feat(cli): add Sublime Text and Emacs Client editors, improve error messages and documentation (google-gemini#21090)

Co-authored-by: Ananth Kini <ananthkini1@gmail.com>

Author: alberti42

docs/reference/configuration.md

@@ -105,9 +105,19 @@ their corresponding top-level category object in your `settings.json` file.
 
 #### `general`
 
-- **`general.preferredEditor`** (string):
-  - **Description:** The preferred editor to open files in.
+- **`general.preferredEditor`** (enum):
+  - **Description:** The preferred editor to open files in. Must be one of the
+    built-in supported identifiers. Use /editor in the CLI to pick
+    interactively, or leave unset to use $VISUAL/$EDITOR.
   - **Default:** `undefined`
+  - **Values:** `"vscode"`, `"vscodium"`, `"windsurf"`, `"cursor"`, `"zed"`,
+    `"antigravity"`, `"sublimetext"`, `"lapce"`, `"nova"`, `"bbedit"`, `"vim"`,
+    `"neovim"`, `"emacs"`, `"hx"`, `"emacsclient"`, `"micro"`
+
+- **`general.openEditorInNewWindow`** (boolean):
+  - **Description:** Open VS Code-family editors in a new window when editing
+    files.
+  - **Default:** `false`
 
 - **`general.vimMode`** (boolean):
   - **Description:** Enable Vim keybindings

packages/cli/src/config/settingsSchema.ts

@@ -12,6 +12,7 @@
 import {
   DEFAULT_TRUNCATE_TOOL_OUTPUT_THRESHOLD,
   DEFAULT_MODEL_CONFIGS,
+  EDITOR_OPTIONS,
   AuthProviderType,
   type MCPServerConfig,
   type RequiredMcpServerConfig,
@@ -192,12 +193,27 @@ const SETTINGS_SCHEMA = {
     showInDialog: false,
     properties: {
       preferredEditor: {
-        type: 'string',
+        type: 'enum',
         label: 'Preferred Editor',
         category: 'General',
         requiresRestart: false,
         default: undefined as string | undefined,
-        description: 'The preferred editor to open files in.',
+        description: oneLine`
+          The preferred editor to open files in. Must be one of the built-in
+          supported identifiers. Use /editor in the CLI to pick interactively,
+          or leave unset to use $VISUAL/$EDITOR.
+        `,
+        showInDialog: false,
+        options: EDITOR_OPTIONS,
+      },
+      openEditorInNewWindow: {
+        type: 'boolean',
+        label: 'Open Editor in New Window',
+        category: 'General',
+        requiresRestart: false,
+        default: false,
+        description:
+          'Open VS Code-family editors in a new window when editing files.',
         showInDialog: false,
       },
       vimMode: {

packages/cli/src/ui/AppContainer.tsx

@@ -47,7 +47,6 @@ import { MouseProvider } from './contexts/MouseContext.js';
 import { ScrollProvider } from './contexts/ScrollProvider.js';
 import {
   type StartupWarning,
-  type EditorType,
   type Config,
   type IdeInfo,
   type IdeContext,
@@ -68,6 +67,7 @@ import {
   ShellExecutionService,
   saveApiKey,
   debugLogger,
+  isValidEditorType,
   coreEvents,
   CoreEvent,
   flattenMemory,
@@ -609,11 +609,10 @@ export const AppContainer = (props: AppContainerProps) => {
 
   const staticAreaMaxItemHeight = Math.max(terminalHeight * 4, 100);
 
-  const getPreferredEditor = useCallback(
-    // eslint-disable-next-line @typescript-eslint/no-unsafe-type-assertion
-    () => settings.merged.general.preferredEditor as EditorType,
-    [settings.merged.general.preferredEditor],
-  );
+  const getPreferredEditor = useCallback(() => {
+    const val = settings.merged.general.preferredEditor;
+    return isValidEditorType(val) ? val : undefined;
+  }, [settings.merged.general.preferredEditor]);
 
   const buffer = useTextBuffer({
     initialText: '',

packages/cli/src/ui/components/EditorSettingsDialog.tsx

@@ -22,7 +22,6 @@ import {
   type EditorType,
   isEditorAvailable,
   EDITOR_DISPLAY_NAMES,
-  coreEvents,
 } from '@google/gemini-cli-core';
 import { useKeypress } from '../hooks/useKeypress.js';
 
