fix(cli): prompt for editor selection when CTRL-X is pressed and none is configured

packages/cli/src/ui/components/shared/text-buffer.ts

@@ -12,6 +12,7 @@ import { useState, useCallback, useEffect, useMemo, useReducer } from 'react';
 import { LRUCache } from 'mnemonist';
 import {
   coreEvents,
+  CoreEvent,
   debugLogger,
   unescapePath,
   type EditorType,
@@ -29,7 +30,10 @@ import { Command } from '../../key/keyMatchers.js';
 import type { VimAction } from './vim-buffer-actions.js';
 import { handleVimAction } from './vim-buffer-actions.js';
 import { LRU_BUFFER_PERF_CACHE_LIMIT } from '../../constants.js';
-import { openFileInEditor } from '../../utils/editorUtils.js';
+import {
+  openFileInEditor,
+  EditorNotConfiguredError,
+} from '../../utils/editorUtils.js';
 import { useKeyMatchers } from '../../hooks/useKeyMatchers.js';
 
 export const LARGE_PASTE_LINE_THRESHOLD = 5;
@@ -3342,6 +3346,10 @@ export function useTextBuffer({
 
       dispatch({ type: 'set_text', payload: newText, pushToUndo: false });
     } catch (err) {
+      if (err instanceof EditorNotConfiguredError) {
+        coreEvents.emit(CoreEvent.RequestEditorSelection);
+        return;
+      }
       coreEvents.emitFeedback(
         'error',
         '[useTextBuffer] external editor error',

packages/cli/src/ui/utils/editorUtils.ts

@@ -15,6 +15,13 @@ import {
   isTerminalEditor,
 } from '@google/gemini-cli-core';
 
+export class EditorNotConfiguredError extends Error {
+  constructor() {
+    super('No external editor configured');
+    this.name = 'EditorNotConfiguredError';
+  }
+}
+
 /**
  * Opens a file in an external editor and waits for it to close.
  * Handles raw mode switching to ensure the editor can interact with the terminal.
@@ -58,7 +65,7 @@ export async function openFileInEditor(
   }
 
   if (!command) {
-    command = process.platform === 'win32' ? 'notepad' : 'vi';
+    throw new EditorNotConfiguredError();
   }
 
   const [executable = '', ...initialArgs] = command.split(' ');