The VSCodeVim extension has very bad performance in GitPod

[andypea]

Describe the bug

The VSCodeVim extension provides a vim-like interface for Visual Studio Code.
When this extension is installed on GitPod the editor runs painfully slowly.

Steps to reproduce

Install the VSCodeVim extension on GitPod and try to edit a file.

Expected behavior

A usable editor with vim-like interface.

Additional Information

I'm in New Zealand and I'm using the free plan, so that may be contributing to the problem.

[JesterOrNot]

@akosyakov can you look at this?

[Kreyren]

Same issue on my end.

There is significant delay in between actions and seems to cause instability. (GUI sometimes break while using this extension on gipod)

[Kreyren]

FWIW emacs extension seems to have same issue

[JesterOrNot]

See eclipse-theia/theia#5125

[andypea]

When the VSCodeVim extension is installed the editor still remains painfully slow even if I set the Vim::disableExtension option to true. Uninstalling the extension immediately returns the editor to full speed.

I've also tried editing files in an actual copy of Vim opened within the terminal. This is still a little slow, but it performs much better than the Theia editor with VSCodeVim enabled, so I think the issue isn't caused by the latency between me and the GitPod container.

[andypea]

I just checked and this problem also exists when using Eclipse Che containers hosted on OpenShift. If you have an OpenShift login you can see an example here:

https://github.com/andypea/openshift-test

[akosyakov]

It is an issue how Vim extension is designed, it intercepts each editor keystore and process it to decide what to do: VSCodeVim/Vim#2021 So whenever you press something it is delivered to backend, processed and then sent back. It is slow in local VS Code, obviously slower for us because of latency. The worst about this extension that it affects performance of other extensions: microsoft/vscode#75627

[jedwards1211]

@akosyakov it's kind of the reverse, other extensions can severely affect VSCodeVim's responsiveness

[dclong]

Keys are constantly ignore. The extension is barely usable.

[stale]

This issue has been automatically marked as stale because it has not had recent activity. It will be closed if no further activity occurs. Thank you for your contributions.

[davidar]

This is still an issue. I wouldn't mind the lag if not for the fact that it even affects insert mode. Some kind of local echo (like the terminal seems to have?) would be an improvement.

[jedwards1211]

Navigating around with vi keys is just as painful as insert mode when the extension host is bogged down

[jedwards1211]

UI responsiveness is so sacred that...not even keyboard extensions are allowed to interfere with it, apparently 🙄. But builtin keyboard input somehow gets a pass, and is allowed to run on the UI thread.