni", },
  },
}
EOF

Steps required on my side:

• nvim --clean -u minimal.vim minimal.tex
• Type i to enter insert mode - the error appears.

I'm on neovim version v0.9.0-dev-1059+g2c9fbe34b2.

The error message is unknown to me, and I believe this may be an error with cmp-omni. Perhaps @hrsh7th would be friendly enough to join the discussion and help us figure it out?

---

By the way: please note that, IMHO, VimTeX syntax is better than Treesitter for LaTeX. Perhaps you disable VimTeX syntax because you've tried both and prefer Treesitter, but I do observe that a lot of people simply assume that Treesitter is better. Treesitter is awesome, but for some languages, like LaTeX, it is still a lot of work to make it as good as e.g. VimTeXs syntax scripts. -- Also, VimTeX has a few features that depend on the VimTeX syntax scripts.

[hrsh7th]

You should use local cmp = require('cmp') instead of cmp = require('cmp').

[lervag]

Yes, you are right - that seems to fix the issue. Thanks!

[hrsh7th]

The reproducible config is very helpful. Thanks!

[lervag]

No problem. I'm slightly annoyed that I didn't immediately recognize the missing "local" there... :p

[dajuno]

Thanks for your quick replies.
The cmp config error was copied from the docs ;)

vimtex/doc/vimtex.txt

Line 4321 in 640ffa4

cmp = require('cmp')

With your minimal.vim (only changed the paths), no crashes but completion does not work at all:

set runtimepath^=~/.config/nvim/plugged/vimtex
set runtimepath^=~/.config/nvim/plugged/cmp-omni/
set runtimepath^=~/.config/nvim/plugged/nvim-cmp/
filetype plugin on

lua << EOF
local cmp = require("cmp")
cmp.setup {
  sources = cmp.config.sources {
    { name = "omni", },
  },
}
EOF

Completion works when I use plugged -- here a more minimal config -- but it still crashes as before:

call plug#begin('~/.config/nvim/plugged')
    Plug 'lervag/vimtex'
    Plug 'hrsh7th/cmp-omni'
    Plug 'hrsh7th/nvim-cmp'
call plug#end()

lua << EOF
local cmp = require("cmp")
cmp.setup {
  sources = cmp.config.sources {
    { name = "omni", },
  },
}
EOF

My config folder is completely empty except for plugged containing the 3 plugins (up to date).
I updated neovim to v0.9.0-dev-1094+ga0292b4e5f.

---

The vimtex config was copied from another issue, in real life I'm already using vimtex syntax highlights instead of treesitter :)

[lervag]

Ah, sorry: here's an updated minimal example:

set runtimepath^=~/.config/nvim/plugged/vimtex
set runtimepath^=~/.config/nvim/plugged/nvim-cmp
set runtimepath^=~/.config/nvim/plugged/cmp-omni
set runtimepath+=~/.config/nvim/plugged/cmp-omni/after
filetype plugin on

lua << EOF
local cmp = require("cmp")
cmp.setup {
  sources = cmp.config.sources {
    { name = "omni", },
  },
}
EOF

silent edit test.tex

If you start nvim --clean -u minimal.vim then immediately start typing, then things should work. At least, they work on my side.

[lervag]

And thanks for pointing out the error in the docs!

[dajuno]

Great, your last example works. I'll try to "rebuild" from there, without vim-plug.

Thanks for the instant support and all your work here!

[lervag]

Notice that the --clean is important when testing; if you do nvim -u minimal.vim then you will also load your personal customizations from ~/.config/nvim/plugin* and similar. You can check by inspecting :scriptnames with the different variants.

Also, glad to help! Let me know if you need more help.

[dajuno]

I'd like to share some intermediate results: I tried adding packer.nvim to the MWE:

vim.cmd [[packadd packer.nvim]]

require('packer').startup(function(use)
    use 'wbthomason/packer'
    use 'hrsh7th/cmp-omni'
    use 'hrsh7th/nvim-cmp'
    use 'lervag/vimtex'
end)

local cmp = require("cmp")
cmp.setup {
  sources = cmp.config.sources {
    { name = "omni", },
  },
}

Steps:

• clean install -> delete ~/.config/nvim and ~/.local/share/nvim/site/*
• install packer git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/wbthomason/packer.nvim ~/.local/share/nvim/site/pack/packer/start/packer.nvim
• nvim minimal.tex -> :PackerInstall, quit
• nvim minimal.tex
• insert \be -> crash!

However: So far I've been using urxvt (rxvt-unicode v9.31) terminal. I just tried XTerm without any issue, no crashes. urxvt still works if I use --clean and the runtime path method. Very strange.

BTW, I haven't seen any crashes with anything other than latex.

Any ideas how to proceed? Thank you!

[lervag]

I'd like to share some intermediate results: I tried adding packer.nvim to the MWE:

Do I understand correctly that the minimal example where we just manually set the runtimepath now works as expected for you in all cases? And that the errors reappear when you add packer or vim-plug to the mix?

Steps: …

I assume that the second step is to add a new ~/.config/nvim folder and init.lua with the posted contents?

However: So far I've been using urxvt (rxvt-unicode v9.31) terminal. I just tried XTerm without any issue, no crashes. urxvt still works if I use --clean and the runtime path method. Very strange.

When things crash, do you see any error messages? The error message from earlier, is that always gone now?

Are you observing a difference between running with nvim --clean -u test.vim and nvim -u test.vim?