Prevent Lint/LiteralInInterpolation from removing necessary interpolation

CHANGELOG.md

@@ -20,6 +20,10 @@
 * [#8933](https://github.com/rubocop-hq/rubocop/pull/8933): Fix an error for `Layout/EmptyLinesAroundAccessModifier` when the first line is a comment. ([@matthieugendreau][])
 * [#8954](https://github.com/rubocop-hq/rubocop/pull/8954): Fix autocorrection for Style/RedundantRegexpCharacterClass with %r. ([@ysakasin][])
 
+### Bug fixes
+
+* [#8921](https://github.com/rubocop-hq/rubocop/pull/8921): Prevent `Lint/LiteralInInterpolation` from removing necessary interpolation in `%W[]` and `%I[]` literals. ([@knu][])
+
 ### Changes
 
 * [#8920](https://github.com/rubocop-hq/rubocop/pull/8920): Remove Capybara's `save_screenshot` from `Lint/Debugger`. ([@ybiquitous][])

lib/rubocop/cop/lint/literal_in_interpolation.rb

@@ -31,12 +31,18 @@ def on_interpolation(begin_node)
           return if special_keyword?(final_node)
           return unless prints_as_self?(final_node)
 
+          # %W and %I split the content into words before expansion
+          # treating each interpolation as a word component, so
+          # interpolation should not be removed if the expanded value
+          # contains a space character.
+          expanded_value = autocorrected_value(final_node)
+          return if in_array_percent_literal?(begin_node) &&
+                    /\s/.match?(expanded_value)
+
           add_offense(final_node) do |corrector|
             return if final_node.dstr_type? # nested, fixed in next iteration
 
-            value = autocorrected_value(final_node)
-
-            corrector.replace(final_node.parent, value)
+            corrector.replace(final_node.parent, expanded_value)
           end
         end
 
@@ -92,6 +98,14 @@ def prints_as_self?(node)
             (COMPOSITE.include?(node.type) &&
               node.children.all? { |child| prints_as_self?(child) })
         end
+
+        def in_array_percent_literal?(node)
+          parent = node.parent
+          return false unless parent.dstr_type? || parent.dsym_type?
+
+          grandparent = parent.parent
+          grandparent&.array_type? && grandparent&.percent_literal?
+        end
       end
     end
   end

spec/rubocop/cop/lint/literal_in_interpolation_spec.rb

@@ -113,6 +113,77 @@
   it_behaves_like('literal interpolation', '%i[s1     s2]', '[\"s1\", \"s2\"]')
   it_behaves_like('literal interpolation', '%i[ s1   s2 ]', '[\"s1\", \"s2\"]')
 
+  shared_examples 'literal interpolation in words literal' do |prefix|
+    let(:word) { 'interpolation' }
+
+    it "accepts interpolation of a string literal with space in #{prefix}[]" do
+      expect_no_offenses(<<~RUBY)
+        #{prefix}[\#{\"this interpolation\"} is significant]
+      RUBY
+    end
+
+    it "accepts interpolation of a symbol literal with space in #{prefix}[]" do
+      expect_no_offenses(<<~RUBY)
+        #{prefix}[\#{:\"this interpolation\"} is significant]
+      RUBY
+    end
+
+    it "accepts interpolation of an array literal containing a string with space in #{prefix}[]" do
+      expect_no_offenses(<<~RUBY)
+        #{prefix}[\#{[\"this interpolation\"]} is significant]
+      RUBY
+    end
+
+    it "accepts interpolation of an array literal containing a symbol with space in #{prefix}[]" do
+      expect_no_offenses(<<~RUBY)
+        #{prefix}[\#{[:\"this interpolation\"]} is significant]
+      RUBY
+    end
+
+    it "removes interpolation of a string literal without space in #{prefix}[]" do
+      expect_offense(<<~'RUBY', prefix: prefix, literal: word.inspect)
+        %{prefix}[this #{%{literal}} is not significant]
+        _{prefix}        ^{literal} Literal interpolation detected.
+      RUBY
+      expect_correction(<<~RUBY)
+        #{prefix}[this #{word} is not significant]
+      RUBY
+    end
+
+    it "removes interpolation of a symbol literal without space in #{prefix}[]" do
+      expect_offense(<<~'RUBY', prefix: prefix, literal: word.to_sym.inspect)
+        %{prefix}[this #{%{literal}} is not significant]
+        _{prefix}        ^{literal} Literal interpolation detected.
+      RUBY
+      expect_correction(<<~RUBY)
+        #{prefix}[this #{word} is not significant]
+      RUBY
+    end
+
+    it "removes interpolation of an array containing a string literal without space in #{prefix}[]" do
+      expect_offense(<<~'RUBY', prefix: prefix, literal: [word].inspect)
+        %{prefix}[this #{%{literal}} is not significant]
+        _{prefix}        ^{literal} Literal interpolation detected.
+      RUBY
+      expect_correction(<<~RUBY)
+        #{prefix}[this #{[word].inspect.gsub(/"/, '\"')} is not significant]
+      RUBY
+    end
+
+    it "removes interpolation of an array containing a symbol literal without space in #{prefix}[]" do
+      expect_offense(<<~'RUBY', prefix: prefix, literal: [word.to_sym].inspect)
+        %{prefix}[this #{%{literal}} is not significant]
+        _{prefix}        ^{literal} Literal interpolation detected.
+      RUBY
+      expect_correction(<<~RUBY)
+        #{prefix}[this #{[word.to_sym].inspect} is not significant]
+      RUBY
+    end
+  end
+
+  it_behaves_like('literal interpolation in words literal', '%W')
+  it_behaves_like('literal interpolation in words literal', '%I')
+
   it 'handles nested interpolations when auto-correction' do
     expect_offense(<<~'RUBY')
       "this is #{"#{1}"} silly"