/editor
Opens an external text editor to write the next chat message in.
/editor opens an external text editor where you can compose your next chat message at your leisure, instead of typing it directly into the terminal input line. As soon as you close the editor, the text you wrote is sent to Aider as a prompt. Since version 0.79.0, /edit exists as a short alias with identical functionality; since version 0.80.0 you can reach the same function via the keyboard shortcut Ctrl-X Ctrl-E directly in the terminal, without typing the command name.
Which editor opens is determined by Aider via a fixed order: first the command-line option --editor or the editor: entry in the YAML configuration, then the environment variables AIDER_EDITOR, VISUAL, and EDITOR, otherwise a platform default such as Notepad on Windows. The editor must run in "blocking" mode, i.e. wait until you close it.
โ WHEN TO USE IT?
Cleanly format a multi-line prompt
Call /editor to comfortably write a prompt with bullet points and code blocks before it's sent to Aider.
Continue editing input via keyboard shortcut
Press Ctrl-X Ctrl-E directly in the terminal to keep editing the already typed input buffer in the configured editor.
โ WHEN NOT TO?
Sending a short, spontaneous message
For a short message, switching to an external editor isn't worth it.
Better: Type the message directly into the chat prompt, or use /paste if the text is already in the clipboard.
SOURCES
- Aider Docs โ In-chat commands โ aider.chat
MORE COMMANDS ยท Aider