From a8ed074bf088a17bc25fc3ccc5ed5f2df52c0481 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Vinay Keerthi <11478411+stonecharioteer@users.noreply.github.com>
Date: Fri, 12 Dec 2025 16:35:53 +0530
Subject: [PATCH] fix: Preserve double newlines in text-based messaging
 channels (#13055)
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## Summary

Fixes the issue where double newlines (paragraph breaks) were collapsing
to single newlines in text-based messaging channels (Telegram, WhatsApp,
Instagram, Facebook, LINE, SMS).

### Root Cause

The `preserve_multiple_newlines` method only preserved 3+ consecutive
newlines using the regex `/\n{3,}/`. When users pressed Enter twice
(creating a paragraph break with 2 newlines), CommonMarker would parse
this as separate paragraphs, which then collapsed to a single newline in
the output.

This caused:
- ❌ Normal Enter: Double newlines collapsed to single newline
- ✅ Shift+Enter: Worked (created hard breaks)

### Fix

Changed the regex from `/\n{3,}/` to `/\n{2,}/` to preserve 2+
consecutive newlines. This prevents CommonMarker from collapsing
paragraph breaks.

Now:
- ✅ Single newline (`\n`) → Single newline (handled by softbreak)
- ✅ Double newline (`\n\n`) → Double newline (preserved with
placeholders)
- ✅ Triple+ newlines → Preserved as before

### Test Coverage

Added comprehensive tests for:
- Single newlines preservation
- Double newlines (paragraph breaks) preservation
- Multiple consecutive newlines
- Newlines with varying amounts of whitespace between them (1 space, 3
spaces, 5 spaces, tabs)

All 66 tests passing.

### Impact

This fix affects all text-based messaging channels that use the markdown
renderer:
- Telegram
- WhatsApp
- Instagram
- Facebook
- LINE
- SMS
- Twilio SMS (when configured for WhatsApp)

Fixes
https://linear.app/chatwoot/issue/CW-6135/double-newline-is-breaking

---------

Co-authored-by: Muhsin Keloth <muhsinkeramam@gmail.com>
---
 .../messages/markdown_renderer_service.rb     |  6 ++--
 .../markdown_renderer_service_spec.rb         | 29 ++++++++++++++++++-
 2 files changed, 31 insertions(+), 4 deletions(-)

diff --git a/app/services/messages/markdown_renderer_service.rb b/app/services/messages/markdown_renderer_service.rb
index a90cfca06..00a731a6d 100644
--- a/app/services/messages/markdown_renderer_service.rb
+++ b/app/services/messages/markdown_renderer_service.rb
@@ -96,10 +96,10 @@ class Messages::MarkdownRendererService
     restore_multiple_newlines(result)
   end
 
-  # Preserve multiple consecutive newlines (3+) by replacing them with placeholders
-  # Standard markdown treats 2 newlines as paragraph break, we preserve 3+
+  # Preserve multiple consecutive newlines (2+) by replacing them with placeholders
+  # Standard markdown treats 2 newlines as paragraph break which collapses to 1 newline, we preserve 2+
   def preserve_multiple_newlines(content)
-    content.gsub(/\n{3,}/) do |match|
+    content.gsub(/\n{2,}/) do |match|
       "{{PRESERVE_#{match.length}_NEWLINES}}"
     end
   end
diff --git a/spec/services/messages/markdown_renderer_service_spec.rb b/spec/services/messages/markdown_renderer_service_spec.rb
index 89210dc0e..5b8e02e2f 100644
--- a/spec/services/messages/markdown_renderer_service_spec.rb
+++ b/spec/services/messages/markdown_renderer_service_spec.rb
@@ -241,10 +241,37 @@ RSpec.describe Messages::MarkdownRendererService, type: :service do
         expect(result).to include('<a href="https://example.com">link text</a>')
       end
 
-      it 'preserves newlines' do
+      it 'preserves single newlines' do
         content = "line 1\nline 2"
         result = described_class.new(content, channel_type).render
         expect(result).to include("\n")
+        expect(result).to include("line 1\nline 2")
+      end
+
+      it 'preserves double newlines (paragraph breaks)' do
+        content = "para 1\n\npara 2"
+        result = described_class.new(content, channel_type).render
+        expect(result.scan("\n").count).to eq(2)
+        expect(result).to include("para 1\n\npara 2")
+      end
+
+      it 'preserves multiple consecutive newlines' do
+        content = "para 1\n\n\n\npara 2"
+        result = described_class.new(content, channel_type).render
+        expect(result.scan("\n").count).to eq(4)
+        expect(result).to include("para 1\n\n\n\npara 2")
+      end
+
+      it 'preserves newlines with varying amounts of whitespace between them' do
+        # Test with 1 space, 3 spaces, 5 spaces, and tabs to ensure it handles any amount of whitespace
+        content = "hello\n \n   \n     \n\t\nworld"
+        result = described_class.new(content, channel_type).render
+        # Whitespace-only lines are normalized, so we should have at least 5 newlines preserved
+        expect(result.scan("\n").count).to be >= 5
+        expect(result).to include('hello')
+        expect(result).to include('world')
+        # Should not collapse to just 1-2 newlines
+        expect(result.scan("\n").count).to be > 3
       end
 
       it 'converts strikethrough to HTML' do