python3, tabs, and Terminal

[Langer, Stephen A. (Fed)]

Hi --

I don’t know if I have something wrong in my settings or expectations, or if this is a bug.  Typing a tab in an Apple Terminal window while using any version of Python3 from MacPorts makes the terminal enter some kind of editing mode, instead of just indenting the line.  Python2 from MacPorts doesn't do this, and neither does Python3 from Apple, which makes me think that it's some kind of Python configuration issue in MacPorts.  The same thing happens when using iTerm2.

For example:

% python3 
Python 3.8.15 (default, Oct 12 2022, 03:09:36) 
[Clang 13.0.0 (clang-1300.0.29.3)] on darwin
Type "help", "copyright", "credits" or "license" for more information.
>>> def f():
<tab><tab> <--- anything typed here brings up old lines from other sessions, when I just want to indent

Is there a way to get around this problem, other than typing spaces instead of tabs, or not running Python interactively?  If this is a feature, is it documented?

Thanks.
 -- Steve