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bug: E19 Mark has invalid line number when ctrl-o #625

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bug: E19 Mark has invalid line number when ctrl-o#625
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Description

@gzbfgjf2
gzbfgjf2
opened on May 12, 2025

Did you check the docs and existing issues?

  • I have read the docs
  • I have searched the existing issues

Neovim version (nvim -v)

NVIM v0.11.0 Build type: Release

Operating system/version

NixOS 25.05.20250412.2631b0b (Warbler)

Describe the bug

When navigating directories via the - key creates entries in the jump list. After visiting several directories this way, then quitting and relaunching Neovim, attempting to navigate backward using <C-o> can sometimes trigger the following error:

E19: Mark has invalid line number

This error does not occur consistently. It seems the visiting more directories before relaunching will make it more possible to encounter the error.

Observations

  • Inspecting the jump list (:jumps) after restarting Neovim shows that some entries corresponding to oil:// buffers have line numbers that exceed the number of items in the respective directory—even when all hidden items are shown (the wrong line number will increase further if the hidden items are shown).
  • It appears that the line numbers associated with these jump entries are incorrect or become corrupted after restarting Neovim. They are fine before quiting Neovim.

Related issues

What is the severity of this bug?

minor (annoyance)

Steps To Reproduce

  1. mkdir -p a/{b,c,d}
  2. nvim -u repro.lua
  3. "-" to go to current directories
  4. navigate to some directories with "enter", "-" and "jk"
  5. close neovim and re-open neovim
  6. ctrl-o to go to previous directories handled by oil oil:///....
  7. E19 error will appear

Expected Behavior

ctrl-o till the end of the jumplist without any errors

Directory structure

.repro
repro.lua
a
a/b
a/c
a/d

Repro

-- save as repro.lua
-- run with nvim -u repro.lua
-- DO NOT change the paths
local root = vim.fn.fnamemodify("./.repro", ":p")

-- set stdpaths to use .repro
for _, name in ipairs({ "config", "data", "state", "runtime", "cache" }) do
  vim.env[("XDG_%s_HOME"):format(name:upper())] = root .. "/" .. name
end

-- bootstrap lazy
local lazypath = root .. "/plugins/lazy.nvim"
if not vim.loop.fs_stat(lazypath) then
  vim.fn.system({
    "git",
    "clone",
    "--filter=blob:none",
    "--single-branch",
    "https://github.com/folke/lazy.nvim.git",
    lazypath,
  })
end
vim.opt.runtimepath:prepend(lazypath)

-- install plugins
local plugins = {
  "folke/tokyonight.nvim",
  {
        "stevearc/oil.nvim",
        config = function()
            require("oil").setup({
              -- add any needed settings here
  		cleanup_delay_ms = false,
		keymaps = {
		  ["="] = "actions.cd",
		  ["`"] = false,
		  ["<C-v>"] = "actions.select_vsplit",
		  ["<C-s>"] = false,
		  ["-"] = { "actions.parent", mode = "n" },
		  ["_"] = { "actions.open_cwd", mode = "n" },
  },
            })
        end,
  },
  -- add any other plugins here
}
require("lazy").setup(plugins, {
  root = root .. "/plugins",
})

vim.cmd.colorscheme("tokyonight")
-- add anything else here
vim.keymap.set("n", "-", "<CMD>Oil<CR>", { desc = "Open parent directory" })

Did you check the bug with a clean config?

  • I have confirmed that the bug reproduces with nvim -u repro.lua using the repro.lua file above.

Activity

  1. gzbfgjf2
    added
    bugSomething isn't working
    on May 12, 2025

  2. necronyxon commented on Feb 16, 2026

    @necronyxon
    necronyxon
    on Feb 16, 2026

    You can open Oil in a floating window and set it to fill the screen, so that it looks mostly just like a normal Oil buffer and the jumplist doesn't get tainted.
    The only downside is not being able to jump to/from oil via the jumplist, but at least for me that is not a problem.

    I don't know if there's a better way to do it, but here's a snippet of my config with only the relevant options:

    local oil = require("oil")

oil.setup({
  float = {
    padding = 0, -- fill entire screen
    ---@param conf vim.api.keyset.win_config
    override = function(conf)
      conf.border = "solid" -- remove border color
      return conf
    end,
  },
})

vim.keymap.set("n", "-", function()
  oil.open_float(nil, nil, function()
    local winnr = vim.api.nvim_get_current_win()
    local bufnr = vim.api.nvim_win_get_buf(winnr)
    -- keep two lines for command line and statusline
    vim.api.nvim_win_set_height(winnr, vim.api.nvim_win_get_height(winnr) - 2)
    -- disable jumplist keybinds
    vim.keymap.set("n", "<C-o>", "<Nop>", { buffer = bufnr })
    vim.keymap.set("n", "<C-i>", "<Nop>", { buffer = bufnr })

    local autocmd_group = vim.api.nvim_create_augroup("rafa/close_oil_window", { clear = true })
    vim.api.nvim_create_autocmd({ "BufEnter" }, {
      group = autocmd_group,
      desc = "Close oil window before opening a new buffer",
      callback = function(args)
        if not vim.startswith(args.file, "oil://") then
          if vim.api.nvim_win_is_valid(winnr) then
            vim.api.nvim_win_close(winnr, true)
            vim.api.nvim_set_current_buf(args.buf)
            vim.api.nvim_clear_autocmds({ group = autocmd_group })
          end
        end
      end,
    })
  end)
end, { desc = "[OIL] Open parent directory in floating window" })
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