zsh-autocomplete plugin quite slow to initiate

[ImNotaGit]

This might not be a real bug, and I'm not sure if this is normal, but for me sourcing the zsh-autocomplete plugin is quite slow -- I use oh-my-zsh to manage plugins, if I disable zsh-autocomplete, then starting zsh takes ~ 1 second, but if I enable zsh-autocomplete, it takes an additional 4-5 seconds. Given that in my workflow I normally use tmux as a terminal multiplexer and opens multiple windows/panes, the delay of ~5 seconds each time I open a new window becomes quite obtrusive... Any idea of troubleshoot/speed up the startup is much appreciated!

Environment

% typeset -p1 VENDOR OSTYPE ZSH_PATCHLEVEL _autocomplete__funcfiletrace
typeset VENDOR=pc
typeset OSTYPE=linux-gnu
typeset ZSH_PATCHLEVEL=zsh-5.9-0-g73d3173
typeset -a _autocomplete__funcfiletrace=(
  /home/user/.oh-my-zsh/custom/plugins/zsh-autocomplete/zsh-autocomplete.plugin.zsh:4
  /home/user/.oh-my-zsh/oh-my-zsh.sh:175
  /home/user/.oh-my-zsh/oh-my-zsh.sh:204
  /home/user/.zshrc:64
  zsh:0
)
% git -C ~autocomplete log --oneline -n1
762afac (HEAD -> main, tag: 24.09.04, origin/main, origin/HEAD) Add note to Readme about usage of `%`

• Operating system: CentOS
• Terminal emulator: PuTTY (ssh)

Steps to reproduce

# install oh-my-zsh if needed following official instruction
sh -c "$(curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ohmyzsh/ohmyzsh/master/tools/install.sh)"
# clone zsh-autocomplete
mkdir -p ~/.oh-my-zsh/custom/plugins
cd ~/.oh-my-zsh/custom/plugins
git clone https://github.com/marlonrichert/zsh-autocomplete.git
# minimal .zshrc
.zshrc <<EOF
export ZSH=$HOME/.oh-my-zsh
ENABLE_CORRECTION="true"
export TERM=xterm-256color
plugins=(zsh-autocomplete)
source $ZSH/oh-my-zsh.sh
# or alternatively, instead of via oh-my-zsh and `plugins`, manually source:
source ~/.oh-my-zsh/custom/plugins/zsh-autocomplete/zsh-autocomplete.plugin.zsh
EOF
zsh

Contents of ~autocomplete-log/YYYY-MM-DD.log (click to expand)

zshexit: write error: Input/output error
zshexit: write error: Input/output error
zshexit: write error: Input/output error
zshexit: write error: Input/output error
zshexit: write error: Input/output error
zshexit: write error: Input/output error
zshexit: write error: Input/output error
zshexit: write error: Input/output error
.autocomplete:async:pty:zle-widget:15: completion cannot be used recursively (yet)
.autocomplete:async:complete:fd-widget:31: completion cannot be used recursively (yet)
.autocomplete:async:pty:zle-widget:15: completion cannot be used recursively (yet)
.autocomplete:async:pty:zle-widget:15: completion cannot be used recursively (yet)
.autocomplete:async:pty:zle-widget:15: completion cannot be used recursively (yet)
.autocomplete:async:complete:fd-widget:31: completion cannot be used recursively (yet)
.autocomplete:async:pty:zle-widget:15: completion cannot be used recursively (yet)
.autocomplete:async:complete:fd-widget:31: completion cannot be used recursively (yet)
...(more lines same as above)

[yserkann]

I have the same issue. In my situation, I only have problem if I mount e.g. OneDrive or remote file server.

[runofthemill]

@ImNotaGit not sure this is the cause, but from the minimal .zshrc above it looks like you're loading zsh-autocomplete twice; once via OMZ (plugins=(zsh-autocomplete)) and once manually (source ~/.oh-my-zsh/custom/plugins/zsh-autocomplete/zsh-autocomplete.plugin.zsh) - I wonder if that's contributing to the slowdown and "completion cannot be used recursively" logs?

[ImNotaGit]

@runofthemill Thanks for the comment. Actually, I was not loading zsh-autocomplete twice in my actual .zshrc. In my example set-up above I simply intended to suggest that the issues occurs independent from how I load the plugin -- either via oh-my-zsh or manually.

[filiptrplan]

Any updates on this? I notice that loading this plugin is quite slow on my setup.

[nickkadutskyi]

I am having same issue. New shell init time jumped from immediate to couple seconds when I enabled the plugin.

[typefe]

Having same issue, especially when using kitty.

Benchmark results, without/with auto complete.