Files
llmx/codex-rs/apply-patch/apply_patch_tool_instructions.md
Dylan e4c275d615 [apply-patch] Clean up apply-patch tool definitions (#2539)
## 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)
2025-08-21 20:07:41 -07:00

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## `apply_patch`
Use the `apply_patch` shell command to edit files.
Your patch language is a strippeddown, fileoriented diff format designed to be easy to parse and safe to apply. You can think of it as a highlevel 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: <path> - create a new file. Every following line is a + line (the initial contents).
*** Delete File: <path> - remove an existing file. Nothing follows.
*** Update File: <path> - patch an existing file in place (optionally with a rename).
May be immediately followed by *** Move to: <new path> 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 changes [context_after] lines in the second changes [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"]}
```