From a7d49971d2cb89bb59ada097dfc926df0a8fca08 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: "A.K.M. Adib" <adibakm@google.com>
Date: Mon, 4 May 2026 15:24:25 -0400
Subject: [PATCH] fix(cli): prompt for editor selection when CTRL-X is pressed
 and none is configured

---
 packages/cli/src/ui/components/shared/text-buffer.ts | 10 +++++++++-
 packages/cli/src/ui/utils/editorUtils.ts             |  9 ++++++++-
 2 files changed, 17 insertions(+), 2 deletions(-)

diff --git a/packages/cli/src/ui/components/shared/text-buffer.ts b/packages/cli/src/ui/components/shared/text-buffer.ts
index 89b6f8f158..b72c1bea45 100644
--- a/packages/cli/src/ui/components/shared/text-buffer.ts
+++ b/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',
diff --git a/packages/cli/src/ui/utils/editorUtils.ts b/packages/cli/src/ui/utils/editorUtils.ts
index 7b9efd5a81..354828dc0c 100644
--- a/packages/cli/src/ui/utils/editorUtils.ts
+++ b/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(' ');