pub const HELP: &str = r#"sniper — escape-proof precision file editor for LLM agents
USAGE:
sniper <file> <start> <end> <hex> Replace lines with hex content
sniper <file> <start> <end> --delete Delete line range
sniper <file> <start> <end> --stdin Read content from stdin
sniper <file> <start> <end> <hex> --context <hash> Verify context before applying
sniper <file> --manifest <path> Batch operations from JSON
sniper <file> --undo Restore from backup
sniper encode [--stdin|--file <path>|<text>] Hex-encode content
FLAGS:
--dry-run Preview changes without applying
--json Output machine-readable JSON
--stdin Read replacement content from stdin
--context <hash> Verify context SHA-256 hash (first 16 hex chars) before applying
--auto-indent Auto-detect and apply indentation from context
--force-indent Bypass indentation validation (allow unindented content)
QUICK START:
# Replace line 5 with "hello"
sniper file.rs 5 5 68656c6c6f
# Delete lines 10-20
sniper file.rs 10 20 --delete
# Preview before applying
sniper file.rs 1 5 787878 --dry-run
# Undo last edit
sniper file.rs --undo
# Pipe content from stdin
echo 'new line' | sniper file.rs 5 5 --stdin
ENCODING:
Content must be hex-encoded to prevent shell corruption.
Use `sniper encode --stdin` for safe encoding:
echo -n 'fn main() {}' | sniper encode --stdin
# Output: 666e206d61696e2829207b7d
Or use xxd: echo -n 'text' | xxd -p | tr -d '\n'
MANIFEST FORMAT:
[{"start": 42, "end": 45, "hex": "6e6577"}, {"start": 10, "delete": true}]
Operations apply bottom-up (highest line first).
Line numbers are 1-indexed.
BACKUPS:
Every edit creates a backup in .sniper/
Use --undo to restore the previous version.
Backups are purged by count (default 50) and age (default 30 days).
INDENTATION:
Indentation validation runs on every edit. If the replacement content has
different leading whitespace than the surrounding lines, the edit is blocked.
--auto-indent detects the expected indentation from surrounding lines
and automatically prepends missing leading whitespace. Useful when LLM
output omits indentation.
--force-indent bypasses indentation validation entirely. Use when
deliberately refactoring or inserting top-level content into indented files.
EXAMPLES:
# Replace a function call
sniper src/main.rs 42 42 $(echo 'new_call()' | sniper encode --stdin)
# Delete a block
sniper src/lib.rs 100 150 --delete
# Batch edit with manifest
echo '[{"start":1,"end":1,"hex":"78"}]' | sniper file.rs --manifest /dev/stdin
# Safe workflow (dry-run first)
sniper file.rs 1 5 7878 --dry-run && sniper file.rs 1 5 7878
# Auto-indent unindented LLM output
sniper file.rs 10 10 $(echo 'print("hello")' | sniper encode --stdin) --auto-indent
# Context-verified edit (rejects if surrounding code changed)
sniper file.rs 10 10 7878 --context 1a2b3c4d5e6f7a8b
CONFIGURATION:
SNIPER_LOCK_TIMEOUT Lock timeout in seconds (default: 30, min: 1)
SNIPER_MAX_FILE_SIZE Max file size, e.g. "100MB" (default: 100MB, 0=unlimited)
SNIPER_BACKUP_RETENTION_COUNT Backups to keep (default: 50, 0=unlimited)
SNIPER_BACKUP_MAX_AGE_DAYS Max backup age in days (default: 30, 0=no limit)
SNIPER_DISABLE_AUDIT Set to any value to disable audit logging
NOTES:
- Line numbers: 1-indexed, inclusive on both ends
- Empty content: Use empty hex string "" to delete
- Insert at end: Use line N+1 where N is file length
- All edits are atomic (temp file + rename)
- PID-based file locks with stale lock auto-recovery
- Metabolic pacing via llmosafe 0.6.2 ResourceGuard
For more: https://github.com/moeshawky/moesniper
"#;