"back" and "forward" are not really useful anymore

[ysooqe]

What system are you running Yazi on?

Linux Wayland

What terminal are you running Yazi in?

foot

yazi --debug output

No debug needed

Describe the question

In #2687 , the behaviour of "H" and "L" was changed.
I used to use H and L quite a lot to "move through history". Since I use "h" and "l" a lot to move through the filesystem, occasionally, I needed to jump (cd) to a known directory (e.g. "~/Downloads", which I have a shortcut for) and then go back to the directory I was in before, using "H".

This does not work anymore since only "jumps" (cd) are now registered to be navigated by "H" and "L". But this means I can use "H" and "L" only to jump to directories that I already have a shortcut for (since I can only use them for directories I "cd"ed into, which in turn are directories I already have a shortcut for, otherwise I wouldn't be able to "cd" into them in the first place), which makes "H" and "L" kind of redundant.

Maybe I understood it wrong how this new implementation is supposed to work? Or is this basically what it does now? If so, is there any way to bring back the old "H" and "L" without having to go the "custom plugin" route?

Anything else?

No response

Checklist

• I have read all the documentation
• I have searched the existing discussions/issues

[sxyazi]

Is your version the latest nightly? There is a bug in the implementation of back and forward, which has already been fixed in the latest nightly.

Next time, please follow the template and include debug information so I can know your specific version.

[ysooqe]

Thanks for the reply! I am running the lastest packaged version from the Arch Linux official repository, so I guess what I am experiencing is this bug?

Yazi
    Version: 25.5.31 (Arch Linux 2025-06-01)
    Debug  : false
    Triple : x86_64-unknown-linux-gnu (linux-x86_64)
    Rustc  : 1.87.0 (17067e9a 2025-05-09)

Ya
    Version: 25.5.31 (Arch Linux 2025-06-01)

Emulator
    TERM                : Some("foot")
    TERM_PROGRAM        : None
    TERM_PROGRAM_VERSION: None
    Brand.from_env      : Some(Foot)
    Emulator.detect     : Emulator { kind: Left(Foot), light: false, csi_16t: (10, 24), force_16t: false }

Adapter
    Adapter.matches    : Sixel
    Dimension.available: Dimension { rows: 35, columns: 152, width: 1520, height: 840 }

Desktop
    XDG_SESSION_TYPE           : Some("wayland")
    WAYLAND_DISPLAY            : Some("wayland-1")
    DISPLAY                    : Some(":0")
    SWAYSOCK                   : Some("/run/user/1000/sway-ipc.1000.5309.sock")
    HYPRLAND_INSTANCE_SIGNATURE: None
    WAYFIRE_SOCKET             : None

SSH
    shared.in_ssh_connection: false

WSL
    WSL: false

Variables
    SHELL           : Some("/usr/bin/bash")
    EDITOR          : Some("helix")
    VISUAL          : Some("helix")
    YAZI_FILE_ONE   : None
    YAZI_CONFIG_HOME: None
    YAZI_ZOXIDE_OPTS: None
    FZF_DEFAULT_OPTS: None

Text Opener
    default     : Some(OpenerRule { run: "${EDITOR:-vi} \"$@\"", block: true, orphan: false, desc: "$EDITOR", for: None, spread: true })
    block-create: Some(OpenerRule { run: "${EDITOR:-vi} \"$@\"", block: true, orphan: false, desc: "$EDITOR", for: None, spread: true })
    block-rename: Some(OpenerRule { run: "${EDITOR:-vi} \"$@\"", block: true, orphan: false, desc: "$EDITOR", for: None, spread: true })

Multiplexers
    TMUX               : false
    tmux version       : No such file or directory (os error 2)
    tmux build flags   : enable-sixel=Unknown
    ZELLIJ_SESSION_NAME: None
    Zellij version     : No such file or directory (os error 2)

Dependencies
    file          : 5.46
    ueberzugpp    : No such file or directory (os error 2)
    ffmpeg/ffprobe: 7.1.1 / 7.1.1
    pdftoppm      : 25.05.0
    magick        : 7.1.1-47
    fzf           : 0.62.0
    fd/fdfind     : 10.2.0 / No such file or directory (os error 2)
    rg            : 14.1.1
    chafa         : No such file or directory (os error 2)
    zoxide        : No such file or directory (os error 2)
    7zz/7z        : No such file or directory (os error 2) / 24.09
    resvg         : No such file or directory (os error 2)
    jq            : 1.8.0

Clipboard
    wl-copy/paste: 2.2.1 / 2.2.1
    xclip        : No such file or directory (os error 2)
    xsel         : No such file or directory (os error 2)

Routine
    `file -bL --mime-type`: text/plain


See https://yazi-rs.github.io/docs/plugins/overview#debugging on how to enable logging or debug runtime errors.

[cskeeters]

I'm in the same boat as ysooqe. I too often jump to downloads to grab a file and want to jump back and paste it. Remembering whether or not the current directory was arrived at via a FZF or a leave command to know if I can rely on the jump stack doesn't strike me as desirable.

I plan to maintain a patch to restore the old H/L behavior until there is a config option or this is reverted.

[sxyazi]

I am running the lastest packaged version from the Arch Linux official repository, so I guess what I am experiencing is this bug?

Yes, H and L keys don't work for cd, interactive cd, fzf, and zoxide jumps - this is a bug that has already been fixed in the latest nightly.

I'm preparing a new release, but still need some time, please use our nightly build for now.

[cskeeters]

Are you saying you got rid of the big_jump call here added in commit d55e002?

yazi/yazi-core/src/tab/commands/cd.rs

Line 36 in bc9dbd3

if opt.source.big_jump() {

[cskeeters]

I should say, if there is a bug about zoxide, or fzf not storing a jump, that's a separate issue to my concern.

[sxyazi]

#2687 was meant to make back and forward more fine-grained: ordinary navigation with h and l is no longer added to the history, while jumps via fzf, zoxide or interactive cd are treated as "big jumps" and get recorded - there was a bug preventing that from working, but it's been fixed in the latest nightly.

If I read you correctly, you want h and l to be added to the history as well, which is what #2687 is supposed to change, not the "big jump" bug the OP described. Would you like to open a new discussion to track this? We can explore how to make it customizable there and decide which one makes the most sense - we still need a reasonable default no matter how customizable it is.