Xedit Automation

xEdit Automation — Hub Skill

This skill is the always-loaded entry point for any xEdit work. It is the single source of truth for "which path do I use" and "what must I never do." Specialised task skills (e.g. xedit-conflict-audit) inherit its routing, anti-patterns, and verification discipline; they do not restate them.

Toolbox at a glance (progressive disclosure, r6-aware)

The forked xEdit daemon is best treated as a progressive-disclosure surface: start with the small MCP intent tools, ask the live daemon which r6 capability blocks it supports, then switch to the richer one-call patterns only when the corresponding system.capabilities.supports.* key is present.

• Discovery & session — xedit_session, xedit_list_capabilities. Call xedit_session first every conversation. Then call xedit_list_capabilities once to see the command digest, contractVersionExpected, and r6 supports.* anchors.
• Reading records & conflicts — xedit_find_record, xedit_read_record, xedit_inspect_conflicts. These are the W2 (conflict audit) backbone; branch to atomic passthrough when W2 needs an r6 response block that no intent tool exposes yet.
• Atomic passthrough — xedit_call(command, args). For any native daemon command that does not have an intent tool yet. Still runs the full pipeline (validation → state → rules → audit). Use it whenever the intent tools do not fit.

For deep reference material, query the structured BGS KB first (bgs_kb_query / bgs_kb_get). Deep reference records live under knowledge/bgs-kb/packs/core/records/xedit/ (queryable via bgs_kb_query / bgs_kb_get).

Routing doctrine (which path to use)

The agent should never have a reason to bypass the MCP. Atomic passthrough exists for that.

补丁创作判断 / Patch authoring judgment

Overview

Patch authoring is not "make the red go away." It is a small compatibility argument: preserve the current winner, forward only the upstream values that should still survive, and leave behind a reversible patch plugin whose contents say what you meant. Sorting is a single-choice lever; patching is how you keep two mods' intended values active at once. But true-in-principle is not true-at-pack-scale: if the plan is to stitch every FormID because "xEdit can fix anything," the plan is already broken.

Use this section when you are about to author or judge a patch through the MCP. Use xedit-conflict-audit first when the question is still "what wins, what conflicts, and should this be patch-vs-reorder?" That skill owns the patch-vs-reorder call; this section owns whether the patch you are about to write is well-formed.

Decision flow: is this patch well-formed?

digraph patch_authoring_judgment {
  // Pending-shutdown saves block lifecycle operations; see Dirty-state and
  // relaunch control below. A restart is not a durability mechanism.
  rankdir=TB;
  node [shape=box];

  start [shape=doublecircle, label="Need a patch?"];
  audit [label="Audit actual winner + conflict fields\n(xedit-conflict-audit if not already done)"];
  reorder [shape=diamond, label="Is ordering enough\nwithout losing needed values?"];
  no_patch [shape=doublecircle, label="No patch: reorder / leave winner\nthen verify readback"];
  winner [label="Copy/target the current winner\nnot an older loser"];
  intent [label="Name each value to forward\nWhat does it do? Why should it survive?"];
  noise [shape=diamond, label="Any unchanged copied values\nor green/ITM-style noise?"];
  clean [label="Remove unchanged/no-intent values"];
  refs [shape=diamond, label="Deleting or mark-deleting\nrecords/elements?"];
  referenced [label="Run referenced_by / reference audit\nStop if consequences are unknown"];
  esl [label="Choose patch form deliberately\nUsually ESP flagged ESL when safe; avoid native ESL/ESM if sort freedom matters"];
  reversible [shape=diamond, label="Separate reversible patch\n(no direct source-mod edit, no unmanaged overwrite spill)?"];
  fix_shape [label="Move into managed MO2 mod\nor create dedicated patch plugin"];
  verify [label="Save + restart + readback\nwinning override shows intended values"];
  pass [shape=doublecircle, label="Well-formed patch"];

