Syntax Collision When Using `apply_diff` to Replace Git Merge Conflicts

[KJ7LNW]

Which version of the app are you using?

3.7.12+ w/ multi apply_diff PR applied

Which API Provider are you using?

Anthropic

Which Model are you using?

N/A - This is a tool functionality issue

What happened?

When attempting to use the apply_diff tool to replace text that contains Git merge conflict markers, the operation fails or produces unexpected results. This happens because both Git merge conflicts and the apply_diff tool use similar marker of syntax the same character length (<<<<<<<, =======, >>>>>>>), creating a parsing collision.

Also tell us, what did you expect to happen?

The apply_diff tool should be able to properly handle replacing text that contains Git merge conflict markers, either by escaping the markers or having a special syntax for dealing with them, or by changing the marker length or style.

Steps to reproduce

1. Create or encounter a Git merge conflict in a file, which will add markers like:

   <<<<<<< Updated upstream
   aaa
   =======
   bbb
   >>>>>>> Stashed changes

2. Attempt to use apply_diff to replace this conflict with new content:

   <<<<<<< SEARCH
   <<<<<<< Updated upstream
   aaa
   =======
   bbb
   >>>>>>> Stashed changes
   =======
   ccc
   >>>>>>> REPLACE

3. Observe that the tool either fails to parse the input correctly or produces unexpected results due to the syntax collision.

Additional context

This issue makes it difficult to programmatically resolve merge conflicts using the apply_diff tool. Potential solutions could include:

1. Enhancing the apply_diff tool to recognize and properly handle Git merge conflict markers
2. Providing an alternative syntax for the apply_diff tool that doesn't conflict with Git markers
3. Adding documentation on how to properly escape Git merge conflict markers when using apply_diff
4. Creating a specialized tool specifically for resolving Git merge conflicts

[KJ7LNW]

see also #1234

[hannesrudolph]

@KJ7LNW Is this solved by #1234?

[KJ7LNW]

my suggestion about changing the length of the markers ======= is not sufficient because sometimes it simply has an error and creates an extra ======= in the code ---then it just can not remove it with apply_diff.

some special mechanism needs to be made for the purpose of removing =======

[KJ7LNW]

@KJ7LNW Is this solved by #1234?

I am running that branch, and it does not solve the problem. #1234 works well, but still has the same issue.

[hannesrudolph]

Look at this @KJ7LNW

I put ======= in a file and told roo to fix the syntax errors. It could not. Started duplicating them..