nikivdev/code · error

Editor exited with status

Error message

Editor exited with status {:?}

What it means

This error is raised by the edit_agent flow after launching the user's configured editor as a child process. The editor was spawned successfully but exited with a non-zero status code, meaning it terminated abnormally (crash, bad exit, user abort). The library surfaces the raw exit code so the developer can diagnose which editor and why.

Solutions

  1. Re-run the command and watch the inherited editor output for its error message
  2. Verify $EDITOR/$VISUAL points to a working editor binary (run it directly with the same file)
  3. Ensure the command runs in an interactive TTY if the editor requires one
  4. Check file permissions on the file being edited

Example fix

// before (CI, no TTY)
EDITOR=vim f edit-agent
// after
EDITOR=vi f edit-agent   # or run inside an interactive terminal / use a non-TTY editor like `sed -i`
Defensive patterns

Strategy: try-catch

Validate before calling

let editor = std::env::var("EDITOR").unwrap_or_else(|_| "vi".into());
if which::which(&editor).is_err() {
    eprintln!("editor '{}' not found on PATH", editor);
}

Type guard

fn editor_exists(editor: &str) -> bool {
    std::process::Command::new(editor).arg("--version").output().map(|o| o.status.success()).unwrap_or(false)
}

Try / catch

match edit_agent(...) {
    Ok(()) => {},
    Err(e) if e.to_string().contains("Editor exited with status") => {
        eprintln!("editor failed: {e:#}; check $EDITOR and run in a TTY");
    }
    Err(e) => return Err(e),
}

Prevention

When it happens

Trigger: Calling edit_agent opens $EDITOR/$VISUAL (or a configured editor) via Command .status(); the child process returns a non-zero exit code, e.g. the editor crashed, printed an error and quit, or the user killed it.

Common situations: EDITOR set to a broken shell alias or nonexistent wrapper script; editor fails to render the agent file (permission issues on the temp file); terminal incompatibilities (e.g. vi in a non-TTY environment); user force-quits the editor.

Related errors

AI-assisted analysis of nikivdev/code@a747e741ae (2026-09-01). Data as JSON: /api/errors/e860df22d0257342. Report an issue: GitHub.

Appendix: source

Thrown at src/hive.rs:411

    Ok(path)
}

/// Edit an agent spec file
pub fn edit_agent(name: &str) -> Result<()> {
    let (path, _source) =
        find_agent_spec(name).ok_or_else(|| anyhow::anyhow!("Agent '{}' not found", name))?;

    let editor = std::env::var("EDITOR").unwrap_or_else(|_| "vim".to_string());
    let status = Command::new(&editor)
        .arg(&path)
        .stdin(Stdio::inherit())
        .stdout(Stdio::inherit())
        .stderr(Stdio::inherit())
        .status()
        .context(format!("Failed to open editor '{}'", editor))?;

    if !status.success() {
        anyhow::bail!("Editor exited with status {:?}", status.code());
    }

    Ok(())
}

/// List agents in a formatted table
pub fn list_agents(project_agents: &[AgentConfig]) {
    let agents = discover_agents(project_agents);

    if agents.is_empty() {
        println!("No agents found.");
        println!("\nCreate one with: f hive new <name>");
        return;
    }

    println!("{:<20} {:<10} {}", "NAME", "SOURCE", "DESCRIPTION");
    println!("{}", "-".repeat(60));

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