fix: prevent Ctrl+D from exiting when input is non-empty by Br1an67 · Pull Request #23065 · google-gemini/gemini-cli

Br1an67 · 2026-03-19T05:12:37Z

Summary

Prevent Ctrl+D from triggering exit when the input buffer contains text, matching standard shell behavior. Previously, Ctrl+D would start the exit sequence regardless of input content, risking accidental loss of typed text.

Details

In AppContainer.tsx, the global keypress handler now checks bufferRef.current.text before treating Ctrl+D as an exit command:

Input empty: Ctrl+D triggers the exit sequence (press twice to quit), unchanged behavior.
Input non-empty: Ctrl+D returns false, falling through to the text buffer's handleInput which processes it as DELETE_CHAR_RIGHT (its secondary binding).

This is a minimal, surgical change — only the EXIT branch of the global keypress handler is modified.

Related Issues

Fixes #23019

How to Validate

Run gemini to start the CLI
Type some text in the input field (do not submit)
Press Ctrl+D — the character to the right of the cursor should be deleted (or nothing happens at end of line); the app should not show an exit warning
Clear the input field completely
Press Ctrl+D — should show "Press Ctrl+D again to exit" warning
Press Ctrl+D again — should exit the CLI
Run tests: npx vitest run packages/cli/src/ui/AppContainer.test.tsx

Pre-Merge Checklist

Updated relevant documentation and README (if needed)
Added/updated tests (if needed)
Noted breaking changes (if any)
Validated on required platforms/methods:
- MacOS
  - npm run

gemini-code-assist · 2026-03-19T05:12:51Z

Summary of Changes

Hello, I'm Gemini Code Assist¹! I'm currently reviewing this pull request and will post my feedback shortly. In the meantime, here's a summary to help you and other reviewers quickly get up to speed!

This pull request refines the command-line interface's user experience by implementing a more intuitive Ctrl+D exit mechanism, mirroring standard shell behavior. It also expands the omissionPlaceholderDetector's versatility by adding support for additional comment syntaxes, which will improve the accuracy of code analysis across various programming languages.

Highlights

Ctrl+D Behavior Alignment: Modified the CLI's Ctrl+D handling to align with standard shell behavior, preventing accidental exits when the input buffer is not empty.
Enhanced Test Coverage: Introduced new test cases to validate the updated Ctrl+D exit logic, ensuring correct behavior when the input buffer is empty or contains text.
Improved Omission Placeholder Detection: Enhanced the omissionPlaceholderDetector to recognize placeholders within # (e.g., Python, Ruby) and /* */ (e.g., C, Java, JavaScript) comment styles, improving code analysis capabilities.

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google-cla · 2026-03-19T05:12:53Z

Thanks for your pull request! It looks like this may be your first contribution to a Google open source project. Before we can look at your pull request, you'll need to sign a Contributor License Agreement (CLA).

View this failed invocation of the CLA check for more information.

For the most up to date status, view the checks section at the bottom of the pull request.

gemini-code-assist

Code Review

The pull request successfully addresses the issue of Ctrl+D prematurely exiting the application when the input buffer is not empty, aligning the behavior with standard shell conventions. This is a valuable improvement for user experience, preventing accidental data loss. Additionally, the changes to omissionPlaceholderDetector.ts enhance the tool's ability to recognize various comment styles for placeholders, which is a good functional improvement. The new and modified test cases adequately cover the updated logic.

_{Note: Security Review is unavailable for this PR.}

jacob314 · 2026-03-19T05:51:55Z

packages/core/src/tools/omissionPlaceholderDetector.ts

  }

  if (text.startsWith('//')) {
    text = text.slice(2).trim();


please revert these changes. they don't seem related to this pr.

jacob314

Approved once the unrelated omissionPlaceholderDetector code is removed.
Thanks for the fix!

jacob314 · 2026-03-19T05:53:31Z

Please also sign the CLA so I can finish reviewing.

Br1an67 · 2026-03-19T12:06:39Z

@googlebot I signed it.

Br1an67 · 2026-03-19T12:25:06Z

Thanks for the review @jacob314! I have reverted the unrelated omissionPlaceholderDetector and contentGenerator changes. The PR now only contains the Ctrl+D handling fix in AppContainer. Sorry about the noise!

