diff --git a/internal/tui/components/chat/editor/editor.go b/internal/tui/components/chat/editor/editor.go
index 427e46304a91921fe0be82d4402bc5c3a9cedd51..a3f5fbe560e0d2da2b1754a4f31cc9a94ab7ca29 100644
--- a/internal/tui/components/chat/editor/editor.go
+++ b/internal/tui/components/chat/editor/editor.go
@@ -22,6 +22,7 @@ import (
 	"github.com/charmbracelet/crush/internal/tui/components/completions"
 	"github.com/charmbracelet/crush/internal/tui/components/core/layout"
 	"github.com/charmbracelet/crush/internal/tui/components/dialogs"
+	"github.com/charmbracelet/crush/internal/tui/components/dialogs/commands"
 	"github.com/charmbracelet/crush/internal/tui/components/dialogs/filepicker"
 	"github.com/charmbracelet/crush/internal/tui/components/dialogs/quit"
 	"github.com/charmbracelet/crush/internal/tui/styles"
@@ -38,6 +39,7 @@ type Editor interface {
 
 	SetSession(session session.Session) tea.Cmd
 	IsCompletionsOpen() bool
+	HasAttachments() bool
 	Cursor() *tea.Cursor
 }
 
@@ -206,6 +208,12 @@ func (m *editorCmp) Update(msg tea.Msg) (tea.Model, tea.Cmd) {
 				m.completionsStartIndex = 0
 			}
 		}
+
+	case commands.OpenExternalEditorMsg:
+		if m.app.CoderAgent.IsSessionBusy(m.session.ID) {
+			return m, util.ReportWarn("Agent is working, please wait...")
+		}
+		return m, m.openEditor(m.textarea.Value())
 	case OpenEditorMsg:
 		m.textarea.SetValue(msg.Text)
 		m.textarea.MoveToEnd()
@@ -482,6 +490,10 @@ func (c *editorCmp) IsCompletionsOpen() bool {
 	return c.isCompletionsOpen
 }
 
+func (c *editorCmp) HasAttachments() bool {
+	return len(c.attachments) > 0
+}
+
 func New(app *app.App) Editor {
 	t := styles.CurrentTheme()
 	ta := textarea.New()
diff --git a/internal/tui/components/chat/editor/keys.go b/internal/tui/components/chat/editor/keys.go
index 2f464833bd67b81cd105aeddeb69d2e950971bbe..9d2274753b4667031bb43a76f54fce18c1decf51 100644
--- a/internal/tui/components/chat/editor/keys.go
+++ b/internal/tui/components/chat/editor/keys.go
@@ -22,8 +22,8 @@ func DefaultEditorKeyMap() EditorKeyMap {
 			key.WithHelp("enter", "send"),
 		),
 		OpenEditor: key.NewBinding(
-			key.WithKeys("ctrl+v"),
-			key.WithHelp("ctrl+v", "open editor"),
+			key.WithKeys("ctrl+o"),
+			key.WithHelp("ctrl+o", "open editor"),
 		),
 		Newline: key.NewBinding(
 			key.WithKeys("shift+enter", "ctrl+j"),
diff --git a/internal/tui/components/dialogs/commands/commands.go b/internal/tui/components/dialogs/commands/commands.go
index 3319d0134888ad1e65656fb64cf4352ecd178229..bca75a2b22f3f31f4d3a0cadd47a427ef1ae84fc 100644
--- a/internal/tui/components/dialogs/commands/commands.go
+++ b/internal/tui/components/dialogs/commands/commands.go
@@ -1,6 +1,8 @@
 package commands
 
 import (
+	"os"
+
 	"github.com/charmbracelet/bubbles/v2/help"
 	"github.com/charmbracelet/bubbles/v2/key"
 	tea "github.com/charmbracelet/bubbletea/v2"
@@ -66,6 +68,7 @@ type (
 	ToggleHelpMsg        struct{}
 	ToggleCompactModeMsg struct{}
 	ToggleThinkingMsg    struct{}
+	OpenExternalEditorMsg struct{}
 	CompactMsg           struct {
 		SessionID string
 	}
@@ -343,6 +346,19 @@ func (c *commandDialogCmp) defaultCommands() []Command {
 		}
 	}
 
+	// Add external editor command if $EDITOR is available
+	if os.Getenv("EDITOR") != "" {
+		commands = append(commands, Command{
+			ID:          "open_external_editor",
+			Title:       "Open External Editor",
+			Shortcut:    "ctrl+o",
+			Description: "Open external editor to compose message",
+			Handler: func(cmd Command) tea.Cmd {
+				return util.CmdHandler(OpenExternalEditorMsg{})
+			},
+		})
+	}
+
 	return append(commands, []Command{
 		{
 			ID:          "toggle_help",
diff --git a/internal/tui/page/chat/chat.go b/internal/tui/page/chat/chat.go
index 66060d047e07dc96d3ce7542ffdc63ab8fa80686..6b4469046966c9f9a31d6cc3b70adf3a2afa4f7a 100644
--- a/internal/tui/page/chat/chat.go
+++ b/internal/tui/page/chat/chat.go
@@ -204,6 +204,10 @@ func (p *chatPage) Update(msg tea.Msg) (tea.Model, tea.Cmd) {
 		return p, tea.Batch(p.SetSize(p.width, p.height), cmd)
 	case commands.ToggleThinkingMsg:
 		return p, p.toggleThinking()
+	case commands.OpenExternalEditorMsg:
+		u, cmd := p.editor.Update(msg)
+		p.editor = u.(editor.Editor)
+		return p, cmd
 	case pubsub.Event[session.Session]:
 		u, cmd := p.header.Update(msg)
 		p.header = u.(header.Header)
@@ -896,9 +900,13 @@ func (p *chatPage) Help() help.KeyMap {
 						key.WithHelp("/", "add file"),
 					),
 					key.NewBinding(
-						key.WithKeys("ctrl+v"),
-						key.WithHelp("ctrl+v", "open editor"),
+						key.WithKeys("ctrl+o"),
+						key.WithHelp("ctrl+o", "open editor"),
 					),
+				})
+
+			if p.editor.HasAttachments() {
+				fullList = append(fullList, []key.Binding{
 					key.NewBinding(
 						key.WithKeys("ctrl+r"),
 						key.WithHelp("ctrl+r+{i}", "delete attachment at index i"),
@@ -912,6 +920,7 @@ func (p *chatPage) Help() help.KeyMap {
 						key.WithHelp("esc", "cancel delete mode"),
 					),
 				})
+			}
 		}
 		shortList = append(shortList,
 			// Quit
diff --git a/internal/tui/tui.go b/internal/tui/tui.go
index b96fe26c9f80d565fa58b9228edee89d013117da..b0ba10a4ddf5cf35a8cc163574279955750fd198 100644
--- a/internal/tui/tui.go
+++ b/internal/tui/tui.go
@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@ package tui
 import (
 	"context"
 	"fmt"
+	"log/slog"
 	"strings"
 	"time"
 
@@ -258,6 +259,8 @@ func (a *appModel) Update(msg tea.Msg) (tea.Model, tea.Cmd) {
 		return a, tea.Batch(cmds...)
 	// Key Press Messages
 	case tea.KeyPressMsg:
+
+		slog.Info("TUI Update", "msg", msg, "key", msg.String())
 		return a, a.handleKeyPressMsg(msg)
 
 	case tea.MouseWheelMsg: