diff --git a/packages/cli/src/ui/components/shared/text-buffer-external.test.ts b/packages/cli/src/ui/components/shared/text-buffer-external.test.ts
index c536d8be5e..ebc5b4dc59 100644
--- a/packages/cli/src/ui/components/shared/text-buffer-external.test.ts
+++ b/packages/cli/src/ui/components/shared/text-buffer-external.test.ts
@@ -60,7 +60,7 @@ describe('useTextBuffer external editor', () => {
     vi.clearAllMocks();
   });
 
-  it('should emit RequestEditorSelection when openFileInEditor throws EditorNotConfiguredError', async () => {
+  it('should emit feedback when openFileInEditor throws EditorNotConfiguredError', async () => {
     vi.mocked(openFileInEditor).mockRejectedValue(
       new EditorNotConfiguredError(),
     );
@@ -76,7 +76,11 @@ describe('useTextBuffer external editor', () => {
       await result.current.openInExternalEditor();
     });
 
-    expect(coreEvents.emit).toHaveBeenCalledWith(
+    expect(coreEvents.emitFeedback).toHaveBeenCalledWith(
+      'warning',
+      'No external editor configured. Please set your preferred editor in settings.',
+    );
+    expect(coreEvents.emit).not.toHaveBeenCalledWith(
       CoreEvent.RequestEditorSelection,
     );
   });
diff --git a/packages/cli/src/ui/components/shared/text-buffer.ts b/packages/cli/src/ui/components/shared/text-buffer.ts
index b72c1bea45..6e32ab802c 100644
--- a/packages/cli/src/ui/components/shared/text-buffer.ts
+++ b/packages/cli/src/ui/components/shared/text-buffer.ts
@@ -12,7 +12,6 @@ import { useState, useCallback, useEffect, useMemo, useReducer } from 'react';
 import { LRUCache } from 'mnemonist';
 import {
   coreEvents,
-  CoreEvent,
   debugLogger,
   unescapePath,
   type EditorType,
@@ -3347,7 +3346,10 @@ export function useTextBuffer({
       dispatch({ type: 'set_text', payload: newText, pushToUndo: false });
     } catch (err) {
       if (err instanceof EditorNotConfiguredError) {
-        coreEvents.emit(CoreEvent.RequestEditorSelection);
+        coreEvents.emitFeedback(
+          'warning',
+          'No external editor configured. Please set your preferred editor in settings.',
+        );
         return;
       }
       coreEvents.emitFeedback(
diff --git a/packages/cli/src/ui/utils/editorUtils.test.ts b/packages/cli/src/ui/utils/editorUtils.test.ts
index 17d2fa2ef8..087b041f64 100644
--- a/packages/cli/src/ui/utils/editorUtils.test.ts
+++ b/packages/cli/src/ui/utils/editorUtils.test.ts
@@ -46,7 +46,7 @@ describe('editorUtils', () => {
     vi.unstubAllEnvs();
   });
 
-  it('should throw EditorNotConfiguredError if no editor is configured and no env vars set', async () => {
+  it('should throw EditorNotConfiguredError if no editor is configured', async () => {
     await expect(openFileInEditor('test.txt', null, undefined)).rejects.toThrow(
       EditorNotConfiguredError,
     );
@@ -86,40 +86,13 @@ describe('editorUtils', () => {
     );
   });
 
-  it('should use VISUAL env var if set', async () => {
-    vi.stubEnv('VISUAL', 'nano');
-    vi.mocked(spawnSync).mockReturnValue({
-      status: 0,
-    } as SpawnSyncReturns<Buffer>);
-    await openFileInEditor('test.txt', null, undefined);
-    expect(spawnSync).toHaveBeenCalledWith(
-      'nano',
-      expect.arrayContaining(['test.txt']),
-      expect.anything(),
-    );
-  });
-
-  it('should use EDITOR env var if set', async () => {
-    vi.stubEnv('EDITOR', 'nano');
-    vi.mocked(spawnSync).mockReturnValue({
-      status: 0,
-    } as SpawnSyncReturns<Buffer>);
-    await openFileInEditor('test.txt', null, undefined);
-    expect(spawnSync).toHaveBeenCalledWith(
-      'nano',
-      expect.arrayContaining(['test.txt']),
-      expect.anything(),
-    );
-  });
-
   it('should handle editor exit with non-zero status', async () => {
-    vi.stubEnv('EDITOR', 'vim');
     vi.mocked(spawnSync).mockReturnValue({
       status: 1,
     } as SpawnSyncReturns<Buffer>);
-    await expect(openFileInEditor('test.txt', null, undefined)).rejects.toThrow(
-      'External editor exited with status 1',
-    );
+    await expect(
+      openFileInEditor('test.txt', null, undefined, 'vim'),
+    ).rejects.toThrow('External editor exited with status 1');
     expect(coreEvents.emitFeedback).toHaveBeenCalledWith(
       'error',
       expect.any(String),
diff --git a/packages/cli/src/ui/utils/editorUtils.ts b/packages/cli/src/ui/utils/editorUtils.ts
index 3fc89b08cf..34ab94a97a 100644
--- a/packages/cli/src/ui/utils/editorUtils.ts
+++ b/packages/cli/src/ui/utils/editorUtils.ts
@@ -47,23 +47,6 @@ export async function openFileInEditor(
     }
   }
 
-  if (!command) {
-    command = process.env['VISUAL']?.trim() || process.env['EDITOR']?.trim();
-    if (command) {
-      const lowerCommand = command.toLowerCase();
-      const isGui = ['code', 'cursor', 'subl', 'zed', 'atom'].some((gui) =>
-        lowerCommand.includes(gui),
-      );
-      if (
-        isGui &&
-        !lowerCommand.includes('--wait') &&
-        !lowerCommand.includes('-w')
-      ) {
-        args.unshift(lowerCommand.includes('subl') ? '-w' : '--wait');
-      }
-    }
-  }
-
   if (!command) {
     throw new EditorNotConfiguredError();
   }