My command line locks up when making a commit with GIT

Question

Learning GIT. I tried committing a group of files, below you can see where I got to.

Asking for the commit comment/message but once I get to this screen, I am not able to input any text, everything I try, it will not let me enter any text into the window once it gets to this screen.

I am using the msysGit version with a program called Console 2 which is just a wrapper holding the msysGit command line tool

Any ideas why it would do this

Screenshot

Looks like vim... pressing `i` does not change to insert mode? — Felix Kling, Dec 04 '11 at 11:53
@Felix Kling hitting `i` did in fact get me a cursor to type at, can you tell how to get out of that mode or submit once done typing? — JasonDavis, Dec 04 '11 at 12:09
I suggest to learn the basic vim commands. To get to command mode (leave insert mode), just press `ESC` and to save the commit, type `:wq` which *w* rites to the file and *q* uits the editor. — Felix Kling, Dec 04 '11 at 12:15
Press `i`, type your commit message, hit `Esc`, then type `:wq`. You can read vim tutorials to learn more about this. Try `vimtutor` command. — Mostafa, Dec 04 '11 at 12:16
@Mostafa that worked, I don't have VIM installed though, does Git have vim built in or something? — JasonDavis, Dec 04 '11 at 12:19
@jasondavis: I assume the `msysGit` environment comes with vim. — Felix Kling, Dec 04 '11 at 12:21
@FelixKling, most likely. After all you need something to edit commit messages. — Michael Krelin - hacker, Dec 04 '11 at 13:49

score 7 · Accepted Answer · edited May 23 '17 at 10:30

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Git is using the "Vi" text editor by default. You need to add this to your Git config file:

nano ~/.gitconfig

This file may be blank if you do not have one yet. Add this line and then save using Ctrl-X:

git config core.editor "nano"

Nano is a more straightforward to use text editor for what you want to do.

If you don't have nano installed on your platform (as is the case in standard installs of Windows 7), you can optionally use Notepad++, or try this setup program to use standard Notepad instead.

edited May 23 '17 at 10:30

Community

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answered Dec 04 '11 at 12:01

seanhodges

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it is not obvious that `nano` is available on the platform. – Michael Krelin - hacker Dec 04 '11 at 12:02
I'm using Windows 7 if that means anything – JasonDavis Dec 04 '11 at 12:12
I'm thinking nano is something I need to install – JasonDavis Dec 04 '11 at 12:17
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You will need to install an editor of your choice, and replace "nano" with that instead. This question explains how to do the same thing with Notepad++: http://stackoverflow.com/questions/10564/how-can-i-set-up-an-editor-to-work-with-git-on-windows – seanhodges Dec 04 '11 at 12:18
how to reset this to initial default value? – MobileMon Apr 21 '16 at 13:40
Remove the line you just added from your `.gitconfig`. – seanhodges Apr 21 '16 at 17:16

score 3 · Answer 2 · answered Dec 04 '11 at 11:54

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Try setting EDITOR to something you're used to before invoking git (or use git config to set core.editor). Or learn to use vi.

Alternatively, provide message from the command line

git commit -m 'this is the commit message'

answered Dec 04 '11 at 11:54

Michael Krelin - hacker

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stefanB · Answer 3 · 2011-12-04T12:21:56.350

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What you see is git opening vim for you to edit the commit.

If you prefer other editor you can change the editor by setting:

export VISUAL=<your-editor>
export EDITOR=<your-editor>

All you need to do in that screen is to type a commit comment and save it, it will proceed with the commit (in whichever editor it appears).

edited Dec 04 '11 at 12:21

answered Dec 04 '11 at 11:56

stefanB

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or `GIT_EDITOR` for the sake of completeness :) – Michael Krelin - hacker Dec 04 '11 at 12:01
I don't have VIM installed so maybe it is something else? the colors are from ym console wrapper `Console 2` – JasonDavis Dec 04 '11 at 12:14
Well git uses whichever editor is your default, you can change it to your preferred editor by setting the `EDITOR` variable in your environment. Btw, all you need to do in that screen is to type a commit comment and save it, it will proceed with the commit. – stefanB Dec 04 '11 at 12:20

My command line locks up when making a commit with GIT

3 Answers3