[DOCS] `tools-reference` still says `head` and `tail` do not satisfy read-before-edit

Resolved 💬 1 comment Opened May 19, 2026 by coygeek Closed Jun 4, 2026

Documentation Type

Incorrect/outdated documentation

Documentation Location

https://code.claude.com/docs/en/tools-reference

Section/Topic

Edit tool behavior / read-before-edit rules for Bash file views

Current Documentation

The docs currently say:

Viewing a file with Bash also satisfies the read-before-edit requirement when the command is cat path/to/file or sed -n 'X,Yp' path/to/file on a single file with no pipes or redirects. Other Bash commands such as head, tail, or piped output do not count, and Claude must use Read before editing in those cases.

What's Wrong or Missing?

This is outdated as of v2.1.144.

The release notes say head and tail file views now satisfy the read-before-edit check, but the tools reference still tells users the opposite. That leaves users with incorrect guidance about which Bash file-view commands are sufficient before an edit.

Suggested Improvement

Update the Edit tool behavior section so it matches the v2.1.144 behavior.

For example, change the sentence to say that single-file head and tail views also satisfy read-before-edit when used as plain file views, and keep the existing limitation for piped output or more complex shell constructs if those still do not count.

Impact

Medium - Makes feature difficult to understand

Additional Context

Affected Pages:

| Page | Line(s) | Context |
|------|---------|---------|
| https://code.claude.com/docs/en/tools-reference | 129-135 | The Edit tool behavior section still says head and tail do not count for read-before-edit |
| https://code.claude.com/docs/en/changelog | 382 | The v2.1.144 release notes say head/tail file views now satisfy the read-before-edit check |

Total scope: 2 pages affected

Relevant behavior changed in v2.1.144.

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