diff --git a/halig/config.py b/halig/config.py
index 18cbaba..218596d 100644
--- a/halig/config.py
+++ b/halig/config.py
@@ -46,12 +46,13 @@ class Config(BaseSettings):
         return {k: str(v) for k, v in values.items()}
 
 
-def get_config(config_path: Path | None = DEFAULT_CONFIGURATION_PATH) -> Config:
+def get_config(config_path: Path = DEFAULT_CONFIGURATION_PATH) -> Config:
     """Init and retrieve a config object. If the `config_path` argument is not provided,
     the default config initialization will be provided
 
     Args:
-        config_path (Path|None): The path to the config
+        config_path (Path): The path to the config, defaults to
+        DEFAULT_CONFIGURATION_PATH
     Returns:
         a Config object
     Raises:
diff --git a/halig/edit.py b/halig/edit.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..3bb0194
--- /dev/null
+++ b/halig/edit.py
@@ -0,0 +1,29 @@
+from pathlib import Path
+from tempfile import NamedTemporaryFile
+
+from sh import age
+from halig.config import Config
+from halig.utils import wait_for_editor
+
+
+def edit_note(note_path: Path, config: Config):
+    """Edit an existing note. This method assumes that `note_path` exists, is
+    a fully-formed, absolute path an age file
+
+    Args:
+        note_path (Path): The path to the note to edit
+        config (Config): config object
+    """
+
+    note_contents = age("-d", "-i", config.encryption_keys.private_key_path, note_path)
+
+    with NamedTemporaryFile(delete=False) as tmpfile:
+        tmpfile.write(str(note_contents).encode())
+    wait_for_editor(tmpfile.name)
+    age(
+        "-R",
+        str(config.encryption_keys.public_key_path),
+        tmpfile.name,
+        _out=str(note_path),
+    )
+    Path(tmpfile.name).unlink()
diff --git a/halig/exceptions.py b/halig/exceptions.py
index 3a545bf..6725ddd 100644
--- a/halig/exceptions.py
+++ b/halig/exceptions.py
@@ -45,6 +45,11 @@ class NoteDoesNotExist(HaligError):
     error_code = 5
 
 
+class CouldNotEditTempfile(HaligError):
+    msg = "Could not edit temporary file; original file was not replaced"
+    error_code = 6
+
+
 def handle_errors(func):
     # TODO: parse age/sh errors
     @wraps(func)
diff --git a/halig/main.py b/halig/main.py
index 139c669..0bcea75 100755
--- a/halig/main.py
+++ b/halig/main.py
@@ -1,7 +1,6 @@
 #!/usr/bin/env python3
 from typer import Typer
 from pathlib import Path
-from typing import Optional
 from tempfile import NamedTemporaryFile
 from datetime import datetime
 from sh import age
@@ -16,10 +15,10 @@ import os
 import yaml
 from halig.exceptions import handle_errors
 from halig import logger
+from halig.utils import wait_for_editor
 
 app = Typer(pretty_exceptions_enable=False)
 
-
 TODAY = f"{datetime.now():%Y-%m-%d}"
 TODAY_NOTE = f"{TODAY}.norg.age"
 DEFAULT_NEORG_METADATA = f"""@document.meta
@@ -36,10 +35,6 @@ version: 1.0.0
 """
 
 
-def _wait_for_editor(path):
-    subprocess.call([os.environ.get("EDITOR") or "vim", path])
-
-
 def _edit_note(path: Path, config: Config):
     path = path.expanduser()
     if not path.exists():
@@ -50,7 +45,7 @@ def _edit_note(path: Path, config: Config):
     note_contents = age("-d", "-i", config.encryption_keys.private_key_path, path)
     with NamedTemporaryFile(delete=False) as tmpfile:
         tmpfile.write(str(note_contents).encode())
-    _wait_for_editor(tmpfile.name)
+    wait_for_editor(tmpfile.name)
     logger.info(f"encrypting updates into {path}")
     age("-R", str(config.encryption_keys.public_key_path), tmpfile.name, _out=str(path))
     Path(tmpfile.name).unlink()
@@ -103,7 +98,7 @@ contents with the default one"""
 def notebooks(
     print_files: bool = False,
     print_hidden: bool = False,
-    configuration_path: Optional[Path] = None,
+    configuration_path: Path = DEFAULT_CONFIGURATION_PATH,
 ):
     """Print notebooks and their contents, tree-style"""
     config = get_config(configuration_path)
@@ -114,7 +109,7 @@ def notebooks(
 
