<antirez>
5 hours ago
- The user proposes a tag-based EDIT tool for local LLM agents, using line-number and checksum tags instead of verbatim text to save tokens and increase reliability.
- Current CAS (Check and Set) edit methods require the old text verbatim, causing token waste and failure with hallucinations or formatting issues.
- The new approach returns lines prefixed with a 4-character tag (checksum) and allows edits by line:tag pairs, reducing token usage especially for deletions.
- The tool is effective with models like DeepSeek v4 Flash, and the line:tag format helps LLMs exploit line information for ranges and follow-up calls.
- An alternative is using a file-level CRC32 tag with only line numbers, which saves tokens but fails on any unrelated changes, making tradeoffs apparent.
- The author suggests practical testing with ds4-agent across sessions to decide which method is better, with a command-line switch as an initial step.