Modify with external editor not working

[MichaelBelousov]

What happened?

1. I was given a code change tool request
2. I selected "Modify with external editor"
3. It asks which editor, I selected "Vim" or "Neovim" (I tried both independently)
4. it asks me again if I'll apply the change
5. I select "Modify with external editor" again
6. infinite loop, it still asks me for my editor

 │ Apply this change?                                                                                                                                                                                                                                         │
 │                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                            │
 │   1. Yes, allow once                                                                                                                                                                                                                                       │
 │   2. Yes, allow always                                                                                                                                                                                                                                     │
 │ ● 3. Modify with external editor                                                                                                                                                                                                                           │
 │   4. No, suggest changes (esc)                                                                                                                                                                                                                             │
 │                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                            │
 ╰────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────╯
Press ctrl-s to show more lines
╭────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────╮
│                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                            │
│ > Select Editor                                                                                                   Editor Preference                                                                                                                        │
│ ● 1. None                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                  │
│   2. Cursor (Not installed)                                                                                       These editors are currently supported. Please note that some editors cannot be used in sandbox mode.                                     │
│   3. Emacs (Not installed)                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 │
│   4. Neovim                                                                                                       Your preferred editor is: None.                                                                                                          │
│   5. Vim                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                   │
│   6. VS Code (Not installed)                                                                                                                                                                                                                               │
│   7. VSCodium (Not installed)                                                                                                                                                                                                                              │
│   8. Windsurf (Not installed)                                                                                                                                                                                                                              │
│   9. Zed (Not installed)                                                                                                                                                                                                                                   │
│                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                            │
│   Apply To                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 │
│ ● 1. User Settings                                                                                                                                                                                                                                         │
│   2. Workspace Settings                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    │
│                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                            │
│ (Use Enter to select, Tab to change focus)                                                                                                                                                                                                                 │
│                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                            │

What did you expect to happen?

at least the second time it should just go into the selected editor somehow and let me edit the change diff. Or warn me of any issue.

Client information

Client Information

Run gemini to enter the interactive CLI, then run the /about command.

> /about
│ CLI Version                          0.2.2-git.4d07cb7d                                                   │
│ Git Commit                           4d07cb7d                                                             │
│ Model                                gemini-2.5-pro                                                       │
│ Sandbox                              no sandbox                                                           │
│ OS                                   linux                                                                │
│ Auth Method                          gemini-api-key      

Login information

api key...

Anything else we need to know?

No response

[gemini-cli]

The issue describes a bug where the 'Modify with external editor' feature results in an infinite loop, which is categorized under 'area/ux'. The priority is set to P2. The 'status/need-information' label is added because the client version is missing. Could you please provide the output of the /about command to help us investigate further?

[MichaelBelousov]

I already fixed the client information to include the correct /about output

[TaolueWang-dev]

Same question

[TonyVlcek]

+1 from me.

In my case I am not prompted to select the editor, pressing enter after selecting the Modify with external browser results in no action at all:

I am on v0.9.0.

[1109inc]

Same issue
Nothing is happening after I click enter on Modify with external editor

[estudioso-br]

In my case, it’s in the general settings of the editor. On the Gemini home screen, I press / to show the available options, press the down arrow on the keyboard until the "editor" option appears. I press Enter and select "editor". I press Enter again, and it opens a screen with the available and unavailable editors (starting with 'None' set), the scope of the configuration (If Apply To 1. User Settings or 2. Workspace Settings), and on the right, it states that 'Your preferred editor is: None.'. Using the arrow keys, I go to option 5 (vim) and press Enter (as it says in the footer), and the screen returns to the Gemini home screen, which adds the following yellow information: "ℹEditor preference set to 'vim' in User settings.".

But when I press CTRL-X, nothing happens. And when I return to the editor configuration, 'None' is still selected.

I’ve tried changing it, and after returning to the home screen, immediately going back to the configuration, but it remained 'None', even though the message "ℹEditor preference set to 'vim' in User settings." was shown.

I’ve also tried changing the scope to "2. Workspace Settings", but the result is the same, including the message "ℹEditor preference set to 'vim' in User settings.", which should indicate the change in "Workspace settings" and not in "User settings".