 @app.command()
 @handle_errors
-def edit(path: Path, configuration_path: Optional[Path] = None):
+def edit(path: Path, configuration_path: Path = DEFAULT_CONFIGURATION_PATH):
     """Edit a new or existing file by providing a path. Note that if only
     a dir is provided, an attempt to create or open `<dir>/<current date>.norg.age`
     will be made"""
diff --git a/halig/utils.py b/halig/utils.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..8d94050
--- /dev/null
+++ b/halig/utils.py
@@ -0,0 +1,34 @@
+import os
+import subprocess
+from pathlib import Path
+
+from halig import logger
+from halig.exceptions import CouldNotEditTempfile
+
+
+def resolve_path(path: Path) -> Path:
+    """Resolve a path's relative attributes, like envvars, relative notations, etc
+
+    Args:
+         path(Path): The path to resolve
+    Returns:
+        Path: The resolved path
+    """
+    path = Path("~/.config/halig/halig.yml").expanduser()
+
+    return path
+
+
+def wait_for_editor(path):
+    """Wait for $EDITOR to be opened and then manually closed by the user
+
+    Args:
+         path(Path): The filepath which $EDITOR should modify
+    Raises:
+        CouldNotEditTempfile if the subprocess call errors out
+    """
+    try:
+        subprocess.call([os.environ.get("EDITOR", "vim"), path])
+    except subprocess.CalledProcessError as e:
+        logger.error(e.output)
+        raise CouldNotEditTempfile
diff --git a/poetry.lock b/poetry.lock
index 82edf3d..a44d4ff 100644
--- a/poetry.lock
+++ b/poetry.lock
@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@
 name = "atomicwrites"
 version = "1.4.1"
 description = "Atomic file writes."
-category = "dev"
+category = "main"
 optional = false
 python-versions = ">=2.7, !=3.0.*, !=3.1.*, !=3.2.*, !=3.3.*"
 
@@ -10,7 +10,7 @@ python-versions = ">=2.7, !=3.0.*, !=3.1.*, !=3.2.*, !=3.3.*"
 name = "attrs"
 version = "22.1.0"
 description = "Classes Without Boilerplate"
-category = "dev"
+category = "main"
 optional = false
 python-versions = ">=3.5"
 
@@ -100,7 +100,7 @@ dev = ["pytest", "coverage", "coveralls"]
 name = "iniconfig"
 version = "1.1.1"
 description = "iniconfig: brain-dead simple config-ini parsing"
-category = "dev"
+category = "main"
 optional = false
 python-versions = "*"
 
@@ -128,7 +128,7 @@ icu = ["PyICU (>=1.0.0)"]
 name = "packaging"
 version = "21.3"
 description = "Core utilities for Python packages"
-category = "dev"
+category = "main"
 optional = false
 python-versions = ">=3.6"
 
@@ -159,7 +159,7 @@ test = ["appdirs (==1.4.4)", "pytest-cov (>=2.7)", "pytest-mock (>=3.6)", "pytes
 name = "pluggy"
 version = "1.0.0"
 description = "plugin and hook calling mechanisms for python"
-category = "dev"
+category = "main"
 optional = false
 python-versions = ">=3.6"
 
