REPL is evaluating new lines before finishing execution of previous ones

Version

16.4.2

Platform

Archlinux x86_64

Subsystem

No response

What steps will reproduce the bug?

run with: node --experimental-repl-await file.mjs

import { PassThrough } from 'stream';
import { start } from 'repl';

async function main() {
  const { input, output } = start({
    input: new PassThrough(),
    output: new PassThrough(),
    useGlobal: false,
  });

  const script = `const x = await new Promise((r) => setTimeout(() => r(1), 500));\nx;`;

  input.write(script);
  input.end();
  await new Promise((r) => setTimeout(r, 1000));
  output.end();

  let res = '';
  for await (const chunk of output) {
    res += chunk;
  }

  console.log(res);
}

main();

How often does it reproduce? Is there a required condition?

100%

What is the expected behavior?

New lines should be queued and processed only after previous lines have finished.

What do you see instead?

New lines are executed before previous lines have finished

Additional information

Debug output:

$ NODE_DEBUG='repl' node --experimental-repl-await file.mjs
REPL 14900: line "const x = await new Promise((r) => setTimeout(() => r(1), 500));"
REPL 14900: eval "const x = await new Promise((r) => setTimeout(() => r(1), 500));\n"
REPL 14900: line "x;"
REPL 14900: eval "x;\n"
REPL 14900: not recoverable, send to domain
REPL 14900: domain error
REPL 14900: finish null undefined
> Uncaught ReferenceError: x is not defined
> undefined
>

Sync code is not affected, but I would consider that a side effect of the sync code blocking the event loop preventing new lines being processed rather than a proper pause.

There's: de848ac that used another pause logic, but got reverted due to broking multiline repl.

This issue shouldn't be a blocker for #34733, as pause logic should be correct without depending on the event loop being blocked.

@ejose19

@ejose19 do you have any suggestions re a possible fix for this?

Also, it would be better if pause logic is handled outside eval (can unpause when executing eval callback), so consumers providing their own eval function get this working "transparently".

I've did some tests for await (let cmd of self) {, it worked for this particular issue but error messages were totally different and some tests were failing. I've also checked readline for any API that could be useful, and the closest was https://nodejs.org/api/readline.html#readline_rl_pause, but as stated in the description, there's no guarantee that it will immediately pause other events. No other ideas rn, but ideally finish should be in charge of executing or allowing execution of the next line, so when eval executes the callback, the next line can be safely processed.

This issue has been marked as stale due to 210 days of inactivity.
It will be automatically closed in 30 days if no further activity occurs. If this is still relevant, please leave a comment or update it to keep it open.

repl: use inspector over vm

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REPL is evaluating new lines before finishing execution of previous ones #39387

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What steps will reproduce the bug?

How often does it reproduce? Is there a required condition?

What is the expected behavior?

What do you see instead?

Additional information

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REPL is evaluating new lines before finishing execution of previous ones #39387

Description

Version

Platform

Subsystem

What steps will reproduce the bug?

How often does it reproduce? Is there a required condition?

What is the expected behavior?

What do you see instead?

Additional information

Activity

guybedford commented on Jul 14, 2021

ejose19 commented on Jul 14, 2021

ejose19 commented on Jul 14, 2021

github-actions commented on Jun 27, 2026

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