diff --git a/internal/lsp/template/completion.go b/internal/lsp/template/completion.go
index 4ec7623ba9a..55b59f82152 100644
--- a/internal/lsp/template/completion.go
+++ b/internal/lsp/template/completion.go
@@ -78,13 +78,15 @@ func filterSyms(syms map[string]symbol, ns []symbol) {
 
 // return the starting position of the enclosing token, or -1 if none
 func inTemplate(fc *Parsed, pos protocol.Position) int {
+	// pos is the pos-th character. if the cursor is at the beginning
+	// of the file, pos is 0. That is, we've only seen characters before pos
 	// 1. pos might be in a Token, return tk.Start
 	// 2. pos might be after an elided but before a Token, return elided
 	// 3. return -1 for false
 	offset := fc.FromPosition(pos)
 	// this could be a binary search, as the tokens are ordered
 	for _, tk := range fc.tokens {
-		if tk.Start <= offset && offset < tk.End {
+		if tk.Start < offset && offset <= tk.End {
 			return tk.Start
 		}
 	}
@@ -244,7 +246,7 @@ func scan(buf []byte) []string {
 			ans[len(ans)-1] = "." + lit
 		} else if tok == token.IDENT && len(ans) > 0 && ans[len(ans)-1] == "$" {
 			ans[len(ans)-1] = "$" + lit
-		} else {
+		} else if lit != "" {
 			ans = append(ans, lit)
 		}
 	}
diff --git a/internal/lsp/template/completion_test.go b/internal/lsp/template/completion_test.go
index 7d17ab1ebab..b7ef89fbeb9 100644
--- a/internal/lsp/template/completion_test.go
+++ b/internal/lsp/template/completion_test.go
@@ -23,40 +23,41 @@ type tparse struct {
 }
 
 // Test completions in templates that parse enough (if completion needs symbols)
+// Seen characters up to the ^
 func TestParsed(t *testing.T) {
 	var tests = []tparse{
-		{"{{^if}}", []string{"index", "if"}},
-		{"{{if .}}{{^e {{end}}", []string{"eq", "end}}", "else", "end"}},
-		{"{{foo}}{{^f", []string{"foo"}},
-		{"{{^$}}", []string{"$"}},
-		{"{{$x:=4}}{{^$", []string{"$x"}},
-		{"{{$x:=4}}{{$^ ", []string{}},
-		{"{{len .Modified}}{{^.Mo", []string{"Modified"}},
-		{"{{len .Modified}}{{.m^f", []string{"Modified"}},
-		{"{{^$ }}", []string{"$"}},
-		{"{{$a =3}}{{^$", []string{"$a"}},
+		{`<table class="chroma" data-new-comment-url="{{if $.PageIsPullFiles}}{{$.Issue.HTMLURL}}/files/reviews/new_comment{{else}}{{$.CommitHTML}}/new_comment^{{end}}">`, nil},
+		{"{{i^f}}", []string{"index", "if"}},
+		{"{{if .}}{{e^ {{end}}", []string{"eq", "end}}", "else", "end"}},
+		{"{{foo}}{{f^", []string{"foo"}},
+		{"{{$^}}", []string{"$"}},
+		{"{{$x:=4}}{{$^", []string{"$x"}},
+		{"{{$x:=4}}{{$ ^ ", []string{}},
+		{"{{len .Modified}}{{.^Mo", []string{"Modified"}},
+		{"{{len .Modified}}{{.mf^", []string{"Modified"}},
+		{"{{$^ }}", []string{"$"}},
+		{"{{$a =3}}{{$^", []string{"$a"}},
 		// .two is not good here: fix someday
-		{`{{.Modified}}{{^.{{if $.one.two}}xxx{{end}}`, []string{"Modified", "one", "two"}},
-		{`{{.Modified}}{{.^o{{if $.one.two}}xxx{{end}}`, []string{"one"}},
-		{"{{.Modiifed}}{{.one.^t{{if $.one.two}}xxx{{end}}", []string{"two"}},
-		{`{{block "foo" .}}{{^i`, []string{"index", "if"}},
-		{"{{i^n{{Internal}}", []string{"index", "Internal", "if"}},
+		{`{{.Modified}}{{.^{{if $.one.two}}xxx{{end}}`, []string{"Modified", "one", "two"}},
+		{`{{.Modified}}{{.o^{{if $.one.two}}xxx{{end}}`, []string{"one"}},
+		{"{{.Modiifed}}{{.one.t^{{if $.one.two}}xxx{{end}}", []string{"two"}},
+		{`{{block "foo" .}}{{i^`, []string{"index", "if"}},
+		{"{{in^{{Internal}}", []string{"index", "Internal", "if"}},
 		// simple number has no completions
 		{"{{4^e", []string{}},
 		// simple string has no completions
-		{"{{`^e", []string{}},
-		{"{{`No ^i", []string{}}, // example of why go/scanner is used
-		{"{{xavier}}{{12. ^x", []string{"xavier"}},
+		{"{{`e^", []string{}},
+		{"{{`No i^", []string{}}, // example of why go/scanner is used
+		{"{{xavier}}{{12. x^", []string{"xavier"}},
 	}
 	for _, tx := range tests {
 		c := testCompleter(t, tx)
-		ans, err := c.complete()
-		if err != nil {
-			t.Fatal(err)
-		}
 		var v []string
-		for _, a := range ans.Items {
-			v = append(v, a.Label)
+		if c != nil {
+			ans, _ := c.complete()
+			for _, a := range ans.Items {
+				v = append(v, a.Label)
+			}
 		}
 		if len(v) != len(tx.wanted) {
 			t.Errorf("%q: got %v, wanted %v", tx.marked, v, tx.wanted)
@@ -75,16 +76,18 @@ func TestParsed(t *testing.T) {
 
 func testCompleter(t *testing.T, tx tparse) *completer {
 	t.Helper()
-	col := strings.Index(tx.marked, "^") + 1
-	offset := strings.LastIndex(tx.marked[:col], string(Left))
-	if offset < 0 {
-		t.Fatalf("no {{ before ^: %q", tx.marked)
-	}
+	// seen chars up to ^
+	col := strings.Index(tx.marked, "^")
 	buf := strings.Replace(tx.marked, "^", "", 1)
 	p := parseBuffer([]byte(buf))
+	pos := protocol.Position{Line: 0, Character: uint32(col)}
 	if p.ParseErr != nil {
 		log.Printf("%q: %v", tx.marked, p.ParseErr)
 	}
+	offset := inTemplate(p, pos)
+	if offset == -1 {
+		return nil
+	}
 	syms := make(map[string]symbol)
 	filterSyms(syms, p.symbols)
 	c := &completer{