sinelaw/fresh · error

preview: split does not exist

Error message

preview: split {:?} does not exist

What it means

preview_file_in_split fails when the requested split id cannot be found in the active window's split manager, so set_active_split returns false. The editor refuses to activate a preview in a split that no longer exists rather than silently previewing elsewhere.

Solutions

1. Re-resolve the split id from the active window's split manager before calling preview_file_in_split.
2. Check that the split still exists (e.g. view_states/split list contains the id) and bail gracefully with a user message instead of erroring.
3. Fall back to preview_file in the current split when the target split is missing.

Example fix

// before
editor.preview_file_in_split(&path, stale_split_id, None, None)?;
// after
if editor.split_exists(stale_split_id) {
    editor.preview_file_in_split(&path, stale_split_id, None, None)?;
} else {
    editor.preview_file(&path)?;
}

if !editor.split_exists(target_split) { return; } // check before preview_file_in_split

fn split_exists(editor: &Editor, id: SplitId) -> bool { editor.active_window_splits().map_or(false, |s| s.contains(&id)) }

match editor.preview_file_in_split(&path, target_split, line, column) { Err(e) if e.to_string().contains("does not exist") => editor.preview_file(&path), r => r }

When it happens

Trigger: Calling preview_file_in_split (via handle_preview_file_in_split) with a target_split id that was closed, was never created, or belongs to a different window than the currently active window.

Common situations: A plugin or keybinding caches a split id, the user closes that split, then triggers a preview; switching active windows so the cached id isn't valid in the new window's split manager.

Understand the failure class

Background: "Not found" and "does not exist" errors: why "Task not found", "No such folder", and "Can't find" fire when a lookup comes back empty — this error's family across 14 libraries.

Related errors

• openFileInSplit: split
• previewFileInSplit: split
• Cannot reload: buffer has unsaved modifications
• Line indexing not available for this document
• Invalid range: start offset

AI-assisted analysis of sinelaw/fresh@67894ca546 (2026-09-13). Data as JSON: /api/errors/3d3676cef6f1371a. Report an issue: GitHub.

Appendix: source

Thrown at crates/fresh-editor/src/app/buffer_management.rs:290

        column: Option<usize>,
    ) -> anyhow::Result<BufferId> {
        let previous_split = self
            .windows
            .get(&self.active_window)
            .and_then(|w| w.buffers.splits())
            .map(|(mgr, _)| mgr.active_split())
            .ok_or_else(|| anyhow::anyhow!("no split layout"))?;

        let set_active = |editor: &mut Self, split: LeafId| -> bool {
            editor
                .windows
                .get_mut(&editor.active_window)
                .and_then(|w| w.split_manager_mut())
                .is_some_and(|mgr| mgr.set_active_split(split))
        };

        if !set_active(self, target_split) {
            anyhow::bail!("preview: split {:?} does not exist", target_split);
        }

        let result = self.preview_file(path);
        if result.is_ok() && (line.is_some() || column.is_some()) {
            self.jump_to_line_column(line, column);
        }

        // Back to where the user actually is. `previous_split` was live a
        // moment ago; if the open collapsed it (it cannot — a preview open
        // adds a buffer, it doesn't close splits) the id simply won't set.
        set_active(self, previous_split);

        result
    }

    /// Drop the current preview tab, if any: the browse is over and was not
    /// committed. Closes the preview buffer so the split falls back to what
    /// it was showing before.

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