Bug: `vim.system():wait()` fails with "bad argument #1 to 'wait'" on Neovim 0.11.5

[rafaelbreno]

Description

When opening nvim-tree in a git repository on Neovim 0.11.5, the git integration fails with an error in lua/nvim-tree/git/utils.lua. The vim.system(cmd):wait() call on line 14 throws an error because :wait() receives nil instead of the expected number.

Neovim version

NVIM v0.11.5

nvim-tree version

Commit: 5757bcf0447d22bc5c59b28da2824c3b
Message: fix(#3248): bookmark filter shows contents of marked directories (#3249)

Minimal config

vim.g.loaded_netrw = 1
vim.g.loaded_netrwPlugin = 1

require("nvim-tree").setup({})

Steps to reproduce

1. Open Neovim 0.11.5 inside a git repository
2. Run :NvimTreeToggle

Error message

Error executing Lua callback: /usr/local/share/nvim/runtime/lua/vim/_system.lua:87: bad argument #1 to 'wait' (number expected, got nil)
stack traceback:
        [C]: in function 'wait'
        /usr/local/share/nvim/runtime/lua/vim/_system.lua:87: in function 'wait'
        ...nvim-tree.lua/lua/nvim-tree/git/utils.lua:14: in function 'system'
        ...nvim-tree.lua/lua/nvim-tree/git/utils.lua:32: in function 'get_toplevel'
        ...nvim-tree.lua/lua/nvim-tree/git/init.lua:197: in function 'get_toplevel'
        ...nvim-tree.lua/lua/nvim-tree/git/init.lua:274: in function 'load_project'
        ...nvim-tree.lua/lua/nvim-tree/explorer/init.lua:350: in function '_load'
        ...nvim-tree.lua/lua/nvim-tree/explorer/init.lua:72: in function 'new'
        ...nvim-tree.lua/lua/nvim-tree/classic.lua:82: in function <...nvim-tree.lua/lua/nvim-tree/classic.lua:80>
        ...nvim-tree.lua/lua/nvim-tree/core.lua:28: in function 'init'
        ...nvim-tree.lua/lua/nvim-tree/lib.lua:106: in function 'open'
        ...nvim-tree.lua/lua/nvim-tree/actions/tree/toggle.lua:48: in function 'toggle'
        ...nvim-tree.lua/lua/nvim-tree/commands.lua:33: in function <...nvim-tree.lua/lua/nvim-tree/commands.lua:32>

Expected behavior

NvimTree should open normally with git status indicators displayed.

Workaround

Disabling git integration resolves the issue:

require("nvim-tree").setup({
  git = {
    enable = false,
  },
})

Possible fix

The issue is in lua/nvim-tree/git/utils.lua line 14. Adding an explicit timeout to :wait() seems to resolve the issue:

-- Current code (line 14):
local obj = vim.system(cmd):wait()

-- Suggested fix:
local obj = vim.system(cmd):wait(5000)

It appears that in Neovim 0.11.x, vim.system():wait() without arguments may behave differently than in 0.10.x.

Neovim version

NVIM v0.11.5
Build type: RelWithDebInfo
LuaJIT 2.1.1741730670

Operating system and version

Linux 6.18.5-arch1-1

Windows variant

No response

nvim-tree version

5757bcf

Clean room replication

vim.g.loaded_netrw = 1
vim.g.loaded_netrwPlugin = 1

require("nvim-tree").setup({})

Steps to reproduce

1. Open Neovim 0.11.5 inside a git repository
2. Run :NvimTreeToggle

Expected behavior

NvimTree should open normally with git status indicators displayed.

Workaround is to disable git:

require("nvim-tree").setup({
  git = {
    enable = false,
  },
})

Actual behavior

Throws error:

Error executing Lua callback: /usr/local/share/nvim/runtime/lua/vim/_system.lua:87: bad argument #1 to 'wait' (number expected, got nil)
stack traceback:
        [C]: in function 'wait'
        /usr/local/share/nvim/runtime/lua/vim/_system.lua:87: in function 'wait'
        ...nvim-tree.lua/lua/nvim-tree/git/utils.lua:14: in function 'system'
        ...nvim-tree.lua/lua/nvim-tree/git/utils.lua:32: in function 'get_toplevel'
        ...nvim-tree.lua/lua/nvim-tree/git/init.lua:197: in function 'get_toplevel'
        ...nvim-tree.lua/lua/nvim-tree/git/init.lua:274: in function 'load_project'
        ...nvim-tree.lua/lua/nvim-tree/explorer/init.lua:350: in function '_load'
        ...nvim-tree.lua/lua/nvim-tree/explorer/init.lua:72: in function 'new'
        ...nvim-tree.lua/lua/nvim-tree/classic.lua:82: in function <...nvim-tree.lua/lua/nvim-tree/classic.lua:80>
        ...nvim-tree.lua/lua/nvim-tree/core.lua:28: in function 'init'
        ...nvim-tree.lua/lua/nvim-tree/lib.lua:106: in function 'open'
        ...nvim-tree.lua/lua/nvim-tree/actions/tree/toggle.lua:48: in function 'toggle'
        ...nvim-tree.lua/lua/nvim-tree/commands.lua:33: in function <...nvim-tree.lua/lua/nvim-tree/commands.lua:32>

[rafaelbreno]

Possible fix

At lua/nvim-tree/git/utils.lua:14:

-- Current code (line 14):
local obj = vim.system(cmd):wait()

-- Suggested fix:
local obj = vim.system(cmd):wait(5000)

I tried it in my setup and it seems to fix the problem, but I'm not sure how that would be handled by older NeoVim versions

[alex-courtis]

Many thanks for finding this one and digging into all the details.

The fix sounds good, we could use the :help nvim_tree.config.git {timeout}

RE older neovim versions I reckon we're OK as vim.system(cmd):wait() is called only for v0.10 +
The vim.SystemObj class hasn't changed since v0.10:
https://github.com/neovim/neovim/blob/release-0.10/runtime/lua/vim/_system.lua#L59-L67

As usual, pull requests are most gratefully appreciated, see

• CONTRIBUTING.md
• Wiki: Development

[alex-courtis]

Is the repo you are testing very large? Can we easily replicate and verify a fix?

[SethArchambault]

I can confirm this issue is happening (not surprisingly) on nvim 11.6 as well on macos 15.7.3 (24G419).

[alex-courtis]

I've tried to replicate this with no success.

I'm able to see an exception if I pass a string "foo" to wait, however empty or nil is fine.

E5108: Error executing lua: /usr/share/nvim/runtime/lua/vim/_system.lua:90: bad argument #1 to 'wait' (number expected, got string)

nvim 0.11.6 indicates that this is an optional parameter for :wait() https://github.com/neovim/neovim/blob/e732cbe36c803aaf6c9ba6d42a36b7341c6c26da/runtime/lua/vim/_system.lua#L85

It calls vim.wait, for which timeout is mandatory parameter. However, that should default to the SystemState timeout or MAX_TIMEOUT

Maybe an nvim bug? Needs further research.

[alex-courtis]

utils should_show_untracked and utils get_toplevel are the only users of utils system.

There is no timeout handling for those functions. It should be added as per GitRunner

[alex-courtis]

I've merged the simple fix to master. Please advise if the problem still occurs.