Feature request: configurable external editor for file link clicks (e.g. open in nvim at line)

Status Open
Maintainer reply None cached
Activity 0 comments · opened Aug 16, 2026

Summary

When Claude references a file in its response (e.g. a markdown link like [foo.ts](src/utils/foo.ts) or [Bar.tsx:42](app/components/Bar.tsx:42)), clicking it currently opens a built-in file preview panel on the right side of the client (desktop/web app). There's no way to configure this to instead open the file in an external editor of choice — e.g. Neovim — jumped to the referenced line number.

Request

Add a user-configurable setting (e.g. in settings.json) that lets a user specify an external editor command to invoke when a file link is clicked, with the file path and line number substituted in. For example:

{
  "fileOpenCommand": "nvim +{line} {file}"
}

or similar templating, so terminal-based editor users (nvim, emacs, etc.) aren't limited to the built-in preview pane.

Why

  • The built-in preview pane is a read-only view; users who live in a terminal editor want file:line references to jump straight into their actual editing environment instead of a secondary viewer.
  • Today there's no settings.json option, CLI flag, or hook that intercepts this UI interaction — confirmed via the Claude Code docs (settings, IDE integration via /ide, hooks) which don't cover link-click routing.
  • The existing /ide integration wires up VS Code/JetBrains for inline diffs, but there's no equivalent path for terminal editors like Neovim.

Current workaround

None found — file paths/line numbers have to be opened manually (e.g. nvim +42 src/utils/foo.ts).

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