PDF view loses focus after closing command palette, causing some commands to fail to run

[ush]

Steps to reproduce

1. Add a PDF to the vault. For example, you can use this sample PDF.
2. Open a markdown view on the left and a PDF view on the right.
3. Click the markdown view.
4. Then, click the PDF view. Now, the PDF view is the active view.
5. Open the command palette and close it.

Did you follow the troubleshooting guide? [Y/N]

Y

Expected result

Because the PDF view was active before opening the command palette, it should be kept active after closing the command palette.

Actual result

The focus is moved to the markdown view on the left. This makes it impossible for some plugin commands to work properly (the affected plugins include PDF++). See “Additional Information” section for the details.

Environment

SYSTEM INFO:
Obsidian version: v1.8.9
Installer version: v1.8.9
Operating system: Darwin Kernel Version 22.6.0: Mon Feb 19 19:43:41 PST 2024; root:xnu-8796.141.3.704.6~1/RELEASE_ARM64_T8103 22.6.0
Login status: logged in
Language: en
Catalyst license: insider
Insider build toggle: on
Live preview: on
Base theme: adapt to system
Community theme: none
Snippets enabled: 0
Restricted mode: off
Plugins installed: 0
Plugins enabled: 0

RECOMMENDATIONS:
none

---

Additional information

• The third step seems redundant, however if you skip it, the bug cannot be reproduced.
• If I click in the page number box in step 4, the bug does not happen and the PDF view is kept active.
• Update: it turned out that it’s not command-palette-specific. It also happens with other types of modals (maybe modals with shouldRestoreSelection set to true?). For example, try quick switcher and commands like “Show debug info” and “Open settings”.
• I guess the bug happens because clicking on the PDF view does change the active leaf but does not change the DOM focus (for example, getSelection().anchorNode and document.activeElement remains in the markdown view). In other words, the Obsidian workspace focus and the DOM focus are not synchronized properly.
• To make it easier to see the effect of this bug, I made an example plugin with a simple command that uses the active PDF view. You can see this bug makes it impossible for this command to run successfully even when the command shows up in the command palette. I have described the detailed steps to reproduce the issue in README of the plugin.

GitHub - RyotaUshio/obsidian-bug-report

• I think this bug might be related to the recent updates around the PDF view focus issue. There is another bug report that seems to be related to the same issue.

Erroneous focus on embedded PDF upon reload

Steps to reproduce Embed a PDF at the bottom of a Obsidian page. Type the double-dollar $$ math $$ environment, and Obsidian will erroneously focus on the bottom-most embedded PDF, jumping away from the math environment. Alternatively, open some Obsidian file which has a PDF embedded at the bottom, and Obsidian will skip to the PDF. Did you follow the troubleshooting guide? Yes, the bug is fully reproducible in the Sandbox Vault. Expected result Obsidian should stay at the current cursor posi…

[WhiteNoise]

I haven’t been able to reproduce this. Can you post a screen recording of this happening in the sandbox vault? Thanks

[blue_emperor]

Similar problem also happens with single pdf and global search ⌘⇧F: after closing the command palette the focus is unexpectedly switched to the global search even I wasn’t there when I pressed ⌘P. You can also reproduce this problem with Backlinks panel (search box) and Outline (search box).

[WhiteNoise]

Neither this one. Post a screen recording of it happening in the sandbox vault. Thanks

[blue_emperor]

https://imgur.com/a/Kc9DQSf

SYSTEM INFO:
Obsidian version: v1.8.9
Installer version: v1.8.9
Operating system: Darwin Kernel Version 24.2.0: Fri Dec 6 18:51:28 PST 2024; root:xnu-11215.61.5~2/RELEASE_ARM64_T8112 24.2.0
Login status: not logged in
Language: en
Insider build toggle: off
Live preview: on
Base theme: adapt to system
Community theme: none
Snippets enabled: 0
Restricted mode: off
Plugins installed: 0
Plugins enabled: 0

RECOMMENDATIONS:
none

[WhiteNoise]

okay, I wonder if this is a mac-specific bug

[ush]

@WhiteNoise

I haven’t been able to reproduce this. Can you post a screen recording of this happening in the sandbox vault? Thanks

I also have screen recordings in the linked github readme.

[ush]

@ush

• If I click in the page number box in step 4, the bug does not happen and the PDF view is kept active.
• Update: it turned out that it’s not command-palette-specific. It also happens with other types of modals (maybe modals with shouldRestoreSelection set to true?). For example, try quick switcher and commands like “Show debug info” and “Open settings”.
• I guess the bug happens because clicking on the PDF view does change the active leaf but does not change the DOM focus (for example, getSelection().anchorNode and document.activeElement remains in the markdown view). In other words, the Obsidian workspace focus and the DOM focus are not synchronized properly.

I’ve added this in the “addtional information” section.

[WhiteNoise]

let me know if you still have this problem with 1.9.

We changed other things but we were never able to reproduce this.