Re: [RFC PATCH 0/1] config: surface editor failure in exit code

Karthik Nayak <[email protected]> Tue, 18 Aug 2026 03:26:36 -0500

Newsgroups	org.kernel.vger.git
Message-ID	<CAOLa=ZTykwSDcFaEmEJJ1PTnX5L9=2t+tkCWhF+hV4J9EPBwWg@mail.gmail.com>

Junio C Hamano <[email protected]> writes:

> Kenneth Lorber <[email protected]> writes:
>
>> When the editor invoked by 'git config -e' fails (crashes or calls exit(3)
>> with a non-zero value), git notices and give an error:
>> 	editor.c:launch_specified_editor()
>> 		return error("there was a problem with the editor '%s'", editor);
>> which is then lost:
>> 	builtin/config.c:show_editor()
>> 		launch_editor(config_file, NULL, NULL);
>> which results in git always calling exit(0).  Note that the value is
>> not explicitly thrown away with "(void)", so this may not have been
>> intentional.
>
> I do not intentionally exit my editor with a non-zero status myself,
> but what I hear from others who do is that they do so to affect the
> invoking 'git' command, e.g., to stop 'git commit' from creating a
> commit.  They somehow realize they botched the edit, and they want
> to prevent 'git commit' from committing, signaling that by exiting
> their editor.  A cleaner and more modern way to do so, by the way,
> is to empty the editor buffer.  In either case, 'git commit' itself
> exits with a non-zero status.
>
> It might have been more consistent if 'git config -e' exited with a
> non-zero status when it noticed that the editor exited with a
> non-zero status, in that sense.  But we have never done so, and that
> is probably because we did not care ;-)
>
> In any case, I am not sure whether there is much value in making
> 'git config -e' start behaving that way.  Even if it can notice a
> failed editor, the damage to the file is already done, and there is
> not enough information to undo the damage even if you wanted to when
> detecting such an error.  This is quite different from when an editor
> edits the 'COMMIT_EDITMSG' file and fails.
>
> So, I dunno.

Wouldn't it be better to notify the user that something went wrong
rather than simply brush it off?

I would be in support of the patch:

  $ GIT_EDITOR=false git config --edit
  error: there was a problem with the editor 'false'
  $ echo $status
  0

As a user the expectation here would be a non-zero exit status.

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