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External command editor

Edit the current Zsh command with Alt+E while preserving multiline content, bindings, and Vim cursor position.

When Alt+E is undefined in a supported keymap during initialization, the integration binds it to open the current Zsh editing buffer in an external editor. Save and close the editor to return the text to the prompt. The command is not executed until you press Enter.

Both the opinionated and detached integrations expose the private nbsp-edit-command-line widget and conditionally bind it.

Choose an editor

The editor is selected in this order:

  1. a nonempty editor style for the :zle:edit-command-line context;
  2. $VISUAL;
  3. $EDITOR;
  4. vi.

The zstyle form keeps the executable and arguments as distinct array values:

zstyle :zle:edit-command-line editor nvim --clean
eval "$(nbsp init zsh)"

Both environment variables can include arguments:

export EDITOR='nvim'
eval "$(nbsp init zsh)"

Another example:

export VISUAL='nano --linenumbers'
eval "$(nbsp init zsh --detached)"

Values from VISUAL and EDITOR are split using Zsh’s lexical word parser and quote removal rather than evaluated by another shell. The implementation then delegates buffer editing to the current edit-command-line function, loading Zsh’s standard edit-command-line implementation when that function is absent.

Buffer behavior

  • Empty, single-line, and multiline commands are supported.
  • Saving returns the edited text without executing it.
  • The private widget returns the status from Zsh’s edit-command-line helper.
  • Existing prompt content and terminal output are not redirected or hidden.

Cursor restoration

With vi, vim, or nvim, nbsp records the editor’s final line and Unicode character column. When the edited text returns to Zsh, the cursor is restored to that position when the report is valid.

In a normal invocation, other editors or an invalid cursor report place the cursor at the end of the edited command.

The temporary cursor file is removed after editing, including error paths.

Existing key bindings

The integration creates nbsp-edit-command-line; it does not replace a public edit-command-line widget supplied by the user or another plugin. It considers the Emacs, Vi insert, and Vi command keymaps and binds Alt+E only where that key is currently undefined-key.

Existing user and plugin bindings are left unchanged.