only allow single instance of old in str_replace

Author: charleslien

backend/src/process-str-replace.ts

@@ -5,7 +5,7 @@ import { tryToDoStringReplacementWithExtraIndentation } from './generate-diffs-p
 
 export async function processStrReplace(
   path: string,
-  replacements: { old: string; new: string }[],
+  replacements: { old: string; new: string; allowMultiple: boolean }[],
   initialContentPromise: Promise<string | null>,
 ): Promise<
   | {
@@ -24,7 +24,7 @@ export async function processStrReplace(
   let allPatches: string[] = []
   let messages: string[] = []
 
-  for (const { old: oldStr, new: newStr } of replacements) {
+  for (const { old: oldStr, new: newStr, allowMultiple } of replacements) {
     // Regular case: require oldStr for replacements
     if (!oldStr) {
       messages.push(
@@ -44,15 +44,19 @@ export async function processStrReplace(
     const normalizedCurrentContent = normalizeLineEndings(currentContent)
     const normalizedOldStr = normalizeLineEndings(oldStr)
 
-    const updatedOldStr = tryMatchOldStr(
+    const match = tryMatchOldStr(
       normalizedCurrentContent,
       normalizedOldStr,
       newStr,
+      allowMultiple,
     )
-    if (updatedOldStr === null) {
-      messages.push(
-        `The old string ${JSON.stringify(oldStr)} was not found in the file, skipping. Please try again with a different old string that matches the file content exactly.`,
-      )
+    let updatedOldStr: string | null
+
+    if (match.success) {
+      updatedOldStr = match.oldStr
+    } else {
+      messages.push(match.error)
+      updatedOldStr = null
     }
 
     const updatedContent =
@@ -114,9 +118,18 @@ const tryMatchOldStr = (
   initialContent: string,
   oldStr: string,
   newStr: string,
-) => {
-  if (initialContent.includes(oldStr)) {
-    return oldStr
+  allowMultiple: boolean,
+): { success: true; oldStr: string } | { success: false; error: string } => {
+  // count the number of occurrences of oldStr in initialContent
+  const count = initialContent.split(oldStr).length - 1
+  if (count === 1) {
+    return { success: true, oldStr }
+  }
+  if (!allowMultiple && count > 1) {
+    return {
+      success: false,
+      error: `Found ${count} occurrences of ${JSON.stringify(oldStr)} in the file. Please try again with a longer (more specified) old string or set allowMultiple to true.`,
+    }
   }
 
   const newChange = tryToDoStringReplacementWithExtraIndentation(
@@ -126,7 +139,7 @@ const tryMatchOldStr = (
   )
   if (newChange) {
     logger.debug('Matched with indentation modification')
-    return newChange.searchContent
+    return { success: true, oldStr: newChange.searchContent }
   } else {
     // Try matching without any whitespace as a last resort
     const noWhitespaceSearch = oldStr.replace(/\s+/g, '')
@@ -164,9 +177,12 @@ const tryMatchOldStr = (
       )
       if (initialContent.includes(actualContent)) {
         logger.debug('Matched with whitespace removed')
-        return actualContent
+        return { success: true, oldStr: actualContent }
       }
     }
   }
-  return null
+  return {
+    success: false,
+    error: `The old string ${JSON.stringify(oldStr)} was not found in the file, skipping. Please try again with a different old string that matches the file content exactly.`,
+  }
 }

backend/src/tools/definitions/tool/str-replace.ts

@@ -1,19 +1,15 @@
 import { getToolCallString } from '@codebuff/common/tools/utils'
-import { closeXml } from '@codebuff/common/util/xml'
 
 import type { ToolDescription } from '../tool-def-type'
 
 const toolName = 'str_replace'
-const endsAgentStep = false
 export const strReplaceTool = {
   toolName,
   description: `
 Use this tool to make edits within existing files. Prefer this tool over the write_file tool for existing files, unless you need to make major changes throughout the file, in which case use write_file.
 
 Important:
-If you are making multiple edits in a row to a file, use only one <str_replace> call with multiple replacements instead of multiple str_replace tool calls.
-
-Don't forget to close the <str_replace> tag with ${closeXml('str_replace')} after you have finished making all the replacements.
+If you are making multiple edits in a row to a file, use only one str_replace call with multiple replacements instead of multiple str_replace tool calls.
 
 Example:
 ${getToolCallString(toolName, {
@@ -24,6 +20,11 @@ ${getToolCallString(toolName, {
       old: '\n\t\t// @codebuff delete this log line please\n\t\tconsole.log("Hello, world!");\n',
       new: '\n',
     },
+    {
+      old: '\nfoo:',
+      new: '\nbar:',
+      allowMultiple: true,
+    },
   ],
 })}
     `.trim(),

common/src/tools/params/tool/str-replace.ts

@@ -28,6 +28,13 @@ export const strReplaceParams = {
                 .describe(
                   `The string to replace the corresponding old string with. Can be empty to delete.`,
                 ),
+              allowMultiple: z
+                .boolean()
+                .optional()
+                .default(false)
+                .describe(
+                  'Whether to allow multiple replacements of old string.',
+                ),
             })
             .describe('Pair of old and new strings.'),
         )