zsh-users/zsh-syntax-highlighting

PATH_DIRS shouldn't be honoured after `sudo`

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#595 opened on Dec 24, 2018

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Buggood first issuesyntax:command-word

Description

The main highlighter explicitly sets PATH_DIRS if the user has that enabled:

https://github.com/zsh-users/zsh-syntax-highlighting/blob/55f846c673661bde03ef97333be7889f54079c7b/highlighters/main/main-highlighter.zsh#L316-L318

This is so, if $^path/foo/bar(*N) exists, % foo/bar will be highlighted in green. However, that also happens in sudo foo/bar, even though sudo doesn't do path searches when there's a / in the argument — at least, I think that's how sudo behaves, but double-check that before making any code change on our end.

Contributor guide

Tech stack
shell
Domain
clideveloper experience
Issue type
bug
DifficultyEstimated implementation difficulty for a new contributor, from 1 for very small changes to 5 for expert-level work.
3
Estimated timeA rough time range for an experienced contributor to investigate, implement, test, and prepare a pull request.
1-3 hours
Activity statusHow available the issue appears right now: fresh, active, stale, blocked, or waiting on maintainer input.
stale
ClarityHow clearly the issue explains the expected change, acceptance criteria, and next step.
mostly clear
Prerequisites
zsh shellsudo behaviorzsh syntax highlighting codebase
Newbie friendlinessA 1-100 score estimating how approachable this issue is for first-time contributors.
50
Research direction
Investigate sudo behavior: confirm whether sudo performs path searches when the argument contains a slash (likely not). Then modify main highlighter.zsh around line 316-318 to skip setting PATH DIRS for commands like sudo. The fix is localized and should be straightforward.