@@ -171,7 +171,7 @@ testing = ["pytest", "pytest-benchmark"]
 name = "py"
 version = "1.11.0"
 description = "library with cross-python path, ini-parsing, io, code, log facilities"
-category = "dev"
+category = "main"
 optional = false
 python-versions = ">=2.7, !=3.0.*, !=3.1.*, !=3.2.*, !=3.3.*, !=3.4.*"
 
@@ -205,7 +205,7 @@ plugins = ["importlib-metadata"]
 name = "pyparsing"
 version = "3.0.9"
 description = "pyparsing module - Classes and methods to define and execute parsing grammars"
-category = "dev"
+category = "main"
 optional = false
 python-versions = ">=3.6.8"
 
@@ -216,7 +216,7 @@ diagrams = ["railroad-diagrams", "jinja2"]
 name = "pytest"
 version = "7.1.2"
 description = "pytest: simple powerful testing with Python"
-category = "dev"
+category = "main"
 optional = false
 python-versions = ">=3.7"
 
@@ -252,7 +252,7 @@ testing = ["fields", "hunter", "process-tests", "six", "pytest-xdist", "virtuale
 name = "pytest-mock"
 version = "3.8.2"
 description = "Thin-wrapper around the mock package for easier use with pytest"
-category = "dev"
+category = "main"
 optional = false
 python-versions = ">=3.7"
 
@@ -309,7 +309,7 @@ python-versions = "*"
 name = "tomli"
 version = "2.0.1"
 description = "A lil' TOML parser"
-category = "dev"
+category = "main"
 optional = false
 python-versions = ">=3.7"
 
@@ -341,7 +341,7 @@ python-versions = ">=3.7"
 [metadata]
 lock-version = "1.1"
 python-versions = "^3.10"
-content-hash = "8f7eb9a03471694fe9f4950887b2857e65800302965f5add814793b5f6a4e946"
+content-hash = "9723100b02ae7c884db7d0ae2607d20c1e8321a7a39d93028060fd8022305370"
 
 [metadata.files]
 atomicwrites = []
diff --git a/pyproject.toml b/pyproject.toml
index 9f3ac63..83ff31d 100644
--- a/pyproject.toml
+++ b/pyproject.toml
@@ -16,6 +16,7 @@ sh = "^1.14.3"
 pydantic = "^1.9.1"
 PyYAML = "^6.0"
 seedir = "^0.3.1"
+pytest-mock = "^3.8.2"
 
 
 [tool.poetry.group.linters.dependencies]
diff --git a/tests/file_fixtures.py b/tests/file_fixtures.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..e362937
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/file_fixtures.py
@@ -0,0 +1,21 @@
+import shutil
+import tempfile
+from pathlib import Path
+from tempfile import NamedTemporaryFile
+
+import pytest
+
+
+@pytest.fixture()
+def tmpfile():
+    _tmpfile = NamedTemporaryFile(delete=False)
+    with open(_tmpfile.name, "w") as file:
+        yield file
+    Path(_tmpfile.name).unlink()
+
+
+@pytest.fixture()
+def tmpdir():
+    tmpdir = Path(tempfile.mkdtemp())
+    yield tmpdir
+    shutil.rmtree(tmpdir)
diff --git a/tests/test_config.py b/tests/test_config.py
index 1727056..cff26d9 100644
--- a/tests/test_config.py
+++ b/tests/test_config.py
@@ -1,5 +1,3 @@
-import shutil
-import tempfile
 from pathlib import Path
 from tempfile import NamedTemporaryFile
 
@@ -8,21 +6,7 @@ import yaml
 
 from halig.config import get_config, Config, EncryptionKeysConfig
 from halig.exceptions import ConfigFileDoesNotExist, ConfigFileIsInvalid
-
-
-@pytest.fixture()
-def tmpfile():
-    _tmpfile = NamedTemporaryFile(delete=False)
-    with open(_tmpfile.name, "w") as file:
-        yield file
-    Path(_tmpfile.name).unlink()
-
-
-@pytest.fixture()
-def tmpdir():
-    tmpdir = Path(tempfile.mkdtemp())
-    yield tmpdir
-    shutil.rmtree(tmpdir)
+from tests.file_fixtures import tmpfile, tmpdir  # noqa: 401
 
 
 def test_get_config_raises_config_file_does_not_exist():
@@ -36,19 +20,19 @@ def test_get_config_with_empty_file_raises_invalid_config_file():
             get_config(Path(f.name))
 
