feat(vim): yank to system clipboard (#5463) by LioSergent · Pull Request #9733 · marimo-team/marimo

LioSergent · 2026-05-30T15:50:56Z

Add support for set clipboard=unnamedplus (and clipboard=unnamed) in vimrc. Yanking in vim normal mode now writes to the system clipboard; p/P reads from the system clipboard before pasting.

📝 Summary

Closes #5463

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✅ Merge Checklist

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Documentation has been updated where applicable, including docstrings for API changes.
Tests have been added for the changes made.

Add support for `set clipboard=unnamedplus` (and `clipboard=unnamed`) in vimrc. Yanking in vim normal mode now writes to the system clipboard; `p`/`P` reads from the system clipboard before pasting.

vercel · 2026-05-30T15:51:01Z

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kirangadhave · 2026-06-01T16:45:17Z

@cubic-dev-ai

cubic-dev-ai · 2026-06-01T16:45:35Z

@cubic-dev-ai

@kirangadhave I have started the AI code review. It will take a few minutes to complete.

Copilot

Pull request overview

This PR adds limited support for :set clipboard=unnamedplus / clipboard=unnamed in the frontend vim keymap integration so that yanks sync into the system clipboard and p/P pulls from the system clipboard before pasting.

Changes:

Extend vimrc parsing to recognize the set command with an option argument.
Apply set clipboard=unnamedplus|unnamed at runtime by enabling clipboard synchronization with the vim unnamed register.
Intercept p/P to read the system clipboard into the unnamed register before delegating to the vim key handler.

Reviewed changes

Copilot reviewed 3 out of 3 changed files in this pull request and generated 4 comments.

File	Description
frontend/src/core/codemirror/keymaps/vimrc.ts	Adds `set` as a known vimrc command with an `option` argument.
frontend/src/core/codemirror/keymaps/vim.ts	Enables clipboard sync via register patching and intercepts `p/P` to paste from system clipboard.
frontend/src/core/codemirror/keymaps/tests/vimrc.test.ts	Adds tests for parsing `set clipboard=unnamedplus` and erroring on `set` with no args.

+  unnamedRegister.setText = (text, linewise, blockwise) => {
+    origSetText(text, linewise, blockwise);
+    if (text) {
+      navigator.clipboard?.writeText(text).catch(() => {});
+    }
+  };


+  unnamedRegister.pushText = (text, linewise) => {
+    origPushText(text, linewise);
+    if (text) {
+      navigator.clipboard
+        ?.writeText(unnamedRegister.toString())
+        .catch(() => {});
+    }
+  };


+  const origSet = _origSetTextFn;
+  navigator.clipboard
+    ?.readText()
+    .then((text) => {
+      if (text) {
+        origSet(text, false, false);
+      }
+      Vim.handleKey(cm, key, "mapping");
+    })
+    .catch(() => {
+      // Clipboard unavailable — fall back to whatever is in the register.
+      Vim.handleKey(cm, key, "mapping");
+    });
+  return true;


kirangadhave · 2026-06-02T16:27:06Z

+  const isFirefox = /firefox/i.test(navigator.userAgent);
+  Logger.log(
+    `[vim] clipboard sync (unnamedplus) enabled${isFirefox ? " — Firefox will show a paste-permission popup on each p/P; workaround: set dom.events.testing.asyncClipboard=true in about:config (at your own risk)" : ""}`,
+  );


I agree with this comment. We should just say that Firefox may ask for permissions. Users can figure out how to workaround it if they want. We don't want to prompt them on bypassing clipboard security.

cubic-dev-ai

1 issue found across 3 files

Prompt for AI agents (unresolved issues)


Check if these issues are valid — if so, understand the root cause of each and fix them. If appropriate, use sub-agents to investigate and fix each issue separately.


<file name="frontend/src/core/codemirror/keymaps/vim.ts">

<violation number="1" location="frontend/src/core/codemirror/keymaps/vim.ts:334">
P2: `p`/`P` can paste stale register contents when system clipboard text is empty because empty clipboard values are ignored.</violation>
</file>

Architecture diagram

sequenceDiagram
    participant User as User
    participant VimRC as .vimrc File
    participant VimParser as vimrc Parser
    participant VimExt as Vim Extension
    participant CM as CodeMirror
    participant Register as CodeMirror Register
    participant Clipboard as System Clipboard (navigator.clipboard)

    User->>VimRC: writes "set clipboard=unnamedplus"
    VimExt->>VimParser: parseVimrc()
    VimParser-->>VimExt: commands [{name:"set", args:{option:"clipboard=unnamedplus"}}]
    VimExt->>VimExt: enableVimClipboardSync()
    Note over VimExt: Patches registerController.unnamedRegister.setText() and .pushText()
    VimExt->>Register: replaces setText/pushText with wrapper
    Register-->>VimExt: patched

    Note over User,VimExt: Yank in normal mode

    User->>Vim: executes y (yank) in normal mode
    Vim->>Register: setText("selected-text")
    Register->>Register: origSetText("selected-text")
    Register->>Clipboard: navigator.clipboard.writeText("selected-text")
    Clipboard-->>Register: ok (async)