  start -> audit -> reorder;
  reorder -> no_patch [label="yes"];
  reorder -> winner [label="no, need combined values"];
  winner -> intent -> noise;
  noise -> clean [label="yes"];
  noise -> refs [label="no"];
  clean -> refs;
  refs -> referenced [label="yes"];
  refs -> esl [label="no"];
  referenced -> esl;
  esl -> reversible;
  reversible -> fix_shape [label="no"];
  reversible -> verify [label="yes"];
  fix_shape -> verify -> pass;
  // Contract 0.23 pending saves use xedit_flush; restart alone is not proof.
  verify [label="Save + inspect pending state; xedit_flush if needed; fresh readback"];
}

Deferred-save correction: The diagram's historical Save + restart + readback node is superseded. If session.save reports a nonzero savePendingShutdownCount, inspect xedit_dirty, then use xedit_flush on a contract-0.23 daemon. The tool validates the drain response and confirms the daemon's promised self-exit. A partial or unknown lastFlush is not durability proof. Normal stop/restart remains refused while a live pending queue exists; force:true abandons state and is never evidence of durability.

Authoring checks

• Forward the winner. The game reads the final/winning override for a FormID. Build the patch from the current winner, then forward only the older mod values that still need to survive.
• No unchanged cargo. If a copied value does not change meaning, it is ITM-style noise, not compatibility. Remove it unless you can state why it is intentionally carried.
• Patch as separate layer. Do not drag values directly into the source mod just because it is the rightmost column today. A patch should be reversible by disabling/removing the patch layer, not by hand-deleting fields from someone else's plugin.
• Preserve references. If deletion or mark-delete enters the plan, stop and run the referenced-by/readback path first. Unknown references mean unknown blast radius.
• Choose plugin form deliberately. Ordinary compatibility patches usually want normal ESP sort freedom plus ESL flagging when safe. Native ESL/ESM load-order behavior is not a free cleanliness upgrade.
• Good patch vs band-aid patch. A good patch has named intent per forwarded value and reduces conflict debt. A band-aid patch copies whole records, edits source mods, or tries to stitch every FormID because sorting was treated as irrelevant.

KB query discipline

This judgment section is game-agnostic. Query KB for game-specific patching gotchas, record-family caveats, and current toolchain facts rather than fossilizing them here.

bgs_kb_query({ query: "xedit patch authoring gotchas", domains: ["xedit", "load-order"], games: ["<current game>"] })

If KB is silent, mark [GAP] and keep the patching rule at the framework level instead of inventing a game-specific doctrine.

Red Flags (STOP)

Rationalizations

R6 progressive-disclosure capability checks

Do not assume every daemon is r6. Read xedit_list_capabilities once and branch on the support keys below. On pre-r6 daemons, fall back to the older explicit record-list / child-walk / per-record loop patterns; on r6+ daemons, use the one-call or page-aware form to reduce round-trips and preserve context.

For the whole r6 contract delta, query KB record xedit.r6-contract-summary.v1.

ChildGroup navigation (supports.childGroupNavigation)

On r6+ daemons, elements.children on CELL, WRLD, DIAL, and QUST records returns a virtual child entry with kind: "child_group". Treat that entry as a read-only navigation stub, not as a real mutable element.

Use it one generation at a time:

elements.children({ file, formId, path: "\\Child Group" })
elements.children({ file, formId, path: "\\Child Group\\Persistent" })
elements.children({ file, formId, path: "\\Child Group\\Temporary" })
elements.children({ file, formId, path: "\\Child Group\\Visible when Distant" })
elements.children({ file, formId, path: "\\Child Group\\Block X, Y" })
elements.children({ file, formId, path: "\\Child Group\\Block X, Y\\Sub-Block M, N" })

• Walk exactly the next level; do not ask for the whole tree when a page or one ChildGroup label is enough.
• The \\Child Group... paths are synthetic and READ-ONLY. Mutation verbs must use flat FormID locators ({ file, formId }) or a records.create.parent spec; do not pass synthetic locator paths to mutators.
• For WRLD cells, use Persistent or the Block/Sub-Block/coordinate route depending on the target child group.
• Deep reference: xedit.childgroup-navigation.v1.

