Files with only newlines cannot be created using write_to_file

[KJ7LNW]

Version

v3.16.5

API Provider

Anthropic

Model

sonnet-3.5

What happened?

When attempting to create a file that contains only newlines (blank content) using the write_to_file tool, the operation fails. The file is not created.

Expected behavior: The write_to_file tool should successfully create files even when they contain only newlines without any visible text content.

Steps to reproduce

1. Attempt to create a file using write_to_file with content that contains only newlines
2. Example:

<write_to_file>
<path>test_file.txt</path>
<content>










</content>
<line_count>10</line_count>
</write_to_file>

3. Observe that the file is not created or the operation fails

Relevant API REQUEST output

No specific error message was provided, but the file creation operation fails when the content contains only newlines.

Additional context

This issue appears to be related to how the write_to_file tool handles content that consists only of whitespace or newlines. It may be treating such content as empty or null, despite the fact that newlines are valid characters that should be preserved.

This affects workflows where users need to create template files or placeholders with specific line counts but no visible text content.

[dosubot]

The issue you're experiencing with the write_to_file tool in version v3.16.5, where it fails to create files containing only newlines, is not explicitly documented in the available resources. The documentation does not provide specific information on how the tool handles content consisting solely of newlines or whitespace, nor does it mention any configuration options to address this behavior.

Given the lack of documentation on this specific issue, it might be beneficial to check if there are any open issues or pull requests in the repository that address this problem. If none exist, consider submitting a bug report to highlight this limitation and potentially prompt a fix or workaround in future updates.

To continue talking to Dosu, mention @dosu.

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[Githubguy132010]

Working on this: #3550

[daniel-lxs]

Fixed by #4378