fix(coding-agent): preserve untouched lines in fuzzy edit

closes #5899

packages/coding-agent/CHANGELOG.md

@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@
 
 ### Fixed
 
+- Fixed fuzzy `edit` matches to preserve untouched line blocks instead of rewriting the whole file through normalized content ([#5899](https://github.com/earendil-works/pi/issues/5899)).
 - Fixed bash commands through legacy WSL `bash.exe` to pass scripts over stdin so shell variables expand in the target bash ([#5893](https://github.com/earendil-works/pi/issues/5893)).
 - Fixed `/model` to hide GitHub Copilot models that are unavailable to the authenticated account ([#5897](https://github.com/earendil-works/pi/issues/5897)).
 - Fixed `/model` selector search to rank exact provider-prefixed matches before proxy-provider model ID matches ([#5892](https://github.com/earendil-works/pi/issues/5892)).

packages/coding-agent/src/core/tools/edit-diff.ts

@@ -53,6 +53,124 @@ export function normalizeForFuzzyMatch(text: string): string {
 	);
 }
 
+function splitLinesWithEndings(content: string): string[] {
+	return content.match(/[^\n]*\n|[^\n]+/g) ?? [];
+}
+
+interface LineSpan {
+	start: number;
+	end: number;
+}
+
+interface MatchedEdit {
+	editIndex: number;
+	matchIndex: number;
+	matchLength: number;
+	newText: string;
+}
+
+type TextReplacement = Pick<MatchedEdit, "matchIndex" | "matchLength" | "newText">;
+
+function getLineSpans(content: string): LineSpan[] {
+	let offset = 0;
+	return splitLinesWithEndings(content).map((line) => {
+		const span = { start: offset, end: offset + line.length };
+		offset = span.end;
+		return span;
+	});
+}
+
+function getReplacementLineRange(lines: LineSpan[], replacement: TextReplacement) {
+	const replacementStart = replacement.matchIndex;
+	const replacementEnd = replacement.matchIndex + replacement.matchLength;
+
+	let startLine = -1;
+	for (let i = 0; i < lines.length; i++) {
+		const line = lines[i];
+		if (replacementStart >= line.start && replacementStart < line.end) {
+			startLine = i;
+			break;
+		}
+	}
+	if (startLine === -1) {
+		throw new Error("Replacement range is outside the base content.");
+	}
+
+	let endLine = startLine;
+	while (endLine < lines.length && lines[endLine].end < replacementEnd) {
+		endLine++;
+	}
+	if (endLine >= lines.length) {
+		throw new Error("Replacement range is outside the base content.");
+	}
+
+	return { startLine, endLine: endLine + 1 };
+}
+
+function applyReplacements(content: string, replacements: TextReplacement[], offset = 0): string {
+	let result = content;
+	for (let i = replacements.length - 1; i >= 0; i--) {
+		const replacement = replacements[i];
+		const matchIndex = replacement.matchIndex - offset;
+		result =
+			result.substring(0, matchIndex) + replacement.newText + result.substring(matchIndex + replacement.matchLength);
+	}
+	return result;
+}
+
+/**
+ * Apply replacements matched against `baseContent` to `originalContent` while
+ * preserving unchanged line blocks from the original.
+ *
+ * This is useful when `baseContent` is a normalized view of the original. Each
+ * replacement is widened to the lines it actually touches, those touched lines
+ * are rewritten from the normalized base, and all other lines are copied back
+ * from `originalContent`. The actual replacement ranges drive preservation so
+ * duplicate normalized lines cannot be aligned to the wrong occurrence.
+ */
+export function applyReplacementsPreservingUnchangedLines(
+	originalContent: string,
+	baseContent: string,
+	replacements: TextReplacement[],
+): string {
+	const originalLines = splitLinesWithEndings(originalContent);
+	const baseLines = getLineSpans(baseContent);
+	if (originalLines.length !== baseLines.length) {
+		throw new Error("Cannot preserve unchanged lines because the base content has a different line count.");
+	}
+
+	const groups: Array<{ startLine: number; endLine: number; replacements: TextReplacement[] }> = [];
+	const sortedReplacements = [...replacements].sort((a, b) => a.matchIndex - b.matchIndex);
+	for (const replacement of sortedReplacements) {
+		const range = getReplacementLineRange(baseLines, replacement);
+		const current = groups[groups.length - 1];
+		if (current && range.startLine < current.endLine) {
+			current.endLine = Math.max(current.endLine, range.endLine);
+			current.replacements.push(replacement);
+			continue;
+		}
+		groups.push({ ...range, replacements: [replacement] });
+	}
+
+	let originalLineIndex = 0;
+	let result = "";
+	for (const group of groups) {
+		result += originalLines.slice(originalLineIndex, group.startLine).join("");
+
+		const groupStartOffset = baseLines[group.startLine].start;
+		const groupEndOffset = baseLines[group.endLine - 1].end;
+		result += applyReplacements(
+			baseContent.slice(groupStartOffset, groupEndOffset),
+			group.replacements,
+			groupStartOffset,
+		);
+		originalLineIndex = group.endLine;
+	}
+	result += originalLines.slice(originalLineIndex).join("");
+
+	return result;
+}
+
 export interface FuzzyMatchResult {
 	/** Whether a match was found */
 	found: boolean;
@@ -74,13 +192,6 @@ export interface Edit {
 	newText: string;
 }
 
-interface MatchedEdit {
-	editIndex: number;
-	matchIndex: number;
-	matchLength: number;
-	newText: string;
-}
-
 export interface AppliedEditsResult {
 	baseContent: string;
 	newContent: string;
@@ -120,9 +231,9 @@ export function fuzzyFindText(content: string, oldText: string): FuzzyMatchResul
 		};
 	}
 
