drop-user-in-file

name	drop-user-in-file
description	Hand the keyboard to the user so they can edit a file themselves mid-session, in a real nvim popup, then read back what they changed. Use when the user says things like "drop me into <file>", "let me hand-edit X", "open X in nvim for me", "I'll edit this part myself", "pause so I can tweak it", or otherwise wants to make manual edits rather than have you make them. Requires tmux + nvim.

drop-user-in-file

Float an interactive nvim session in a tmux display-popup at PATH:LINE, block until the user :qs, then print the before/after unified diff. Use it whenever the user wants to make an edit by hand instead of dictating it to you — prose they'd rather write themselves, a fiddly value, a judgement call about wording, etc.

NOTE: By default, do not drop the user directly into jsonl files with minimal whitespace, those are hard to read. At the very least, pretty-print the JSONL so that each key is on a newline. Use your judgement, if the user wants to review some data, format the jsonl file as markdown so that it's nice to read and easy to skim. If the user wants to edit a file, leave it as JSONL.

How to run

Invoke the bundled script via Bash with a long timeout (it blocks for the whole edit session — the user may take minutes):

~/.claude/skills/drop-user-in-file/drop-user-in-file PATH [LINE]      # one file
~/.claude/skills/drop-user-in-file/drop-user-in-file PATH1 PATH2 ...  # many files

• PATH — file to open (relative paths resolve against the current working directory; the file is created if it doesn't exist yet).
• LINE — optional line number to open at (default 1).
• Multiple files — pass 2+ paths and each opens in its own nvim tab (nvim -p); the user switches tabs with gt/gT and returns to Claude with :wqa (write-all-and-quit). On return, a per-file diff is printed for every file. Disambiguation: exactly two args whose second is all-digits is the PATH LINE form; anything else with 2+ args is multi-file mode.
• Set the Bash tool timeout to the max (600000). A timeout is not a problem: the popup stays open on the user's screen and the user finishes their edit at their own pace — just wait for them. The user knows vim: don't explain :wq/:q, don't narrate task ids or timeouts, don't nag them to hurry. Stay quiet and wait.

After it returns, read the printed unified diff to see exactly what they changed, and continue from there. Do not re-open the file to "verify" — the diff is the source of truth.

What it does / how it works

• Runs from Claude's TTY-less Bash subshell, but tmux display-popup talks to the tmux server, which paints the popup onto the user's attached client. display-popup -E blocks the invoking shell until nvim exits, so the tool call naturally waits for the edit to finish.
• Window-gated: if this Claude's tmux window isn't the one the user is currently viewing, the popup does not ambush whatever they're looking at. Instead the window is renamed ✎ EDIT WAITING — … and the popup only appears once they switch back to it. (No desktop notification, by design.)
• The popup is top-anchored and leaves ~20 rows at the bottom uncovered so the user can still read your latest message while editing.
• On return it diffs a pre-edit backup against the saved file and prints the full unified diff (never truncated). It reports no changes if they :q without saving, and notes if the file still doesn't exist afterwards.

Requirements & failure modes

• Must be inside tmux — exits with an error if $TMUX is unset (Claude's Bash subshell has no TTY of its own; tmux is what renders nvim on screen).
• nvim must be on PATH — exits with an error otherwise.

If either is missing, tell the user the requirement rather than retrying.