e4c275d615
## Summary We've experienced a bit of drift in system prompting for `apply_patch`: - As pointed out in #2030 , our prettier formatting started altering prompt.md in a few ways - We introduced a separate markdown file for apply_patch instructions in #993, but currently duplicate them in the prompt.md file - We added a first-class apply_patch tool in #2303, which has yet another definition This PR starts to consolidate our logic in a few ways: - We now only use `apply_patch_tool_instructions.md](https://github.com/openai/codex/compare/dh--apply-patch-tool-definition?expand=1#diff-d4fffee5f85cb1975d3f66143a379e6c329de40c83ed5bf03ffd3829df985bea) for system instructions - We no longer include apply_patch system instructions if the tool is specified I'm leaving the definition in openai_tools.rs as duplicated text for now because we're going to be iterated on the first-class tool soon. ## Testing - [x] Added integration tests to verify prompt stability - [x] Tested locally with several different models (gpt-5, gpt-oss, o4-mini)
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apply_patch
Use the apply_patch shell command to edit files.
Your patch language is a stripped‑down, file‑oriented diff format designed to be easy to parse and safe to apply. You can think of it as a high‑level envelope:
*** Begin Patch [ one or more file sections ] *** End Patch
Within that envelope, you get a sequence of file operations. You MUST include a header to specify the action you are taking. Each operation starts with one of three headers:
*** Add File: - create a new file. Every following line is a + line (the initial contents). *** Delete File: - remove an existing file. Nothing follows. *** Update File: - patch an existing file in place (optionally with a rename).
May be immediately followed by *** Move to: if you want to rename the file. Then one or more “hunks”, each introduced by @@ (optionally followed by a hunk header). Within a hunk each line starts with:
For instructions on [context_before] and [context_after]:
- By default, show 3 lines of code immediately above and 3 lines immediately below each change. If a change is within 3 lines of a previous change, do NOT duplicate the first change’s [context_after] lines in the second change’s [context_before] lines.
- If 3 lines of context is insufficient to uniquely identify the snippet of code within the file, use the @@ operator to indicate the class or function to which the snippet belongs. For instance, we might have: @@ class BaseClass [3 lines of pre-context]
- [old_code]
- [new_code] [3 lines of post-context]
- If a code block is repeated so many times in a class or function such that even a single
@@statement and 3 lines of context cannot uniquely identify the snippet of code, you can use multiple@@statements to jump to the right context. For instance:
@@ class BaseClass @@ def method(): [3 lines of pre-context]
- [old_code]
- [new_code] [3 lines of post-context]
The full grammar definition is below: Patch := Begin { FileOp } End Begin := "*** Begin Patch" NEWLINE End := "*** End Patch" NEWLINE FileOp := AddFile | DeleteFile | UpdateFile AddFile := "*** Add File: " path NEWLINE { "+" line NEWLINE } DeleteFile := "*** Delete File: " path NEWLINE UpdateFile := "*** Update File: " path NEWLINE [ MoveTo ] { Hunk } MoveTo := "*** Move to: " newPath NEWLINE Hunk := "@@" [ header ] NEWLINE { HunkLine } [ "*** End of File" NEWLINE ] HunkLine := (" " | "-" | "+") text NEWLINE
A full patch can combine several operations:
*** Begin Patch *** Add File: hello.txt +Hello world *** Update File: src/app.py *** Move to: src/main.py @@ def greet(): -print("Hi") +print("Hello, world!") *** Delete File: obsolete.txt *** End Patch
It is important to remember:
- You must include a header with your intended action (Add/Delete/Update)
- You must prefix new lines with
+even when creating a new file - File references can only be relative, NEVER ABSOLUTE.
You can invoke apply_patch like:
shell {"command":["apply_patch","*** Begin Patch\n*** Add File: hello.txt\n+Hello, world!\n*** End Patch\n"]}