-	// When fuzzy matching, we work in the normalized space for replacement.
-	// This means the output will have normalized whitespace/quotes/dashes,
-	// which is acceptable since we're fixing minor formatting differences anyway.
+	// When fuzzy matching, return offsets in normalized space. Callers can use
+	// the normalized content to compute replacements, then decide how much of
+	// that normalized output should be written back.
 	return {
 		found: true,
 		index: fuzzyIndex,
@@ -186,8 +297,9 @@ function getNoChangeError(path: string, totalEdits: number): Error {
  *
  * All edits are matched against the same original content. Replacements are
  * then applied in reverse order so offsets remain stable. If any edit needs
- * fuzzy matching, the operation runs in fuzzy-normalized content space to
- * preserve current single-edit behavior.
+ * fuzzy matching, the operation runs in fuzzy-normalized content space and then
+ * overlays those line-level changes onto the original content so unchanged line
+ * blocks keep their original bytes.
  */
 export function applyEditsToNormalizedContent(
 	normalizedContent: string,
@@ -206,19 +318,18 @@ export function applyEditsToNormalizedContent(
 	}
 
 	const initialMatches = normalizedEdits.map((edit) => fuzzyFindText(normalizedContent, edit.oldText));
-	const baseContent = initialMatches.some((match) => match.usedFuzzyMatch)
-		? normalizeForFuzzyMatch(normalizedContent)
-		: normalizedContent;
+	const usedFuzzyMatch = initialMatches.some((match) => match.usedFuzzyMatch);
+	const replacementBaseContent = usedFuzzyMatch ? normalizeForFuzzyMatch(normalizedContent) : normalizedContent;
 
 	const matchedEdits: MatchedEdit[] = [];
 	for (let i = 0; i < normalizedEdits.length; i++) {
 		const edit = normalizedEdits[i];
-		const matchResult = fuzzyFindText(baseContent, edit.oldText);
+		const matchResult = fuzzyFindText(replacementBaseContent, edit.oldText);
 		if (!matchResult.found) {
 			throw getNotFoundError(path, i, normalizedEdits.length);
 		}
 
-		const occurrences = countOccurrences(baseContent, edit.oldText);
+		const occurrences = countOccurrences(replacementBaseContent, edit.oldText);
 		if (occurrences > 1) {
 			throw getDuplicateError(path, i, normalizedEdits.length, occurrences);
 		}
@@ -242,14 +353,10 @@ export function applyEditsToNormalizedContent(
 		}
 	}
 
-	let newContent = baseContent;
-	for (let i = matchedEdits.length - 1; i >= 0; i--) {
-		const edit = matchedEdits[i];
-		newContent =
-			newContent.substring(0, edit.matchIndex) +
-			edit.newText +
-			newContent.substring(edit.matchIndex + edit.matchLength);
-	}
+	const baseContent = normalizedContent;
+	const newContent = usedFuzzyMatch
+		? applyReplacementsPreservingUnchangedLines(normalizedContent, replacementBaseContent, matchedEdits)
+		: applyReplacements(replacementBaseContent, matchedEdits);
 
 	if (baseContent === newContent) {
 		throw getNoChangeError(path, normalizedEdits.length);

packages/coding-agent/test/tools.test.ts

@@ -1031,6 +1031,57 @@ describe("edit tool fuzzy matching", () => {
 
 		expect(readFileSync(testFile, "utf-8")).toBe("console.log('world');\nhello universe\n");
 	});
+
+	it("should preserve the correct occurrence when fuzzy replacement equals a nearby line", async () => {
+		const testFile = join(testDir, "fuzzy-preserve-duplicate-line.txt");
+		const originalContent = ["replace me\u0020\u0020\u0020", "after\u0020\u0020\u0020", ""].join("\n");
+		writeFileSync(testFile, originalContent);
+
+		const result = await editTool.execute("test-fuzzy-preserve-duplicate-line", {
+			path: testFile,
+			edits: [{ oldText: "replace me\n", newText: "after\n" }],
+		});
+
+		const expectedContent = ["after", "after\u0020\u0020\u0020", ""].join("\n");
+		expect(readFileSync(testFile, "utf-8")).toBe(expectedContent);
+		expect(applyPatch(originalContent, result.details?.patch ?? "")).toBe(expectedContent);
+	});
+
+	it("should preserve untouched lines and produce an applicable patch for fuzzy multi-edits", async () => {
+		const testFile = join(testDir, "fuzzy-preserve-multi.txt");
+		const originalContent = [
+			"keep before\u0020\u0020",
+			"first target\u0020\u0020",
+			"first after",
+			"keep middle\u0020\u0020\u0020",
+			"second target\u0020\u0020",
+			"second after",
+			"keep after\u0020\u0020",
+			"",
+		].join("\n");
+		writeFileSync(testFile, originalContent);
+
+		const result = await editTool.execute("test-fuzzy-preserve-multi", {
+			path: testFile,
+			edits: [
+				{ oldText: "first target\nfirst after", newText: "FIRST\nFIRST2" },
+				{ oldText: "second target\nsecond after", newText: "SECOND\nSECOND2" },
+			],
+		});
+
+		const expectedContent = [
+			"keep before\u0020\u0020",
+			"FIRST",
+			"FIRST2",
+			"keep middle\u0020\u0020\u0020",
+			"SECOND",
+			"SECOND2",
+			"keep after\u0020\u0020",
+			"",
+		].join("\n");
+		expect(readFileSync(testFile, "utf-8")).toBe(expectedContent);
+		expect(applyPatch(originalContent, result.details?.patch ?? "")).toBe(expectedContent);
+	});
 });
 
 describe("edit tool CRLF handling", () => {