elements.children pagination (supports.elementsChildrenPagination)

On r6+ daemons, elements.children accepts limit and offset:

elements.children({ file, formId, path, limit: 200, offset: 0 })

• limit is clamped to 1-1000 and defaults to 200.
• Responses include count, total, offset, and truncated.
• If truncated is true, keep the same limit, add count to offset, and fetch the next page until covered.
• Do not assume CELL child groups are small: FO4 vanilla CELL 00000025 Temporary contains 742 records.
• Deep reference: xedit.elements-children-pagination.v1.

Reverse navigation (supports.reverseNavigation)

On r6+ daemons, add includeParents: true when you need to know ownership or containment without a second verb. Supported read calls include:

• records.get
• records.find_by_form_id / records.find_by_editor_id and MCP wrappers such as xedit_find_record
• records.master_or_self
• records.winning_override
• elements.get
• elements.children

The response may include:

relations.parents: [{ locator, object }, ...]

Parents are nearest-first with a daemon depth cap of 16. This is the preferred answer to "which CELL owns this REFR?" or "which QUST/DIAL group contains this child?" Use the parent chain as readback evidence; do not build a custom reverse-index loop unless the support key is absent. Deep reference: xedit.reverse-navigation.v1.

records.create parent-spec (supports.createParentSpec)

Mutating record creation into ChildGroups is r6-gated and still requires the normal MCP mutation consent path. When supported, author the target parent explicitly instead of trying to mutate synthetic \\Child Group paths.

CELL, DIAL, and QUST children:

records.create({
  targetFile,
  signature,
  editorId,
  parent: { file, formId, subGroup? }
})

WRLD children:

records.create({
  targetFile,
  signature,
  editorId,
  parent: { file, formId, subGroup: "Persistent" }
})

records.create({
  targetFile,
  signature,
  editorId,
  parent: { file, formId, coords: [X, Y] }
})

For coords, native xEdit creates the needed Block/Sub-Block groups. Validate with records.get or elements.children({ includeParents: true }) after the preview/commit flow, then inspect xedit_dirty for pendingShutdownSave after the save. A pending-shutdown result blocks normal lifecycle operations; do not use a restart as a durability shortcut. Deep reference: xedit.records-create-parent-spec.v1.

Anti-patterns (hard bans)

Never do any of the following. Each ban is encoded as an MCP rule or daemon-side refusal, but the skill states them so the agent does not even attempt:

1. Do not write Python (or any other language) to parse .esp/.esm/.esl files directly. The daemon is the only correct path. If you find yourself reaching for a binary plugin parser, stop and use xedit_call instead.
2. Do not treat restart as a durability mechanism. session.save reports savedFilesPendingShutdown and savePendingShutdownCount when xEdit queued a shutdown-time write. Contract 0.23 adds authoritative pending readback and session.flush; use the lifecycle-owned xedit_flush, not xedit_call, then perform fresh-daemon readback. force:true on stop/restart is explicit abandonment, not persistence proof.
3. Do not call mutating ops in mcp-mode without going through the MCP. Direct pipe writes will be refused by the daemon with mcp_mode_required.
4. Do not page system.capabilities every session. The digest in xedit_list_capabilities already carries the curated map; only call live capabilities once to check drift.
5. Do not delete or mark-deleted a record that is referenced by other plugins without first calling xedit_call records.referenced_by and accepting the consequences. Snapshot does not cleanly recover deletions.

Enabling consent (-IKnowWhatImDoing)

Mutating intent tools (xedit_create_child_record, xedit_call records.create, xedit_call records.delete, xedit_call records.copy_into, etc.) require the xEdit daemon to be launched in consent mode — otherwise they fast-fail with code: "mutation_requires_iknowwhatimdoing" BEFORE the daemon is contacted.

