fix: strip line/column suffixes from Windows path links

This PR implements a workaround for issue #26902 where terminal link handlers on Windows (specifically in the Antigravity editor and standard VS Code) fail to correctly parse and open absolute file paths that include `:line:column` suffixes. On Windows, colons are invalid characters in file paths (except for the drive letter), causing `FileSystemError` when these links are clicked.

### Changes:
- Added `stripLineColumnSuffixes` utility in `packages/core/src/utils/textUtils.ts`.
- Applied this utility across various output formatting paths to ensure safe link generation on Windows:
    - `packages/cli/src/ui/utils/textOutput.ts` (Non-interactive mode)
    - `packages/cli/src/ui/utils/markdownParsingUtils.ts` (Agent output in interactive mode)
    - `packages/core/src/utils/debugLogger.ts` (Core debug logging)
    - `packages/cli/src/ui/utils/ConsolePatcher.ts` (Interactive mode console redirection)
- Added comprehensive unit tests in `packages/core/src/utils/textUtils.test.ts`.

These changes are only active when running on Windows (`process.platform === 'win32'`).

Fixes #26902

cc @google-gemini/gemini-cli-maintainers

packages/cli/src/ui/utils/ConsolePatcher.ts

@@ -7,6 +7,7 @@
 /* eslint-disable no-console */
 
 import util from 'node:util';
+import { stripLineColumnSuffixes } from '@google/gemini-cli-core';
 import type { ConsoleMessageItem } from '../types.js';
 
 interface ConsolePatcherParams {
@@ -45,7 +46,10 @@ export class ConsolePatcher {
     console.info = this.originalConsoleInfo;
   };
 
-  private formatArgs = (args: unknown[]): string => util.format(...args);
+  private formatArgs = (args: unknown[]): string => {
+    const formatted = util.format(...args);
+    return stripLineColumnSuffixes(formatted);
+  };
 
   private patchConsoleMethod =
     (type: 'log' | 'warn' | 'error' | 'debug' | 'info') =>

packages/cli/src/ui/utils/markdownParsingUtils.ts

@@ -11,7 +11,7 @@ import {
   INK_NAME_TO_HEX_MAP,
 } from '../themes/color-utils.js';
 import { theme } from '../semantic-colors.js';
-import { debugLogger } from '@google/gemini-cli-core';
+import { debugLogger, stripLineColumnSuffixes } from '@google/gemini-cli-core';
 import { convertLatexToUnicode } from './latexToUnicode.js';
 
 // Constants for Markdown parsing
@@ -108,6 +108,12 @@ export const parseMarkdownToANSI = (
   defaultColor?: string,
 ): string => {
   const baseColor = defaultColor ?? theme.text.primary;
+  // Strip line and column number suffixes from Windows paths BEFORE any other
+  // processing. This ensures that we don't break markdown parsing or URL
+  // detection, and that the final output is safe for Windows terminal links.
+  // See issue #26902.
+  const sanitizedRawText = stripLineColumnSuffixes(rawText);
+
   // Convert LaTeX-style math/commands to Unicode BEFORE tokenizing markdown,
   // so constructs like `$\{P_0, \dots, P_n\}$` are handled as a whole even
   // when they contain underscores (which the tokenizer would otherwise treat
@@ -115,7 +121,7 @@ export const parseMarkdownToANSI = (
   // conversion so their contents are preserved verbatim. Unknown `\foo`
   // sequences are left alone, so Windows paths and regex escapes survive.
   // See issue #25656.
-  const text = convertLatexPreservingSpans(rawText);
+  const text = convertLatexPreservingSpans(sanitizedRawText);
   // Early return for plain text without markdown or URLs
   if (!/[*_~`<[https?:]/.test(text)) {
     return ansiColorize(text, baseColor);

packages/cli/src/ui/utils/textOutput.ts

@@ -10,6 +10,7 @@
  */
 
 import stripAnsi from 'strip-ansi';
+import { stripLineColumnSuffixes } from '@google/gemini-cli-core';
 
 export class TextOutput {
   private atStartOfLine = true;
@@ -27,8 +28,9 @@ export class TextOutput {
     if (str.length === 0) {
       return;
     }
-    this.outputStream.write(str);
-    const strippedStr = stripAnsi(str);
+    const processedStr = stripLineColumnSuffixes(str);
+    this.outputStream.write(processedStr);
+    const strippedStr = stripAnsi(processedStr);
     if (strippedStr.length > 0) {
       this.atStartOfLine = strippedStr.endsWith('\n');
     }

packages/core/src/utils/debugLogger.ts

@@ -7,6 +7,7 @@
 /* eslint-disable no-console */
 import * as fs from 'node:fs';
 import * as util from 'node:util';
+import { stripLineColumnSuffixes } from './textUtils.js';
 
