Use the tools through MCP or CLI

Install axm-edit in the environment that runs axm-mcp, then restart discovery as required by the server. A package installed in another virtual environment is not automatically visible. See axm-mcp setup.

MCP façade

In façade mode, off-surface tools are still callable through axm_call. The following is a JSON argument object for axm_call, not Python syntax:

JSON

{
  "name": "batch_edit_check",
  "arguments": {
    "path": "/project",
    "operations": [
      {
        "op": "replace",
        "file": "settings.txt",
        "edits": [{"old": "mode = draft", "new": "mode = ready"}]
      }
    ]
  }
}

This assumes /project/settings.txt exists with the indicated line. After checking the diagnostics, call batch_edit with those operations and lint: false if you do not want Ruff to mutate Python files. Only batch_edit declares expose_directly=True in this package; the server controls which tools actually appear in a client's direct listing.

Read a file using a root and a relative target:

JSON

{
  "name": "read_file",
  "arguments": {"path": "/project", "file": "settings.txt"}
}

axm_call returns compact text, so it omits the batch snapshot even though the underlying tool produces it in ToolResult.data. To retain undo data, use an interface that exposes structured results; see rollback.

Generic CLI

axm supplies the CLI wrapper for the same registered tools. These commands inspect help and do not modify files:

Bash

axm batch_edit --help
axm batch_edit_check --help
axm write_file --help
axm run_command --help

For an existing project, a read returns either compact text or the structured data object with --json-output:

Bash

axm read_file --path /project --file settings.txt --json-output

Batch operations use a JSON list:

Bash

axm batch_edit --path /project --no-lint --json-output \
  --operations '[{"op":"replace","file":"settings.txt","edits":[{"old":"mode = draft","new":"mode = ready"}]}]'

Retain that JSON output privately if you need the checkpoint; it contains the original target-file bytes. A CLI exit code of zero reflects tool execution success. For batch_edit_check, file_bytes and run_command, inspect their own verdict fields too.