Enable consent at launch time via the MCP arg:

xedit_start({ iKnowWhatImDoing: true, ...other overrides })
xedit_restart({ iKnowWhatImDoing: true, ...other overrides })  # if already running

The flag is forwarded as --i-know-what-im-doing 1 to xedit-client.ps1, which appends -IKnowWhatImDoing to xEdit's startup argv. Verify post-launch:

xedit_session()  # data.consentEnabled === true ?

If consentEnabled is still false after passing iKnowWhatImDoing: true, the flag did not propagate — check that the MCP is on a build that includes the consent forwarding (commit xxx and later; see RELEASE-NOTES.md).

Consent is per-launch and explicit only: there is no env-var fallback, no runtime toggle, and the audit log captures the consent decision at the call site. To revoke consent, call xedit_stop then xedit_start without the flag.

Confidence + dry-run discipline (borrowed from skyrimvr-claude-toolkit)

Before any mutating action:

1. State your confidence (0-100%) and your top 3 assumptions.
2. If confidence < 90%, investigate first (read records, inspect conflicts, list references) until ≥ 90%.
3. For HIGH-RISK mutations, the MCP will return a preview envelope with confirmToken. Read the preview, decide, then commit with the token. Treat the preview as the contract.

Sub-agent delegation recipes (role-agnostic)

When delegating, do not hard-code role names — the harness will map them. Use these recipes:

Read-only investigator — for exploratory storms, conflict surveys, and "what's in this plugin" reconnaissance:

Dispatch a read-only investigator sub-agent with this skill loaded. Provide the question, the target files, and the budget (token / time / step count). The sub-agent should return a distilled summary (verdict + key evidence + open questions), not the raw daemon round-trips.

Bounded mutation worker — for well-defined batch edits (Batch 4+):

Dispatch a bounded-execution sub-agent with this skill and the patch-authoring skill loaded. Provide the spec, the snapshot expectations, and the acceptance checks. The sub-agent should perform the mutations through the MCP and return the snapshot IDs + readback proof.

Self-growing knowledgebase

After any session that produced a footgun (an unexpected refusal, a non-obvious recovery, a surprising daemon behavior):

1. Identify whether the gotcha is a durable fact, not project-internal noise. Project-local lessons that do not belong in the public KB go in the project devlog instead.
2. Author a KB record at <pack-root>/records/<domain>/<slug>.v1.md with YAML frontmatter that validates against knowledge/bgs-kb/schema/record.schema.json.
3. Pick the pack deliberately: cross-game / cross-tool facts go under knowledge/bgs-kb/packs/core/records/; game-specific facts go into the matching per-game pack (bgs-kb-skyrim, bgs-kb-fallout4, bgs-kb-fallout3-fnv, bgs-kb-starfield).
4. Run node tools/bgs-kb-mcp/dist/cli.js validate <pack-root> and then node tools/bgs-kb-mcp/dist/cli.js build <pack-root> to refresh that pack, unless the current phase explicitly forbids rebuilds and gives a narrower validation path.
5. Verify retrieval from a fresh MCP connection with bgs_kb_query and confirm the new record appears for a query a future agent would actually use.
6. If the footgun is mechanically detectable, mark the KB record as a rule candidate when the schema supports it and track the reserved rule ID in a planning doc. Candidates require human review before promotion into tools/xedit-mcp enforcement.

Worked example:

1. Gotcha: xEdit daemon responses may include 0x-prefixed FormIDs, while the MCP normalizes them at the edge.
2. Pack/path: knowledge/bgs-kb/packs/core/records/xedit/formid-prefix-normalization.v1.md.
3. Validate/build: node tools/bgs-kb-mcp/dist/cli.js validate knowledge/bgs-kb/packs/core then node tools/bgs-kb-mcp/dist/cli.js build knowledge/bgs-kb/packs/core.
4. Verify: query bgs_kb_query({ query: "0x FormID normalization", domains: ["xedit"] }) and confirm the record is returned.

