Before: Save &l:statusline After: Restore Execute(ALE shouldn't do much of anything for ctrlp-funky buffers): Assert !ale#ShouldDoNothing(bufnr('')), 'The preliminary check failed' let &l:statusline = '%#CtrlPMode2# prt %*%#CtrlPMode1# line %* ={%#CtrlPMode1# funky %*}= <-> %=%<%#CtrlPMode2# %{getcwd()} %*' Assert ale#ShouldDoNothing(bufnr(''))