Opening in editor

[sopertob]

When hitting ctrl-e to open a file in nano, Leaf offers the message opening in nano but then returns to Leaf without opening nano.

[RivoLink]

Hi,
Thanks for your feedback.
Do you have nano installed on your system?

[sopertob]

I do. I can call it up independently in the terminal.

[RivoLink]

Could you run:

leaf --debug-input README.md > leaf.log 2>&1

Then press ctrl+e, quit leaf, and paste the contents of leaf.log and leaf-debug.log here?
Thanks!

[sopertob]

leaf.log `Error: Cannot read: README.md Caused by: No such file or directory (os error 2)` leaf-debug.log `leaf debug input log`

…

On Thu, Jul 9, 2026 at 4:58 PM Rivo Link ***@***.***> wrote: *RivoLink* left a comment (RivoLink/leaf#205) <#205 (comment)> Could you run: leaf --debug-input README.md > leaf.log 2>&1 Then press ctrl+e, quit *leaf*, and paste the contents of leaf.log and leaf-debug.log here? Thanks! — Reply to this email directly, view it on GitHub <#205?email_source=notifications&email_token=ABG4MCIL47WSYI66RZJKYPD5EABPXA5CNFSNUABFM5UWIORPF5TWS5BNNB2WEL2JONZXKZKDN5WW2ZLOOQXTIOJSHE2DOMZZHAZKM4TFMFZW63VGMF2XI2DPOKSWK5TFNZ2KYZTPN52GK4S7MNWGSY3L#issuecomment-4929473982>, or unsubscribe <https://github.com/notifications/unsubscribe-auth/ABG4MCJVPMJ7CZ44O3NJ5GL5EABPXAVCNFSNUABGKJSXA33TNF2G64TZHMYTEMBSGQ2TMNJZGU5US43TOVSTWNBYGQ4DQOJYGMYTBILWAI> . Triage notifications, keep track of coding agent tasks and review pull requests on the go with GitHub Mobile for iOS <https://github.com/notifications/mobile/ios/ABG4MCLU7RPTZM54HSQQPKD5EABPXA5CNFSNUABFM5UWIORPF5TWS5BNNB2WEL2JONZXKZKDN5WW2ZLOOQXTIOJSHE2DOMZZHAZKM4TFMFZW63VGMF2XI2DPOKSWK5TFNZ2KUZTPN52GK4S7NFXXG> and Android <https://github.com/notifications/mobile/android/ABG4MCO6LC4F5BSVRKQKLI35EABPXA5CNFSNUABFM5UWIORPF5TWS5BNNB2WEL2JONZXKZKDN5WW2ZLOOQXTIOJSHE2DOMZZHAZKM4TFMFZW63VGMF2XI2DPOKSWK5TFNZ2K4ZTPN52GK4S7MFXGI4TPNFSA>. Download it today! You are receiving this because you authored the thread.Message ID: ***@***.***>

[RivoLink]

Please, try this:

mkdir leaf-test
cd leaf-test

echo "# Test" > README.md
chmod 666 README.md

leaf --debug-input README.md 2> leaf.log

Then press ctrl+e, quit leaf, and paste the contents of leaf.log and leaf-debug.log again.

[sopertob]

In the home directory, the following from leaf.log Error: Cannot read: README.md Caused by: No such file or directory (os error 2) In the ./leaf-test folder off the home directory, the leaf.log was blank. In the ./leaf-test folder off the home directory, leaf-debug.log contains: leaf debug input log [1783703654045] main input_ready filename=README.md filepath=README.md picker=false watch=false [1783703654050] main app_ready pending_picker=false picker_loading=false [1783703654054] terminal enter start [1783703654059] terminal enter done [1783703654064] terminal new done [1783703654068] terminal clear done [1783703654073] initial_draw size width=118 height=31 [1783703654078] prepare_initial_picker_state start area_width=118 [1783703654083] prepare_initial_picker_state end picker_loading=false pending_picker=false [1783703654088] initial_draw draw start [1783703654095] initial_draw draw done [1783703654099] initial_draw sync end done [1783703654104] run loop start [1783703661850] key_event kind=Press code=Char('e') modifiers=KeyModifiers(CONTROL) search_mode=false query="" draft="" matches=0 idx=0 [1783703669118] key_event kind=Press code=Char('q') modifiers=KeyModifiers(0x0) search_mode=false query="" draft="" matches=0 idx=0 [1783703669118] run loop end In the home folder, leaf-debug.log is blank.