 /**
  * A simple, centralized logger for developer-facing debug messages.
@@ -47,23 +48,32 @@ class DebugLogger {
 
   log(...args: unknown[]): void {
     this.writeToFile('LOG', args);
-    console.log(...args);
+    console.log(...stripLineColumnSuffixesFromArgs(args));
   }
 
   warn(...args: unknown[]): void {
     this.writeToFile('WARN', args);
-    console.warn(...args);
+    console.warn(...stripLineColumnSuffixesFromArgs(args));
   }
 
   error(...args: unknown[]): void {
     this.writeToFile('ERROR', args);
-    console.error(...args);
+    console.error(...stripLineColumnSuffixesFromArgs(args));
   }
 
   debug(...args: unknown[]): void {
     this.writeToFile('DEBUG', args);
-    console.debug(...args);
+    console.debug(...stripLineColumnSuffixesFromArgs(args));
   }
 }
 
+function stripLineColumnSuffixesFromArgs(args: unknown[]): unknown[] {
+  return args.map((arg) => {
+    if (typeof arg === 'string') {
+      return stripLineColumnSuffixes(arg);
+    }
+    return arg;
+  });
+}
+
 export const debugLogger = new DebugLogger();

packages/core/src/utils/textUtils.test.ts

@@ -4,13 +4,64 @@
  * SPDX-License-Identifier: Apache-2.0
  */
 
-import { describe, it, expect } from 'vitest';
+import { describe, it, expect, vi, afterEach } from 'vitest';
 import {
   safeLiteralReplace,
   truncateString,
   safeTemplateReplace,
+  stripLineColumnSuffixes,
 } from './textUtils.js';
 
+describe('stripLineColumnSuffixes', () => {
+  afterEach(() => {
+    vi.unstubAllEnvs();
+    vi.restoreAllMocks();
+  });
+
+  it('should strip line and column numbers from absolute and relative Windows paths on Windows', () => {
+    vi.spyOn(process, 'platform', 'get').mockReturnValue('win32');
+
+    expect(stripLineColumnSuffixes('C:\\foo\\bar.js:10:5')).toBe('C:\\foo\\bar.js');
+    expect(stripLineColumnSuffixes('D:\\project\\index.ts:42')).toBe(
+      'D:\\project\\index.ts',
+    );
+    expect(stripLineColumnSuffixes('src\\utils\\file.ts:10:5')).toBe(
+      'src\\utils\\file.ts',
+    );
+    expect(stripLineColumnSuffixes('C:\\path with spaces\\file.txt:1:1')).toBe(
+      'C:\\path with spaces\\file.txt',
+    );
+    expect(stripLineColumnSuffixes('Found at C:\\foo.js:10:5.')).toBe(
+      'Found at C:\\foo.js.',
+    );
+  });
+
+  it('should not strip suffixes from non-absolute Windows paths or URLs', () => {
+    vi.spyOn(process, 'platform', 'get').mockReturnValue('win32');
+
+    expect(stripLineColumnSuffixes('http://localhost:3000')).toBe(
+      'http://localhost:3000',
+    );
+    expect(stripLineColumnSuffixes('ftp://127.0.0.1:21')).toBe(
+      'ftp://127.0.0.1:21',
+    );
+    expect(stripLineColumnSuffixes('some text with :10:5 suffix')).toBe(
+      'some text with :10:5 suffix',
+    );
+  });
+
+  it('should not strip anything on non-Windows platforms', () => {
+    vi.spyOn(process, 'platform', 'get').mockReturnValue('linux');
+
+    expect(stripLineColumnSuffixes('C:\\foo\\bar.js:10:5')).toBe(
+      'C:\\foo\\bar.js:10:5',
+    );
+    expect(stripLineColumnSuffixes('/home/user/file.ts:10:5')).toBe(
+      '/home/user/file.ts:10:5',
+    );
+  });
+});
+
 describe('safeLiteralReplace', () => {
   it('returns original string when oldString empty or not found', () => {
     expect(safeLiteralReplace('abc', '', 'X')).toBe('abc');

packages/core/src/utils/textUtils.ts

@@ -151,3 +151,29 @@ export function sanitizeOutput(output: string): string {
   const escaped = trimmed.replaceAll('</output>', '&lt;/output&gt;');
   return `<output>\n${escaped}\n</output>`;
 }
+
+/**
+ * Matches absolute Windows paths (C:\...) or relative Windows paths with at
+ * least one backslash, followed by a :line[:col] suffix.
+ * e.g., "C:\file.ts:10:5" or "src\file.ts:10"
+ *
+ * This regex is carefully constructed to avoid matching URLs (which don't use
+ * backslashes in the host/port part).
+ */
+const WINDOWS_PATH_WITH_SUFFIX_REGEX =
+  /(([a-zA-Z]:\\|[^\s:<>|"]+\\)[^\s:<>|"]+):\d+(?::\d+)?/g;
+
+/**
+ * Strips line and column number suffixes from absolute and relative Windows
+ * file paths.
+ * e.g., "C:\path\to\file.ts:10:5" -> "C:\path\to\file.ts"
+ *
+ * This is a workaround for issue #26902 where some Windows terminal link
+ * handlers fail to correctly parse and stat paths with these suffixes.
+ */
+export function stripLineColumnSuffixes(text: string): string {
+  if (process.platform !== 'win32' || !text.includes(':')) {
+    return text;
+  }
+  return text.replace(WINDOWS_PATH_WITH_SUFFIX_REGEX, '$1');
+}