edit_file_content

Instructions

Implementation Reference

• src/index.ts:133-194 (handler)

  Core handler function that applies sequential edit operations to a file: reads content, performs replacements (exact or line-by-line whitespace-insensitive), preserves indentation, generates unified diff, writes if not dry-run, and formats output.

  async function applyFileEdits(
    filePath: string,
    edits: z.infer<typeof EditOperationSchema>[],
    dryRun = false
  ): Promise<string> {
    const content = normalizeLineEndings(await fs.readFile(filePath, 'utf-8'));
    let modifiedContent = content;
  
    for (const edit of edits) {
      const normalizedOld = normalizeLineEndings(edit.oldText);
      const normalizedNew = normalizeLineEndings(edit.newText);
  
      if (modifiedContent.includes(normalizedOld)) {
        modifiedContent = modifiedContent.replace(normalizedOld, normalizedNew);
        continue;
      }
  
      const oldLines = normalizedOld.split('\n');
      const contentLines = modifiedContent.split('\n');
      let matchFound = false;
  
      for (let i = 0; i <= contentLines.length - oldLines.length; i++) {
        const potentialMatch = contentLines.slice(i, i + oldLines.length);
        const isMatch = oldLines.every((oldLine, j) => oldLine.trim() === potentialMatch[j].trim());
  
        if (isMatch) {
          const originalIndent = contentLines[i].match(/^\s*/)?.[0] || '';
          const newLines = normalizedNew.split('\n').map((line, j) => {
            if (j === 0) return originalIndent + line.trimStart();
            const oldIndent = oldLines[j]?.match(/^\s*/)?.[0] || '';
            const newIndent = line.match(/^\s*/)?.[0] || '';
            if (oldIndent && newIndent) {
              const relativeIndent = newIndent.length - oldIndent.length;
              return originalIndent + ' '.repeat(Math.max(0, relativeIndent)) + line.trimStart();
            }
            return line;
          });
  
          contentLines.splice(i, oldLines.length, ...newLines);
          modifiedContent = contentLines.join('\n');
          matchFound = true;
          break;
        }
      }
  
      if (!matchFound) {
        throw new Error(`Could not find exact or whitespace-insensitive match for edit:\n${edit.oldText}`);
      }
    }
  
    const diff = createUnifiedDiff(content, modifiedContent, path.relative(process.cwd(), filePath));
  
    if (!dryRun) {
      await fs.writeFile(filePath, modifiedContent, 'utf-8');
    }
  
    let numBackticks = 3;
    while (diff.includes('`'.repeat(numBackticks))) {
      numBackticks++;
    }
    return `${'`'.repeat(numBackticks)}diff\n${diff}\n${'`'.repeat(numBackticks)}`;
  }

• src/index.ts:454-462 (handler)

  Tool dispatch handler in the main switch statement: validates arguments using EditFileArgsSchema, checks edits array, sanitizes path, and invokes applyFileEdits.

  case "edit_file_content": {
    const parsed = EditFileArgsSchema.parse(args);
    if (parsed.edits.length === 0) {
       throw new McpError(ErrorCode.InvalidParams, `'edits' array cannot be empty for ${toolName}.`);
    }
    const validPath = validateWorkspacePath(parsed.path);
    resultText = await applyFileEdits(validPath, parsed.edits, parsed.dryRun);
    break;
  }

• src/tools/edit_file.ts:6-20 (schema)

  Zod schemas for EditOperation (oldText, newText) and EditFileArgs (path, edits array, optional dryRun), converted to JSON schema for tool input validation.

  // Schema definitions (adapted from example.ts) - Exported
  export const EditOperationSchema = z.object({
    oldText: z.string().describe('Text to search for - attempts exact match first, then line-by-line whitespace-insensitive match.'),
    newText: z.string().describe('Text to replace with, preserving indentation where possible.')
  });
  
  export const EditFileArgsSchema = z.object({
    path: z.string().describe("The path of the file to edit (relative to the workspace directory)."),
    edits: z.array(EditOperationSchema).describe("An array of edit operations to apply sequentially."),
    dryRun: z.boolean().optional().default(false).describe('If true, preview changes using git-style diff format without saving.')
  });
  
