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When using vim as my default editor, I (occasionally) accidentally pull up search (e.g. via /wq instead of :wq). Once I do, I escape out of search, and then exit correctly via :wq. However, when that happens, I see the following error message:

 hint: Waiting for your editor to close the file... error: There was a problem with the editor 'vi'.
 Please supply the message using either -m or -F option.

I'm trying to understand why vi is not exiting correctly, or how I can fix it to exit correctly even after a failed search.

I am using macOS High Sierra.

 VIM - Vi IMproved 8.0 (2016 Sep 12, compiled Nov 29 2017 18:37:46)
 Included patches: 1-503, 505-680, 682-1283

Steps to reproduce:

 > git commit
 vim> i
 vim> My Commit Message
 vim> <Esc>
 vim> /wq
 vim> <Esc>
 vim> :wq

Thanks for the help.

hayesgm
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  • You shouldn't need the second ESC there. You say "I escape out of search" in the question text too - what state do you find Vi in after the /wq, what happens if you press :wq without the second ESC? – Sundar R Jun 06 '18 at 20:38
  • Good point, though the error still persists without the extra escape. – hayesgm Jun 15 '18 at 18:48
  • You may want to change the config to vi instead of vim – kawerewagaba May 23 '19 at 20:26

2 Answers2

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It is possible that you have EDITOR left unset or to its default value of vi. Try making vim your editor. Although both vi and vim are the same executable in mac, I guess, vim behaves in a minimalist way when invoked as vi than vim.

git config --global core.editor /usr/bin/vim

Lakshman Kumar
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  • Great-- you're right that I did not have a default editor set. When I set the editor to usr/bin/vim it works as expected, and if I change it back to /usr/bin/vi it fails like above. Thanks for the help! – hayesgm Jun 15 '18 at 18:50
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    Wow, never thought that invoking Vim as vi would cause this kind of problems. Thank you! – Spidey Aug 20 '19 at 12:47
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In my experience using the graphical gvim, I have to set git config --global core.editor "gvim -f" to make sure it properly waits for the editor to close. The -f option is also available for vi and vim. Try this if git is having trouble waiting for the editor to close.

Spencer Williams
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