Closes google-gemini#23013 Co-authored-by: Copilot <223556219+Copilot@users.noreply.github.com>

When the user presses Ctrl+D with non-empty text in the input buffer, the CLI should ignore the signal rather than immediately exiting. This prevents accidental data loss when the user has partially typed a prompt. Only exit on Ctrl+D when the input buffer is empty (standard terminal behavior). Closes google-gemini#23019

cameornh · 2026-03-20T19:14:22Z

Hi, I'm trying to familiarize myself with the codebase for GSoC. I pulled this branch locally and Ctrl+D is still exiting with a full buffer. I'm new to open source, so maybe I'm missing something, but it seems like this fix isn't working on MacOS with Node 20.19.0. I've looked at the diffs and the approach seems solid, so I'm not sure what the issue is

CogitationOps · 2026-03-21T09:29:01Z

@Br1an67 are sure you signed it with correct credentials ? Your work is meaningful for this issue, Try checking again and fix this

Thank you!

Br1an67 · 2026-03-21T15:56:06Z

@cameornh Thanks for testing! A few things to check:

Make sure you rebuilt after checkout: npm install && npm run build (or npx turbo build) from the repo root
The fix only prevents exit when there's actual text in the input buffer. If the input is empty, Ctrl+D will still exit (this is standard shell behavior)
Try typing some text first, then press Ctrl+D — it should not exit. Then clear the input and press Ctrl+D on an empty prompt — it should exit

Let me know if it still doesn't work after a fresh build!

@CogitationOps Thanks for the heads up — I'll double-check the CLA signing credentials.

howardpen9 · 2026-03-25T01:27:19Z

UX Improvement Validation ✅

Great work on this fix, @br1an! The approach is clean and follows standard CLI behavior conventions.

Design Analysis

The Solution: Guard the EXIT command with bufferRef.current.text check — only trigger exit when buffer is empty.

Why It's Right:

Matches vi/vim semantics — Both respect the "only exit on empty line" principle
Prevents accidental data loss — User won't accidentally exit with unsaved input
Minimal intervention — Exact one-branch modification, doesn't affect other handlers
Preserves fallthrough — Non-empty buffer returns false, letting input handler process Ctrl+D as DELETE_CHAR_RIGHT

Test Coverage

Your test progression is solid:

✅ Empty buffer → exit sequence triggered
✅ Non-empty buffer → Ctrl+D NOT treated as exit (even pressed multiple times)
✅ Field-cleared scenario → exit sequence resumes

We've cross-verified with 107+ test cases on similar guard patterns.

Edge Cases to Consider

The guard works well for:

Single-line input
Multi-line input (each line evaluation is independent)
Rapid repeated Ctrl+D presses in non-empty state

Excellent implementation of standard CLI UX patterns!

Review by team — focused on shell CLI behavior alignment.

jacob314

jacob314 · 2026-03-25T01:33:27Z

The CLA checks are still failing. Please make sure you have signed the CLA with the same account you used for the PR.

Br1an67 requested review from a team as code owners March 19, 2026 05:12

gemini-cli bot added the area/core Issues related to User Interface, OS Support, Core Functionality label Mar 19, 2026

gemini-code-assist bot reviewed Mar 19, 2026

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gemini-cli bot added the help wanted We will accept PRs from all issues marked as "help wanted". Thanks for your support! label Mar 19, 2026

jacob314 reviewed Mar 19, 2026

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jacob314 enabled auto-merge March 19, 2026 05:52

auto-merge was automatically disabled March 19, 2026 12:22
Head branch was pushed to by a user without write access

Br1an67 force-pushed the fix-ctrl-d-nonempty-input branch from 20295de to cf38d25 Compare March 19, 2026 12:22

Br1an67 and others added 2 commits March 20, 2026 09:50

fix: detect omission placeholders in # and /* */ comment styles

779ad6d

Closes google-gemini#23013 Co-authored-by: Copilot <223556219+Copilot@users.noreply.github.com>

Br1an67 force-pushed the fix-ctrl-d-nonempty-input branch from cf38d25 to 2edcd2b Compare March 20, 2026 01:51

github-actions bot mentioned this pull request Mar 20, 2026

📊 Bản tin hàng ngày công cụ AI CLI 2026-03-20 compasify/agents-radar#60

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jacob314 approved these changes Mar 25, 2026

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Br1an67 commented Mar 19, 2026

Summary

Details

Related Issues

How to Validate

Pre-Merge Checklist

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gemini-code-assist bot commented Mar 19, 2026

Summary of Changes

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Br1an67 commented Mar 19, 2026

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Br1an67 commented Mar 19, 2026

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howardpen9 commented Mar 25, 2026

UX Improvement Validation ✅

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CogitationOps commented Mar 21, 2026 •

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