Below is a CTRL-C and CTRL-V from the editor configuration screen:

Translated with ChatGPT.com (free version)

Settings

Select Editor Editor Preference │
│ ● 1. None │
│ 2. Cursor These editors are currently supported. Please note that some editors cannot be used in │
│ 3. Emacs (Not installed) sandbox mode. │
│ 4. Neovim (Not installed) │
│ 5. Vim Your preferred editor is: None. │
│ 6. VS Code (Not installed) │
│ 7. VSCodium (Not installed) │
│ 8. Windsurf (Not installed) │
│ 9. Zed │
│ │
│ Apply To │
│ ● 1. User Settings │
│ 2. Workspace Settings │
│ │
│ (Use Enter to select, Tab to change focus, Esc to close)

/about

╭───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────╮
│ │
│ About Gemini CLI │
│ │
│ CLI Version 0.11.0-nightly.20251020.a96f0659 │
│ Git Commit a96f065 │
│ Model auto │
│ Sandbox no sandbox │
│ OS linux │
│ Auth Method OAuth │
│

Settings │
│ │
│ ▲ │
│ ● Vim Mode true* │
│ │
│ Disable Auto Update false │
│ │
│ Enable Prompt Completion false │
│ │
│ Debug Keystroke Logging false │
│ │
│ Session Retention undefined │
│ │
│ Enable Session Cleanup false │
│ │
│ Output Format Text │
│ │
│ Hide Window Title false │
│ │
│ Show Status in Title true* │
│ │
│ Hide Tips false │
│ │
│ Hide Banner false │
│ │
│ ▼
│ │
│ │
│ Apply To │
│ ● User Settings │
│ Workspace Settings │
│ System Settings │
│ │
│ (Use Enter to select, Tab to change focus, Esc to close)

Settings │
│ │
│ ▲ │
│ Hide Context Summary false │
│ │
│ Hide CWD false* │
│ │
│ Hide Sandbox Status false │
│ │
│ Hide Model Info false │
│ │
│ Hide Footer false │
│ │
│ Show Memory Usage true* │
│ │
│ Show Line Numbers true* │
│ │
│ Show Citations true* │
│ │
│ Use Full Width true* │
│ │
│ Disable Loading Phrases false │
│ │
│ ● Screen Reader Mode false │
│ │
│ ▼ │
│
│ │
│ │
│ Apply To │
│ ● User Settings │
│ Workspace Settings │
│ System Settings │
│ │
│ (Use Enter to select, Tab to change focus, Esc to close)

                                                                                                                                                                │

│ > Settings │
│ │
│ ▲ │
│ IDE Mode false │
│ │
│ Max Session Turns -1 │
│ │
│ Skip Next Speaker Check true │
│ │
│ Memory Discovery Max Dirs 200 │
│ │
│ Load Memory From Include Directories false │
│ │
│ Respect .gitignore true │
│ │
│ Respect .geminiignore true │
│ │
│ Enable Recursive File Search true │
│ │
│ Disable Fuzzy Search false │
│ │
│ Enable Interactive Shell true │
│ │
│ ● Show Color false │
│ │
│ ▼ │
│ │
│ │
│ Apply To │
│ ● User Settings │
│ Workspace Settings │
│ System Settings │
│ │
│ (Use Enter to select, Tab to change focus, Esc to close) │
│

Settings │
│ │
│ ▲ │
│ Show Color false │
│ │
│ Auto Accept false │
│ │
│ Use Ripgrep true │
│ │
│ Enable Tool Output Truncation true │
│ │
│ Tool Output Truncation Threshold 4000000 │
│ │
│ Tool Output Truncation Lines 1000 │
│ │
│ Enable Message Bus Integration false │
│ │
│ Folder Trust false │
│ │
│ Use Model Router true │
│ │
│ Enable Codebase Investigator true │
│ │
│ ● Codebase Investigator Max Num Turns 15 │
│ │
│ ▼ │
│ │
│ │
│ Apply To │
│ ● User Settings │
│ Workspace Settings │
│ System Settings │
│ │
│ (Use Enter to select, Tab to change focus, Esc to close)

[estudioso-br]

I left the Gemini CLI and came back, at least now it kept the configuration: 'Your preferred editor is: Vim.'
But even so, CTRL-X still doesn't call my preferred editor, doing nothing visible when triggered.

Translated with ChatGPT.com (free version)