# Edit plugin shows No changes; aborting

**URL:** <https://discourse.beets.io/t/edit-plugin-shows-no-changes-aborting/923>\
**Category:** Help\
**Created:** [September 20, 2019, 6:05pm UTC](https://discourse.beets.io/t/edit-plugin-shows-no-changes-aborting/923 "2019-09-20T18:05:11Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Bogol](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e47774/32.png) [@Bogol](https://discourse.beets.io/u/Bogol)\
**Post date:** [September 20, 2019, 6:05pm UTC](https://discourse.beets.io/t/edit-plugin-shows-no-changes-aborting/923/1 "2019-09-20T18:05:11Z")

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I’m not sure I understand the documentation here. It says that the plugin is used with

> beet edit QUERY

However, typing

> beet edit cuty

gives me “No changes; aborting” and opens an empty text editor. The song shows up in ls, so I know for sure that it’s in my library

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**Author:** ![adrian](https://yyz1.discourse-cdn.com/flex029/user_avatar/discourse.beets.io/adrian/32/4_2.png) [@adrian](https://discourse.beets.io/u/adrian)\
**Post date:** [September 20, 2019, 6:21pm UTC](https://discourse.beets.io/t/edit-plugin-shows-no-changes-aborting/923/2 "2019-09-20T18:21:18Z")

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Hmm; that should work. Is there anything interesting in the verbose log?

Also, maybe it’s worth checking your `$EDITOR`? It should block and wait for you to save & close the text file. If it’s opening a GUI editor, it may be returning immediately instead of waiting. Many text editors have a CLI option to make it wait so it’s more suitable for use as `$EDITOR`.

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**Author:** ![Bogol](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e47774/32.png) [@Bogol](https://discourse.beets.io/u/Bogol)\
**Post date:** [September 20, 2019, 6:50pm UTC](https://discourse.beets.io/t/edit-plugin-shows-no-changes-aborting/923/3 "2019-09-20T18:50:00Z")

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I changed the default editor to nano and it worked without a hitch. Is there a way to change this setting within beets? The docs mention environment variables, but not how to change them.

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**Author:** ![adrian](https://yyz1.discourse-cdn.com/flex029/user_avatar/discourse.beets.io/adrian/32/4_2.png) [@adrian](https://discourse.beets.io/u/adrian)\
**Post date:** [September 20, 2019, 8:40pm UTC](https://discourse.beets.io/t/edit-plugin-shows-no-changes-aborting/923/4 "2019-09-20T20:40:28Z")

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Environment variables are not a beets thing; they’re an OS thing. You’ll want to google for advice about how to set environment variables on your platform.