@@ -72,10 +71,6 @@ export function EditorSettingsDialog({
       )
     : 0;
   if (editorIndex === -1) {
-    coreEvents.emitFeedback(
-      'error',
-      `Editor is not supported: ${currentPreference}`,
-    );
     editorIndex = 0;
   }
 
@@ -131,10 +126,7 @@ export function EditorSettingsDialog({
     isEditorAvailable(settings.merged.general.preferredEditor)
   ) {
     mergedEditorName =
-      EDITOR_DISPLAY_NAMES[
-        // eslint-disable-next-line @typescript-eslint/no-unsafe-type-assertion
-        settings.merged.general.preferredEditor as EditorType
-      ];
+      EDITOR_DISPLAY_NAMES[settings.merged.general.preferredEditor];
   }
 
   return (
@@ -161,6 +153,7 @@ export function EditorSettingsDialog({
           onSelect={handleEditorSelect}
           isFocused={focusedSection === 'editor'}
           key={selectedScope}
+          maxItemsToShow={editorItems.length}
         />
 
         <Box marginTop={1} flexDirection="column">

packages/cli/src/ui/components/shared/performance.test.ts

@@ -9,6 +9,17 @@ import { renderHook } from '../../../test-utils/render.js';
 import { useTextBuffer } from './text-buffer.js';
 import { parseInputForHighlighting } from '../../utils/highlight.js';
 
+vi.mock('../../contexts/SettingsContext.js', async (importOriginal) => {
+  const actual =
+    await importOriginal<typeof import('../../contexts/SettingsContext.js')>();
+  return {
+    ...actual,
+    useSettings: () => ({
+      merged: { general: { openEditorInNewWindow: false } },
+    }),
+  };
+});
+
 describe('text-buffer performance', () => {
   afterEach(() => {
     vi.restoreAllMocks();

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

@@ -44,6 +44,17 @@ import { cpLen } from '../../utils/textUtils.js';
 import { type Key } from '../../hooks/useKeypress.js';
 import { escapePath } from '@google/gemini-cli-core';
 
+vi.mock('../../contexts/SettingsContext.js', async (importOriginal) => {
+  const actual =
+    await importOriginal<typeof import('../../contexts/SettingsContext.js')>();
+  return {
+    ...actual,
+    useSettings: () => ({
+      merged: { general: { openEditorInNewWindow: false } },
+    }),
+  };
+});
+
 const defaultVisualLayout: VisualLayout = {
   visualLines: [''],
   logicalToVisualMap: [[[0, 0]]],

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

@@ -13,6 +13,7 @@ import { LRUCache } from 'mnemonist';
 import {
   coreEvents,
   debugLogger,
+  getErrorMessage,
   unescapePath,
   type EditorType,
 } from '@google/gemini-cli-core';
@@ -30,6 +31,7 @@ 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 { useSettings } from '../../contexts/SettingsContext.js';
 import { useKeyMatchers } from '../../hooks/useKeyMatchers.js';
 
 export const LARGE_PASTE_LINE_THRESHOLD = 5;
@@ -2840,6 +2842,7 @@ export function useTextBuffer({
   singleLine = false,
   getPreferredEditor,
 }: UseTextBufferProps): TextBuffer {
+  const settings = useSettings();
   const keyMatchers = useKeyMatchers();
   const initialState = useMemo((): TextBufferState => {
     const lines = initialText.split('\n');
@@ -3325,6 +3328,7 @@ export function useTextBuffer({
         stdin,
         setRawMode,
         getPreferredEditor?.(),
+        settings.merged.general.openEditorInNewWindow,
       );
 
       let newText = fs.readFileSync(filePath, 'utf8');
@@ -3342,11 +3346,7 @@ export function useTextBuffer({
 
       dispatch({ type: 'set_text', payload: newText, pushToUndo: false });
     } catch (err) {
-      coreEvents.emitFeedback(
-        'error',
-        '[useTextBuffer] external editor error',
-        err,
-      );
+      coreEvents.emitFeedback('error', getErrorMessage(err), err);
     } finally {
       try {
         fs.unlinkSync(filePath);
@@ -3359,7 +3359,14 @@ export function useTextBuffer({
         /* ignore */
       }
     }
-  }, [text, pastedContent, stdin, setRawMode, getPreferredEditor]);
+  }, [
+    text,
+    pastedContent,
+    stdin,
+    setRawMode,
+    getPreferredEditor,
+    settings.merged.general.openEditorInNewWindow,
+  ]);
 
   const handleInput = useCallback(
     (key: Key): boolean => {