  // Convert Zod schema to JSON schema
  const EditFileJsonSchema = zodToJsonSchema(EditFileArgsSchema);

• src/tools/index.ts:11-51 (registration)

  Imports the editFileTool definition and registers it in the allTools array, which is used by the MCP server for tool listing and mapping.

  import { editFileTool } from "./edit_file.js";
  // import { createDirectoryTool } from "./create_directory.js"; // Removed
  import { listDirectoryTool } from "./list_directory.js";
  import { directoryTreeTool } from "./directory_tree.js";
  import { moveFileTool } from "./move_file.js";
  import { searchFilesTool } from "./search_files.js";
  import { getFileInfoTool } from "./get_file_info.js";
  import { executeTerminalCommandTool } from "./execute_terminal_command.js"; // Renamed file and tool variable
  // Import the new combined tools
  import { saveGenerateProjectGuidelinesTool } from "./save_generate_project_guidelines.js";
  import { saveDocSnippetTool } from "./save_doc_snippet.js";
  import { saveTopicExplanationTool } from "./save_topic_explanation.js";
  // Removed old save_query_answer, added new specific ones
  import { saveAnswerQueryDirectTool } from "./save_answer_query_direct.js";
  import { saveAnswerQueryWebsearchTool } from "./save_answer_query_websearch.js";
  
  // Import new research-oriented tools
  import { codeAnalysisWithDocsTool } from "./code_analysis_with_docs.js";
  import { technicalComparisonTool } from "./technical_comparison.js";
  import { architecturePatternRecommendationTool } from "./architecture_pattern_recommendation.js";
  import { dependencyVulnerabilityScanTool } from "./dependency_vulnerability_scan.js";
  import { databaseSchemaAnalyzerTool } from "./database_schema_analyzer.js";
  import { securityBestPracticesAdvisorTool } from "./security_best_practices_advisor.js";
  import { testingStrategyGeneratorTool } from "./testing_strategy_generator.js";
  import { regulatoryComplianceAdvisorTool } from "./regulatory_compliance_advisor.js";
  import { microserviceDesignAssistantTool } from "./microservice_design_assistant.js";
  import { documentationGeneratorTool } from "./documentation_generator.js";
  
  
  export const allTools: ToolDefinition[] = [
      // Query & Generation Tools
      answerQueryWebsearchTool,
      answerQueryDirectTool,
      explainTopicWithDocsTool,
      getDocSnippetsTool,
      generateProjectGuidelinesTool,
      // Filesystem Tools
      readFileTool, // Handles single and multiple files now
      // readMultipleFilesTool, // Merged into readFileTool
      writeFileTool,
      editFileTool,

• src/tools/edit_file.ts:21-49 (helper)

  ToolDefinition object with name, description, inputSchema, and buildPrompt for parameter validation (used in generic path, but overridden by filesystem handler).

  export const editFileTool: ToolDefinition = {
      name: "edit_file_content", // Renamed slightly
      description:
        "Make line-based edits to a text file in the workspace filesystem. Each edit attempts to replace " +
        "an exact match of 'oldText' with 'newText'. If no exact match is found, it attempts a " +
        "line-by-line match ignoring leading/trailing whitespace. Indentation of the first line " +
        "is preserved, and relative indentation of subsequent lines is attempted. " +
        "Returns a git-style diff showing the changes made (or previewed if dryRun is true).",
      inputSchema: EditFileJsonSchema as any, // Cast as any if needed
  
      // Minimal buildPrompt as execution logic is separate
      buildPrompt: (args: any, modelId: string) => {
          const parsed = EditFileArgsSchema.safeParse(args);
          if (!parsed.success) {
              throw new McpError(ErrorCode.InvalidParams, `Invalid arguments for edit_file_content: ${parsed.error}`);
          }
          // Add a check for empty edits array
          if (parsed.data.edits.length === 0) {
               throw new McpError(ErrorCode.InvalidParams, `Invalid arguments for edit_file_content: 'edits' array cannot be empty.`);
          }
          return {
              systemInstructionText: "",
              userQueryText: "",
              useWebSearch: false,
              enableFunctionCalling: false
          };
      },
      // No 'execute' function here
  };