Open in another app
Send a file from the viewer or the transcript to an installed editor, your configured editor command, or Finder.
In the desktop app, the file viewer's header has an Open in button. It opens the file in an installed editor at the line you are reading, or shows it in Finder. A browser tab has no Open in button: a page can't start programs on your computer.
Choose an application
The button has two parts. The main part, such as Open in Cursor, opens the file with the current choice. The arrow, Choose application, opens the menu:
| Entry | When it appears |
|---|---|
| Configured editor | When [desktop] editor_command is set. Runs that command. |
| Cursor, VS Code, VS Code Insiders, Windsurf, Zed, Sublime Text, IntelliJ IDEA, WebStorm, GoLand, PyCharm, Xcode, Android Studio, Fleet | When the app is installed: its command is on your login shell's PATH, or, on macOS, its application bundle is found. |
| Set an editor in Settings | When no editor is configured or detected. Opens Settings. |
| Finder (macOS), Show in folder (Linux), or Show in Explorer (Windows) | Always. Reveals the file in its folder without opening it. |
| Copy path | Always. Copies the project-relative path. |
| Refresh list and Editor settings… | Always, at the bottom. Refresh list detects editors again; Editor settings opens Settings › General. |
Editors show their brand icon when one is available, otherwise a generic editor icon. Editors open the file at the current line when their command line takes one; Fleet opens the file without a line.
When an open succeeds, that target becomes the main choice for every file and every window. Until then, the main choice is the configured editor if you set one, else the first detected editor, else Finder.
Cmd-click a transcript path
A plain click on a file path in an assistant message opens the in-app viewer. In the desktop app,
Cmd-click (macOS) or Ctrl-click (Windows and Linux) skips the viewer and opens the path with your last-used Open in target. Until you pick one, that is your configured editor command, or the system text editor when it is empty. The path's tooltip names the target, for example "⌘-click opens in Cursor".
In a browser tab, a modifier click opens the viewer like a plain click.
Safety checks
The desktop app makes every launch decision itself; the page only supplies the path and line.
- A file outside the session's project or worktree asks first: Open file outside this workspace? with the full path and "It is outside the session's workspace."
- A credential file inside the project, such as
.envor a private key, asks Open a file that may contain credentials? with "It may contain credentials, such as keys or tokens.".env.example,.env.sample, and.env.templateopen without asking. - Cancel opens nothing.
- Programs start directly with fixed arguments, never through a shell, so a file name can't inject a command.
- A missing file shows "File not found:
<path>". If the configured editor fails to start, the toast reads "Couldn't open the editor. Check the editor command in Settings." with a link to Settings. An editor that was uninstalled since the list was built shows "Cursor is no longer available", and the list is detected again.
Where Open in appears
- The viewer header, for the open file.
- The Outside this project state, so you can still open a path the viewer won't read.
- The file tree: right-click a row, or press Shift+F10 on it, for Copy path and the same targets. Folders open without a line.
- The tree header's Open folder in… button, for the project or worktree root.
In a browser tab, the tree's row menu keeps only Copy path.