replace_range

[refactoring]

Replaces a nonempty contiguous range in a loaded C# document. Exact source guards reject stale edits. Use applyChanges=false for a preview. Prefer replace_member for complete member declarations.

Unreleased tool. Available in development builds after Glider 11.0.0.

Before you use this tool

Writes files by default. Set applyChanges: false to preview the diff. Inspect the diff before application.

Try it locally in the Glider playground

Parameters

Name	Type	Required	Description
filePath	string	Yes	Existing loaded .cs file. Absolute or loaded-root-relative.
startLine	number	Yes	Inclusive start line, one-based.
startColumn	number	Yes	Inclusive start column, one-based UTF-16 units.
endLine	number	Yes	Exclusive end line, one-based.
endColumn	number	Yes	Exclusive end column, one-based UTF-16 units.
expectedText	string	Yes	Nonempty exact source, including whitespace and line endings. Read get_file_contents with includeRawContent=true.
replacementText	string	Yes	Exact replacement. Empty text deletes the range. No automatic formatting occurs.
applyChanges	boolean	No	Apply to disk by default. Set false to preview. Default: `true`
failOnErrors	boolean	No	Refuse any error in edited documents, including existing errors, or incomplete target checks. Default: `false`
includeDiff	boolean	No	Include the unified diff. Default: `true`
maxDiffChars	number	No	Maximum diff characters. Use 0 for unlimited. Default: `50000`
pathStyle	string	No	Path style: absolute or relative to the loaded root. Default: `"absolute"`
responseDetail	string	No	compact returns results and actionable state. full adds diagnostic metadata under responseDiagnostics. Default: `"compact"`

Examples

Replace sample paths and symbol keys with values from your workspace.

Replace the digit in a line containing int x = 1;

Arguments 
{
  "filePath": "Sample.cs",
  "startLine": 1,
  "startColumn": 9,
  "endLine": 1,
  "endColumn": 10,
  "expectedText": "1",
  "replacementText": "2",
  "applyChanges": false
}

Full MCP request

Full MCP request 
{
  "jsonrpc": "2.0",
  "id": 1,
  "method": "tools/call",
  "params": {
    "name": "replace_range",
    "arguments": {
      "filePath": "Sample.cs",
      "startLine": 1,
      "startColumn": 9,
      "endLine": 1,
      "endColumn": 10,
      "expectedText": "1",
      "replacementText": "2",
      "applyChanges": false
    }
  }
}

Illustrative response 
{
  "success": true,
  "status": "preview",
  "preview": true,
  "applied": false,
  "diskWriteAttempted": false,
  "filesChanged": 0,
  "wouldChange": true,
  "filePath": "/project/OrderService.cs",
  "workspaceUpdate": "unchanged",
  "diagnostics": {
    "errorCount": 0,
    "warningCount": 0,
    "items": []
  },
  "coverage": {
    "complete": true,
    "scope": "editedDocuments",
    "targets": [
      {
        "projectId": "example-project-id",
        "projectName": "Sample",
        "checked": true,
        "reason": null
      }
    ]
  },
  "unifiedDiff": "..."
}

Response Notes

Returns oldRange, newRange, diagnostics, target coverage, and disk and workspace outcomes. Coordinates use one-based lines and UTF-16 columns with exclusive ends. The complete edited document is checked in every linked project. These checks exclude other files and dependent projects. Check project diagnostics after imports, declarations, signatures, or directives change. Apply awaits one named-file sync without reload. Never repeat a completed or uncertain write. Read bounded get_file_contents with includeRawContent=true for exact whitespace and line endings, including the final returned line terminator. A null rawContent requires a smaller window. UTF-8 and BOM-marked UTF-16 encodings are supported. Empty ranges and boundaries inside CRLF or surrogate pairs are refused. Results use top-level fields with success. Compact is the default; full adds responseDiagnostics. Both modes retain errors, coverage, partial state, and recovery advice.