Patch workflow & FEEDBACK

Related guides:

• CLI Usage & Examples
• The STAN Loop

Accepted patch kinds

STAN supports two patch payload kinds:

• File Ops (structural operations like move/delete/mkdir)
• Unified diff (content edits)

You must not mix both kinds in a single payload.

Unified diffs (single file per invocation)

• Plain unified diffs with diff --git, ---/+++, and @@ hunks.
• Paths are relative to the repo root, with POSIX separators (/). Prefer a/ and b/ prefixes.
• ≥ 3 lines of context per hunk. LF line endings. No base64.
• Hard rule: stan patch enforces exactly one target file per patch payload. For multi-file changes, apply multiple times (one diff per file).

Apply from clipboard (default), argument, or file:

stan patch
stan patch --check
stan patch -f changes.patch
Copy

File Ops (structural changes)

Use a ### File Ops block for safe, repo-relative operations:

### File Ops
mkdirp src/new/dir
mv src/old.ts src/new/dir/old.ts
rm docs/obsolete.md
Copy

Then follow with a unified diff for any content edits (in a separate payload).

On failure: diagnostics envelope

When a patch fails or partially applies, STAN prints a compact diagnostics envelope and (when possible) copies it to your clipboard. Paste it into chat as-is. It includes:

• which apply strategies were attempted,
• exit summaries and jsdiff reasons (when applicable),
• the declared target file(s) (when detectable from the patch headers).

Assistants should respond by generating a corrected unified diff that applies cleanly, including Full Listings only for the failed file when necessary.

Tips

• Keep hunks small and anchored; avoid large reflows in Markdown.
• For multi-file changes, emit one diff per file and apply them one at a time.
• For docs: preserve LF; minimal whitespace changes improve reliability.