pyrepl on Windows: add Ctrl+← and Ctrl+→ word-skipping and other keybindings

[paulie4]

Feature or enhancement

Proposal:

Currently, _pyrepl/windows_console.py is very limited compared to _pyrepl/unix_console.py, for example, it doesn't support the Ctrl+← and Ctrl+→ word-skipping keybindings (see also #119248) nor any of the keybindings that use meta (i.e. Alt), e.g. to kill-word or backward-kill-word.

This is extra-annoying given the fact that the previous Python REPL did support Ctrl+←andCtrl+→` word-skipping keybindings in Windows, i.e. before pyrepl was used for Python 3.13.

Has this already been discussed elsewhere?

This is a minor feature, which does not need previous discussion elsewhere

Links to previous discussion of this feature:

No response

Linked PRs

• gh-128388: pyrepl on Windows: add meta and ctrl+arrow keybindings #128389

[zooba]

Considering this is one of the reasons that I disable the new REPL entirely, it might be justifiable to treat this as a bug?

I don't particularly mind not having the new REPL, which is why I haven't spent the time to try and fix it. But you could argue that it's not fit for purpose if I'm just turning the whole thing off.

[encukou]

To me this sounds very much like a new feature.
Do you want to ask the RM for an exception to backport it?

[paulie4]

I'm sure there are many of us that use Ctrl+Backspace in Windows and have come to expect that to delete a word, and since that used to work in Python REPL but no longer does, that's why it is a regression and therefore feels like it should be considered a bug. In fact, I can't think of a single application in Windows that I use that doesn't support Ctrl+Backspace to delete a word (besides the new Python 3.13+ REPL).

Yes, please! It would be great if this fix goes into both Python 3.14.x and 3.13.x. BTW, the single code file that was edited in #128389 has the exact same code in the main and 3.13 branches, so backporting should be very easy.

[zooba]

I agree it's a regression. When disabling the feature adds functionality, it's hard to call that functionality "new".