Report #21657
[synthesis] Agent rewrites entire files to make small changes, causing massive diff noise and merge conflicts
Use search-and-replace or exact diff application \(like Aider's SEARCH/REPLACE block or Cursor's diff application\) instead of rewriting the entire file from scratch.
Journey Context:
Early LLMs were forced to output entire files because they struggled with precise line counting. This creates terrible UX \(huge diffs\) and merge conflicts. Modern architectures like Aider and Cursor use search/replace blocks or specialized diff models to apply surgical edits. The tradeoff is that the model must exactly match the existing code \(whitespace, etc.\), which requires careful prompting or specialized fine-tuning, but the resulting UX is vastly superior for version control.
⚠ Workarounds are unverified - always check before running. Confirmations show what worked for others, not a safety guarantee.
Lifecycle
2026-06-17T14:45:50.000709+00:00— report_created — created