 
-def test_get_config_raises_invalid_config_file_00(tmpfile):
+def test_get_config_raises_invalid_config_file_00(tmpfile):  # noqa: F811
     tmpfile.write("foobar")
     with pytest.raises(ConfigFileIsInvalid):
         get_config(Path(tmpfile.name))
 
 
-def test_get_config_raises_invalid_config_file_01(tmpfile):
+def test_get_config_raises_invalid_config_file_01(tmpfile):  # noqa: F811
     yaml.dump({"foo": "bar"}, tmpfile, Dumper=yaml.SafeDumper)
     with pytest.raises(ConfigFileIsInvalid):
         get_config(Path(tmpfile.name))
 
 
-def test_get_config(tmpdir):
+def test_get_config(tmpdir):  # noqa: F811
     notes_root_path = Path(tmpdir / "notes")
     notes_root_path.mkdir(exist_ok=True)
     age_binary_path = Path(tmpdir / "age")
diff --git a/tests/test_edit.py b/tests/test_edit.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..454e464
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/test_edit.py
@@ -0,0 +1,79 @@
+from pathlib import Path
+from subprocess import CalledProcessError
+
+import pytest
+
+from halig.config import Config, EncryptionKeysConfig
+from halig.edit import edit_note
+from halig.exceptions import CouldNotEditTempfile
+from tests.file_fixtures import tmpfile, tempfile  # noqa: F401
+
+from sh import age, ssh_keygen, yes
+
+
+@pytest.fixture()
+def notes_path(tmpdir):  # noqa: F811
+    notes_path = Path(tmpdir.dirname) / "notes"
+    notes_path.mkdir(exist_ok=True)
+
+    yield notes_path
+
+
+@pytest.fixture()
+def config(notes_path):  # noqa: F811
+    keys_path = Path(notes_path.parent / ".ssh")
+    keys_path.mkdir(exist_ok=True)
+    private_key_path = keys_path / "key"
+    public_key_path = keys_path / "key.pub"
+
+    ssh_keygen(yes(_piped=True), t="ed25519", f=str(private_key_path))
+
+    config = Config(
+        notes_root_path=notes_path,
+        encryption_keys=EncryptionKeysConfig(
+            public_key_path=public_key_path,
+            private_key_path=private_key_path,
+        ),
+    )
+
+    note_path = notes_path / "note"
+    note_path.touch(exist_ok=True)
+    with open(note_path, "w") as f:
+        f.write("this is a test")
+
+    age(
+        "-R",
+        str(config.encryption_keys.public_key_path),
+        str(note_path),
+        _out=f"{note_path}.age",
+    )
+
+    yield config
+
+
+def mock_subprocess(args: list):
+    with open(args[1], "w") as f:
+        f.write("mocked")
+
+
+def test_edit_note(config: Config, mocker):  # noqa: F811
+    mocker.patch("subprocess.call", side_effect=mock_subprocess)
+    edit_note(config.notes_root_path / "note.age", config)
+    assert (
+            age(
+                "-d",
+                "-i",
+                config.encryption_keys.private_key_path,
+                config.notes_root_path / "note.age",
+            )
+            == "mocked"
+    )
+
+
+def test_edit_not_raises_could_not_edit_tempfile(config: Config, mocker):  # noqa: F811
+    mocker.patch("subprocess.call", side_effect=CalledProcessError(
+        returncode=1,
+        cmd="foo",
+        output="mocked error"))
+    with pytest.raises(CouldNotEditTempfile):
+        edit_note(config.notes_root_path / "note.age", config)