Space chords not working at all

Describe the bug
I normally use <space>f, <space>e, <space>g, etc. for a lot of my Vim keystrokes. I can not seem to get them to work in VSCodeVim though. I'm on Windows 10 and I used to use GVim

To Reproduce
In my settings.json:

{
    "vim.normalModeKeyBindingsNonRecursive": [
        {
            "before": ["<space>","f"],
            "commands": ["workbench.action.files.save"]
        },
}

Does nothing :( I've tried as many variations as I can think

Near workaround but that isn't enough
Previously, with a similar problem trying to bind <S-space>, I found a workaround by putting the following in keybindings.json (and skipping VSCodeVim's settings.json altogether)

[
    {
        "key": "shift+space",
        "command": "extension.vim_escape",
        "when": "editorTextFocus"
     },
]

I thought maybe I'd give up on settings.json altogether and just only use VSCode commands in the keybindings.json:

    {
        "key": "space f",
        "command": "workbench.action.files.save",
        "when": "editorTextFocus"
     },

Works like a charm. Actually see's my <space>f and does something :|
Except, I realized to my horror, doesn't care what Vim mode he's in. So I can't type anything with a space followed by an f while in insert mode. RIP

Environment (please complete the following information):

Start by reproducing the reported normalModeKeyBindingsNonRecursive configuration from settings.json and compare it with the working keybinding in keybindings.json. Trace how space chords are handled across Vim modes; done means f triggers the command in normal mode while remaining usable as text in insert mode, including on Windows.