Update Playbook

update-playbook

Update an existing Ansible playbook with a specific change. Always shows a diff and waits for confirmation before writing.

Required Inputs

1. path + filename — Path to the playbook to modify (resolved from discovery if not provided)
2. change_description — What to change (e.g., "add a post_task to validate nginx", "replace the service module calls with FQCN", "add tags to all tasks")

Behavior

Step 1 — Discovery

Run discovery per references/discovery.md to locate the target file if only a filename is given.

Step 2 — Load Existing File

Read the full content of the target playbook.

Step 2a — Secret Scan (before any output)

Before displaying any content or diff, scan the loaded file for credential-like values:

• Match lines or YAML values where the key contains password, secret, token, api_key, private_key, pass, or credential
• Skip lines where the value is already a vault reference ({{ vault_* }}), a task option (no_log, register, when), empty, or None
• For any remaining matches, redact the value in all output: password: "***REDACTED***"
• Emit a warning at the top of the diff block:

  ⚠ Warning: N line(s) with credential-like values were redacted from this display.
    Review the file directly before applying changes.
  

• Never output actual credential values in diffs, summaries, or confirmations.

Step 3 — Apply Change

Apply the requested change following all global rules:

• All modules use FQCN
• All tasks have tags (component + action category)
• no_log: true on any task handling secrets per references/security_vault.md
• Preserve existing structure, indentation style, and header
• Preserve all existing functionality — only change what was requested
• Use templates from references/playbook.md for any new blocks added
• Keep validation changes aligned with references/testing.md

Step 4 — Show Unified Diff

Display the diff in unified format:

--- deploy-nginx.yml (original)
+++ deploy-nginx.yml (proposed)
@@ -15,7 +15,10 @@
   roles:
     - role: myorg.infra.nginx

+  post_tasks:
+    - name: Confirm nginx is listening
+      ansible.builtin.wait_for:
+        host: "{{ ansible_host }}"
+        port: "{{ nginx_port }}"
+        timeout: 30
+      delegate_to: localhost
+      tags: [nginx, validate]

Then ask: "Apply this change? (yes/no)"

Step 5 — Write on Confirmation

• If yes: write the updated file.
• If no: ask "What would you like to change instead?" and loop back to Step 3.

Step 6 — Final Output

Show the updated file tree:

find "<playbook_dir>" -type f | sort

Suggest next step:

Next step: Validate with `ansible-lint <filename>`
           or run /ansible-designer:review-playbook to check for remaining issues.

Change Types Supported

Safety Rules

• Never remove tasks without explicit request.
• Never change the playbook type (site/component/AWX) unless explicitly requested.
• Never change target hosts unless explicitly requested.
• Preserve all existing comments.
• If the change would break idempotency, warn in the diff explanation before asking for confirmation.