matthewwithanm / matthewwithanm/python-markdownify

RecursionError on deeply nested HTML (about 330 levels), separate from the cyclic-tree case in #256

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Description

process_element / process_tag recurse three Python frames per nesting level (markdownify/__init__.py 228-232, 234, 287-288 on develop), so a plain acyclic tree hits the default recursion limit at around 330 levels. Real mail clients produce this: Outlook wraps quoted replies in empty <div>s and a long thread easily passes that depth.

deep div nesting depth=300: OK len=5
deep div nesting depth=330: RecursionError (maximum recursion depth exceeded)
deep div nesting depth=500: RecursionError (maximum recursion depth exceeded)
cyclic soup (p contains its ancestor div): RecursionError (maximum recursion depth exceeded)

Repro on 1.2.3: https://gist.github.com/HardMax71/bbfc6f70bab3ec6417d4f80324f40387. The one-liner is markdownify("<div>" * 330 + "x" + "</div>" * 330).

I applied the hunk from #274 to 1.2.3 to check: the cyclic case passes, the depth case still fails. So #256/#274 cover cycles and this needs its own guard. Cheapest fix: thread a depth counter through process_tag and past a max_depth option fall back to node.get_text(); a full fix walks node.descendants without recursion.

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Research direction

Start in markdownify/init.py around process_element and process_tag at lines 228-232, 234, and 287-288, then run the 330-level nesting reproducer from the issue. Compare the depth failure with the cyclic-tree handling from #256/#274. Done means deeply nested acyclic HTML no longer raises RecursionError while the existing cyclic case remains covered.

Written by the indexing model from the issue text.

Assessment

Tech stack
python
Domain
tooling
Issue type
Bug
Difficulty
3/5
Estimated time
1-2 days
Activity status
Active
Clarity
Mostly clear
Newbie friendliness
68/100

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