…

On Fri, Jul 10, 2026 at 1:32 AM Rivo Link ***@***.***> wrote: *RivoLink* left a comment (RivoLink/leaf#205) <#205 (comment)> Please, try this: mkdir leaf-testcd leaf-test echo "# Test" > README.md chmod 666 README.md leaf --debug-input README.md 2> leaf.log Then press ctrl+e, quit *leaf*, and paste the contents of leaf.log and leaf-debug.log again. — Reply to this email directly, view it on GitHub <#205?email_source=notifications&email_token=ABG4MCNRD3OQJBUUTW2TRPL5EB5V5A5CNFSNUABFM5UWIORPF5TWS5BNNB2WEL2JONZXKZKDN5WW2ZLOOQXTIOJTGIZTAMZYGU4KM4TFMFZW63VGMF2XI2DPOKSWK5TFNZ2KYZTPN52GK4S7MNWGSY3L#issuecomment-4932303858>, or unsubscribe <https://github.com/notifications/unsubscribe-auth/ABG4MCNHMKOMZJQY3R36EV35EB5V5AVCNFSNUABGKJSXA33TNF2G64TZHMYTEMBSGQ2TMNJZGU5US43TOVSTWNBYGQ4DQOJYGMYTBILWAI> . Triage notifications, keep track of coding agent tasks and review pull requests on the go with GitHub Mobile for iOS <https://github.com/notifications/mobile/ios/ABG4MCLZGLUZROSD2UR3GJ35EB5V5A5CNFSNUABFM5UWIORPF5TWS5BNNB2WEL2JONZXKZKDN5WW2ZLOOQXTIOJTGIZTAMZYGU4KM4TFMFZW63VGMF2XI2DPOKSWK5TFNZ2KUZTPN52GK4S7NFXXG> and Android <https://github.com/notifications/mobile/android/ABG4MCKDMRFYVJWACLGW7JT5EB5V5A5CNFSNUABFM5UWIORPF5TWS5BNNB2WEL2JONZXKZKDN5WW2ZLOOQXTIOJTGIZTAMZYGU4KM4TFMFZW63VGMF2XI2DPOKSWK5TFNZ2K4ZTPN52GK4S7MFXGI4TPNFSA>. Download it today! You are receiving this because you authored the thread.Message ID: ***@***.***>

[RivoLink]

Hi,
Sorry for the late reply.
Could you try testing it with another editor and let me know if the issue still occurs?

[tobeforyouplusai]

First of all, thank you for creating and maintaining Leaf. It's a wonderful tool and I've really been enjoying using it.

I'm also experiencing the issue under the following conditions in a WSL2 environment.

• Leaf 1.26.1
• WSL2 Ubuntu
• Windows Terminal

Additional findings:

• leaf --config correctly launches the configured editor.
• Ctrl+E displays "Opened in ", but the Linux editor is never actually started.
• I tested with nano, edit (Microsoft Edit), and a custom shell script.
• The custom shell script simply writes a line to a log file.
• The script is executed when launched via leaf --config.
• The script is not executed when launched via Ctrl+E.
• notepad.exe works via Ctrl+E.

So it looks like the Ctrl+E command may not actually be executed under WSL2, even though Leaf reports that it was opened.

I hope these findings are helpful.

[sopertob]

If I select an editor via shift+e, select VS Code, the file opens with ctrl-e. Nano, vim, and vi fail in the same way.

[RivoLink]

Hi all,

Thanks for the detailed explanation. I'll take a look at it.
I have an idea that I can investigate now.

Thanks again!