Reporting an issue

First of all, make sure this actually is a problem in Vim. Many times it may look like it, but is actually a mistake you make, a wrong configuration or setup, or intended behavior. To rule out most things start Vim with the "--clean" argument. That way your vimrc and viminfo will not be used. Then you can add settings, load a plugin, or anything else you need to reproduce the problem. Use a Vim script for this, so that others can try to reproduce the problem without much effort.

If you are not sure it is a Vim problem or not, a good place to ask is on the Stackexchange site. It's a bit like stackoverflow but for users.

Reporting an issue is done at Github. Please use one of the templates and take time to read the instructions and follow them.

We do like to get valid issues, so that we can make Vim better. However, the quality of issues varies widely, and bad ones are a waste of time and make the real issues harder to find. Therefore bad issues are closed quickly.

If your issue gets closed, one of the following reasons may be mentioned. Do not be upset, you can always report the issue again. But then please do follow the guidelines!

• Not using "--clean". Very often your option values, plugins and environment interfere with what happens in Vim. You need to use "vim --clean" to rule this out. If the issue is missing this and the reported problem is likely to be caused in something in the setup, then it will be closed quickly.
• Dumping. When the reporter of the issue does not take effort to properly describe the problem and expects the reader to figure out what is wrong. We expect the reporter to take time to properly describe the issue. It should not be a puzzle for the reader.
• Not a Vim problem. When the problem is most likely not something that can be fixed in Vim. For example when a plugin is used and it looks like the problem is caused by that plugin.
• User error. When it looks likely that the problem is caused by typing the wrong command or ignoring what is documented. Refer to the Stackexchange link above to discuss the problem before reporting it as an issue.
• Not reproducible. When others try to reproduce the problem but are not able to. This may be for several reasons: The reproduction steps are incomplete, the problem was already fixed in a newer Vim version, etc.
• No response. When questions are asked about the issue and not answered.
• Not comprehensible. When there is insufficient or confusing information about what the issue really is. Also when only providing a screenshot without reproduction steps. Or some ASCII cinema where one has to guess how it was made.
• Not in English. Even though we do try to support users all over the world, Vim developers use English for communication about problems and fixes. If you are not able to create an issue in English, please find someone to help you with that. You can use an automatic translation for simple things, but that often doesn't work when it gets a bit more complicated.