    Note over User,VimExt: Paste in normal mode (p/P)

    User->>Vim: presses p (paste)
    Vim->>CM: interceptVimPaste(view, "p")
    alt clipboard sync enabled AND in normal mode AND no explicit register
        CM->>Clipboard: navigator.clipboard.readText()
        Clipboard-->>CM: "clipboard-text" (async)
        CM->>Register: origSetText("clipboard-text", false, false)
        CM->>Vim: Vim.handleKey(cm, "p", "mapping")
        Vim->>Register: reads unnamedRegister
        Register-->>Vim: "clipboard-text"
        Vim-->>User: pastes content from system clipboard
    else clipboard sync disabled OR explicit register OR not normal mode
        CM-->>Vim: returns false (fallback to normal vim paste)
        Vim->>Register: reads unnamedRegister (unchanged)
        Register-->>Vim: stored text
        Vim-->>User: pastes register content (no clipboard sync)
    else clipboard read fails
        CM->>Vim: Vim.handleKey(cm, key, "mapping")
        Vim->>Register: reads unnamedRegister (unchanged)
        Register-->>Vim: stored text
        Vim-->>User: pastes register content (clipboard read failed)
    end

_{Reply with feedback, questions, or to request a fix.

Re-trigger cubic}

cubic-dev-ai · 2026-06-01T16:57:30Z

+
+  unnamedRegister.setText = (text, linewise, blockwise) => {
+    origSetText(text, linewise, blockwise);
+    if (text) {


P2: p/P can paste stale register contents when system clipboard text is empty because empty clipboard values are ignored.

Prompt for AI agents

Check if this issue is valid — if so, understand the root cause and fix it. At frontend/src/core/codemirror/keymaps/vim.ts, line 334: <comment>`p`/`P` can paste stale register contents when system clipboard text is empty because empty clipboard values are ignored.</comment> <file context> @@ -273,6 +305,87 @@ function isMacroActive() { + + unnamedRegister.setText = (text, linewise, blockwise) => { + origSetText(text, linewise, blockwise); + if (text) { + navigator.clipboard?.writeText(text).catch(() => {}); + } </file context>

kirangadhave

Thanks @LioSergent for the PR. The PR is handrolling features codemirror-vim already supports in some way.

The library already syncs the system clipboard with the + register in both directions:

RegisterController.pushText calls navigator.clipboard.writeText when the register is +
the paste action reads from the system clipboard when the register is +

So "+y and "+p work as-is today.

The things in this PR that reimplement existing functionality:

enableVimClipboardSync monkey-patches Vim.getVimGlobalState_().registerController.unnamedRegister. This is a no-go, because we're patching a codemirror internal. It can break in future updates, and there's no test catching it, so a codemirror update would give us a silent failure with just a warning log.
interceptVimPaste reads the clipboard and re-dispatches Vim.handleKey outside the paste pipeline. I'm not sure it behaves correctly with count prefixes (3p) and dot-repeat. And "+p already does the async read internally, so this isn't needed.

The only thing actually missing is the aliasing: making a bare y/p use + without the prefix. The library has no option for that, but we shouldn't patch it via internals. Two ways forward:

Add a clipboard option upstream in codemirror-vim. The plumbing (+ register, defineOption, RegisterController) is already there, so it belongs in the library. There's an open issue for this: replit/codemirror-vim#142
Remap the operators onto the + register via the public Vim.noremap API (the same one vimrc noremap lines already use), e.g.:
```
for (const ctx of ["normal", "visual"] as const) {
  for (const op of ["y", "d", "c", "s", "x"]) {
    Vim.noremap(op, `"+${op}`, ctx);
  }
}
Vim.noremap("p", '"+p', "normal");
Vim.noremap("P", '"+P', "normal");
```
This lets the library do all the clipboard I/O and drops the internal patching and the p/P interceptor entirely. The one tradeoff is that an explicit register prefix on a mapped key ("ay) would still route to +, which is acceptable for an opt-in setting.

Either way, I'd drop the internal function patching approach.

kirangadhave · 2026-06-02T16:50:22Z

+    return;
+  }
+  const unnamedRegister =
+    Vim.getVimGlobalState_()?.registerController?.unnamedRegister;


this is an internal codemirror function. it can break with future updates, we shouldn't rely on internals.

feat(vim): yank to system clipboard (marimo-team#5463)

8addda8

Add support for `set clipboard=unnamedplus` (and `clipboard=unnamed`) in vimrc. Yanking in vim normal mode now writes to the system clipboard; `p`/`P` reads from the system clipboard before pasting.

LioSergent marked this pull request as draft May 30, 2026 15:51

vercel Bot deployed to Preview May 30, 2026 15:52 View deployment

LioSergent marked this pull request as ready for review May 30, 2026 15:58

Light2Dark added the enhancement New feature or request label Jun 1, 2026

kirangadhave requested review from Copilot and kirangadhave June 1, 2026 16:45

Copilot started reviewing on behalf of kirangadhave June 1, 2026 16:45 View session

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feat(vim): yank to system clipboard (#5463)#9733

feat(vim): yank to system clipboard (#5463)#9733
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LioSergent:vim-sync-clipboard

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