feature: add ctrl-g to allow users to use an editor to edit their prompt (#14197)

cmd/cmd.go

@@ -2260,7 +2260,7 @@ func NewCLI() *cobra.Command {
 		switch cmd {
 		case runCmd:
 			imagegen.AppendFlagsDocs(cmd)
-			appendEnvDocs(cmd, []envconfig.EnvVar{envVars["OLLAMA_HOST"], envVars["OLLAMA_NOHISTORY"]})
+			appendEnvDocs(cmd, []envconfig.EnvVar{envVars["OLLAMA_EDITOR"], envVars["OLLAMA_HOST"], envVars["OLLAMA_NOHISTORY"]})
 		case serveCmd:
 			appendEnvDocs(cmd, []envconfig.EnvVar{
 				envVars["OLLAMA_DEBUG"],

cmd/editor_unix.go

@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+//go:build !windows
+
+package cmd
+
+const defaultEditor = "vi"

cmd/editor_windows.go

@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+//go:build windows
+
+package cmd
+
+const defaultEditor = "edit"

cmd/interactive.go

@@ -7,6 +7,7 @@ import (
 	"io"
 	"net/http"
 	"os"
+	"os/exec"
 	"path/filepath"
 	"regexp"
 	"slices"
@@ -79,6 +80,7 @@ func generateInteractive(cmd *cobra.Command, opts runOptions) error {
 		fmt.Fprintln(os.Stderr, "  Ctrl + w            Delete the word before the cursor")
 		fmt.Fprintln(os.Stderr, "")
 		fmt.Fprintln(os.Stderr, "  Ctrl + l            Clear the screen")
+		fmt.Fprintln(os.Stderr, "  Ctrl + g            Open default editor to compose a prompt")
 		fmt.Fprintln(os.Stderr, "  Ctrl + c            Stop the model from responding")
 		fmt.Fprintln(os.Stderr, "  Ctrl + d            Exit ollama (/bye)")
 		fmt.Fprintln(os.Stderr, "")
@@ -147,6 +149,18 @@ func generateInteractive(cmd *cobra.Command, opts runOptions) error {
 			scanner.Prompt.UseAlt = false
 			sb.Reset()
 
+			continue
+		case errors.Is(err, readline.ErrEditPrompt):
+			sb.Reset()
+			content, err := editInExternalEditor(line)
+			if err != nil {
+				fmt.Fprintf(os.Stderr, "error: %v\n", err)
+				continue
+			}
+			if strings.TrimSpace(content) == "" {
+				continue
+			}
+			scanner.Prefill = content
 			continue
 		case err != nil:
 			return err
@@ -598,6 +612,57 @@ func extractFileData(input string) (string, []api.ImageData, error) {
 	return strings.TrimSpace(input), imgs, nil
 }
 
+func editInExternalEditor(content string) (string, error) {
+	editor := envconfig.Editor()
+	if editor == "" {
+		editor = os.Getenv("VISUAL")
+	}
+	if editor == "" {
+		editor = os.Getenv("EDITOR")
+	}
+	if editor == "" {
+		editor = defaultEditor
+	}
+
+	// Check that the editor binary exists
+	name := strings.Fields(editor)[0]
+	if _, err := exec.LookPath(name); err != nil {
+		return "", fmt.Errorf("editor %q not found, set OLLAMA_EDITOR to the path of your preferred editor", name)
+	}
+
+	tmpFile, err := os.CreateTemp("", "ollama-prompt-*.txt")
+	if err != nil {
+		return "", fmt.Errorf("creating temp file: %w", err)
+	}
+	defer os.Remove(tmpFile.Name())
+
+	if content != "" {
+		if _, err := tmpFile.WriteString(content); err != nil {
+			tmpFile.Close()
+			return "", fmt.Errorf("writing to temp file: %w", err)
+		}
+	}
+	tmpFile.Close()
+
+	args := strings.Fields(editor)
+	args = append(args, tmpFile.Name())
+	cmd := exec.Command(args[0], args[1:]...)
+	cmd.Stdin = os.Stdin
+	cmd.Stdout = os.Stdout
+	cmd.Stderr = os.Stderr
+
+	if err := cmd.Run(); err != nil {
+		return "", fmt.Errorf("editor exited with error: %w", err)
+	}
+
+	data, err := os.ReadFile(tmpFile.Name())
+	if err != nil {
+		return "", fmt.Errorf("reading temp file: %w", err)
+	}
+
+	return strings.TrimRight(string(data), "\n"), nil
+}
+
 func getImageData(filePath string) ([]byte, error) {
 	file, err := os.Open(filePath)
 	if err != nil {