Cyclic function indirection with context-mode and ConTeXt-mode in AUCTeX autoloads.

[hongyi-zhao]

Dear AUCTeX and straight.el developers,

I am writing to report and seek clarification on a persistent issue
with the cyclic function indirection error related to context-mode
and ConTeXt-mode in AUCTeX.

Issue Description

When using AUCTeX with straight.el package manager, I consistently
encounter the following error during startup:

Debugger entered--Lisp error: (cyclic-function-indirection context-mode)
  defalias(context-mode ConTeXt-mode)
  eval((defalias 'context-mode #'ConTeXt-mode))
  straight--activate-package-autoloads(...)

Environment

• Emacs version: 31.0.50 (development version)
• AUCTeX source: Git repository (https://git.savannah.gnu.org/git/auctex.git)
• Package manager: straight.el
• OS: Ubuntu 22.04.4 LTS

Root Cause

The issue appears to be in the auctex-autoloads.el file,
specifically this line:

(defalias 'context-mode #'ConTeXt-mode)

This creates a circular reference when the autoloads are processed, as
ConTeXt-mode itself is defined as an autoload that hasn't been
loaded yet.

Relationship to Previous Bug Reports

I noticed this appears to be related to bug#68998 and bug#69081. While
bug#68998 was closed with a workaround for the upgrade process (using
emacs -Q), the underlying cyclic function indirection issue seems to
persist in daily usage scenarios.

Current Workaround

I am currently using this workaround in my straight.el configuration:

(use-package auctex
  :straight (:type git :host nil :repo
"https://git.savannah.gnu.org/git/auctex.git"
             :pre-build (("make"))
             :post-build (("sed" "-i" "/^(defalias 'context-mode
#'ConTeXt-mode)$/d" "auctex-autoloads.el"))
             :files (:defaults "doc/*"))
  ;; ... rest of configuration
  )

This removes the problematic defalias line after each build, which
resolves the issue.

Questions

1. Is this a known ongoing issue, or should the cyclic reference
   problem have been resolved?

2. Would it be appropriate to modify the autoload generation to handle
   this defalias more safely, perhaps with a conditional check like:

   (when (fboundp 'ConTeXt-mode)
     (defalias 'context-mode #'ConTeXt-mode))

3. Is there a recommended approach for package managers like
   straight.el to handle this issue without manual post-build
   modifications?

Additional Context

This issue affects not just the initial loading but also functionality
like M-x completion in some configurations, as reported by other
users in the Emacs community.

Thank you for your excellent work on AUCTeX and straight.el. I would be happy to
provide additional debugging information or test potential fixes.

See here for the related discussion.

Best regards,
Zhao