fix(local-rest-api): replace hardcoded Create-Target-If-Missing with agent-controlled option#72
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Replace hardcoded "Create-Target-If-Missing": "true" header with a conditional based on the new optional createTargetIfMissing parameter in ApiPatchParameters. This gives agents explicit control over whether missing targets are created during patch operations.
… function Extract duplicated header-building logic from patch_active_file and patch_vault_file into buildPatchHeaders(). Add BDD test coverage for required fields, optional fields, and createTargetIfMissing behavior.
…arameters Update test templates from tp.user.promptArg to tp.mcpTools.prompt to match the current implementation renamed in 111297e. Remove unnecessary /g flag from TEMPLATER_END_TAG regex which caused .test() to advance lastIndex across loop iterations, skipping matches in multi-parameter content.
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…idiom bun:test's expect() does not accept diagnostic message arguments like Jest. Move comments from inside expect() calls to above the assertions where they serve as readable context without being silently ignored.
…TCH endpoints The header was referenced in prose examples but missing from the formal parameters section. Add it to all three PATCH endpoints (active file, periodic note, vault file) with default "false" matching the new agent-controlled behavior.
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…onse and ApiPatchParameters
…onse and ApiPatchParameters to include URL-encoding requirements for special characters
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…uster A)
Fix three independent bugs in patch_active_file and patch_vault_file that
together made the tools dangerous and unusable for many real-world cases:
1. Silent content corruption with nested headings
The Local REST API markdown-patch library indexes headings by full
hierarchical path with the "::" delimiter ("Top Level::Section A"). The
server was sending partial leaf names ("Section A") verbatim, and because
Create-Target-If-Missing was hardcoded to true, the lookup failed silently
and a new heading was appended at EOF instead of patching the intended
one. The server now parses the target file, resolves the leaf name to
its full ancestor path via a new resolveHeadingPath helper, and sends
that to the API. Strict mode is exposed through the new
createTargetIfMissing optional parameter so agents can opt into
explicit errors instead of auto-creation.
2. Non-ASCII heading failures
Target and Target-Delimiter HTTP headers were sent raw, which fails for
Japanese, emoji, or any heading with characters outside the ASCII
header grammar. Both headers are now URL-encoded — crucially, *after*
path resolution, so the indexer lookup still sees plain strings.
3. Missing trailing newlines on append
When operation == "append", content without trailing newlines would run
visually into the next section. Normalized to end with "\n\n".
Approach combines three community PRs never merged upstream:
- PR jacksteamdev#72 (grimlor): resolveHeadingPath + createTargetIfMissing
- PR jacksteamdev#69 (marcoaperez): URL-encode Target / Target-Delimiter
- PR jacksteamdev#48 (vanmarkic): test coverage patterns for header encoding
Adds patchVaultFile.test.ts with 10 unit tests for resolveHeadingPath:
empty content, no headings, H1 match, H2 partial, deep H3 nesting,
missing leaf, duplicate names, custom delimiter, stack reset on level
return, and non-heading lines mid-paragraph.
Performance note: resolving a partial heading name adds one extra HTTP
request per PATCH call (to fetch the target file content). Full-path
targets (already containing the delimiter) skip the resolution step.
Manual end-to-end verification pending on Stefano's Obsidian + Local
REST API setup.
Refs: jacksteamdev#30, jacksteamdev#71
Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.6 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>
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Pull Request Description
Replace the hardcoded
"Create-Target-If-Missing": "true"header in bothpatch_active_fileandpatch_vault_filehandlers with logic driven by a new optionalcreateTargetIfMissingboolean parameter onApiPatchParameters. This gives agents explicit control over whether missing targets (headings, blocks, frontmatter fields) are created during patch operations, rather than always creating them unconditionally.Additionally extracts the duplicated header-building logic into a pure
buildPatchHeadersfunction with BDD test coverage, fixes pre-existing test failures inparseTemplateParameters, and addsCreate-Target-If-Missingas a formal parameter in the OpenAPI spec.Fixes #71
Type of Change
Testing
How has this been tested?
9 new BDD tests for
buildPatchHeaderscovering required fields, optional fields, andcreateTargetIfMissingbehavior. All 22 tests across themcp-serverpackage pass (including 4 previously brokenparseTemplateParameterstests).Architecture Compliance
/docs/project-architecture.md).clinerulesChecklist
Security Considerations
Additional Context
Commits:
feat(local-rest-api): add createTargetIfMissing option to patch handlers— add optional boolean toApiPatchParameters, wire into both handlersrefactor(local-rest-api): extract buildPatchHeaders as pure, testable function— deduplicate header logic, add 9 BDD testsfix(templates): update tests and fix stateful regex in parseTemplateParameters— update test templates fromtp.user.promptArgtotp.mcpTools.prompt, remove/gflag fromTEMPLATER_END_TAGregex that causedlastIndexto skip matches across loop iterationsstyle(tests): move diagnostic comments above assertions for bun:test idiom— reformat test diagnostics for bun:test conventionsdocs(openapi): add Create-Target-If-Missing as formal parameter to PATCH endpoints— header was referenced in prose examples but missing from the formal parameters section across all three PATCH endpoints