When this skill applies

• Any task involving Bethesda plugin files (.esp/.esm/.esl) for FO4, Skyrim, FO76, Starfield in this repo's MO2 harness.
• Any conflict / patching / cleaning / ESL / scripting task against xEdit.
• Whenever the task description names xEdit, plugin records, FormIDs, masters, conflicts, ITM/UDR, ESL flagging, or Pascal Edit Scripts.

When in doubt, load it.

Sibling skills

• writing-bgs-load-order — authoritative reference for editing plugins.txt / loadorder.txt. Use it whenever the task is about activating, deactivating, reordering, adding, or removing plugins from the load order. Do NOT edit plugins.txt blindly; xEdit can not change load order itself (docs 2.3), so the file edit is the only path for those operations, and the asterisk-format rules + official-master detection rules are non-obvious.
• setting-up-bgs-modding-environment — first-run setup including the MO2 gamePath inspection step you must do before launching xEdit with the dataPath override.

Launching xEdit with explicit args (NEW)

The xedit_start MCP tool accepts optional overrides:

xedit_start({
  launcherPath?: string,    // xEdit.exe path
  gameMode?: string,        // "Fallout4", "SkyrimSE", etc.
  dataPath?: string,        // -D: flag; MO2 <gamePath>\\Data
  pluginsFile?: string,     // -P: flag; agent-authored plugins.txt
  moProfile?: string,       // MO2 profile name; defaults to env
  starfieldRedPill?: boolean, // Starfield save-unlock trio; defaults true
})

Always pass dataPath when the user wants xEdit to see the MO2-managed game tree. Without it, xEdit falls back to the Windows registry, which returns the raw Steam install path — and your conflict audit will be against the wrong game data. Read MO2's ModOrganizer.ini gamePath value, append \\Data, and pass that.

For load-order experimentation (test a subset of plugins to isolate a conflict, or rehearse a sort), generate a plugins.txt under an agent-owned artifacts path per writing-bgs-load-order and pass it as pluginsFile.

Starfield save unlock (RedPill switches)

Symptom: SF1Edit refuses to save Starfield small/medium/localized ESMs with an error like Medium flagged files can't be saved in SF1Edit.

Upstream xEdit 4.1.5k added the required switch trio: -ItJustWorksTM -ThisIsFine -GiveMeTheRedPill. This plugin's launcher passes all three by default for gameMode: "Starfield" sessions. Opt out only when you are intentionally testing vanilla SF1 save gates:

xedit_start({ gameMode: "Starfield", starfieldRedPill: false })

Side effects when RedPill is on:

• The xEdit window title shows ItJustWorks[TM] Edition; this is ceremonial, not a bug.
• files.create no longer auto-adds Starfield.esm as a master. Call files.create({ ..., initialMasters: ["Starfield.esm"] }) or follow with files.add_required_masters when the new file needs the base master.

Dirty-state and relaunch control (NEW)

The daemon exposes session.get_dirty_state. Contract 0.23 includes pendingShutdownFiles and pendingShutdownCount; the MCP treats a complete readback as authoritative and retains local session.save observations as a fail-closed fallback for older daemons or failed probes. Neither source is cleared by dirty:false: xEdit marks queued saves clean before their physical write is durable. The MCP exposes these lifecycle helpers:

• xedit_dirty({}) — returns { dirty, dirtyFiles, unsavedChangeCount, pendingShutdownSave } when ready. File-summary objects are normalized to plugin names. This is the safe thing to call before any lifecycle action.
• xedit_flush({ force?: true }) — contract-0.23 pending-rename drain. It is consent-gated, refuses unsaved dirty files unless force:true, validates flushedFiles / pendingRemaining, waits for the managed PID to exit, and reports completed, partial, or an unknown result. session.flush is lifecycle-owned and deliberately refused through xedit_call. A failed in-band rename remains queued for one final normal exit-time retry. Start a fresh daemon and read the plugin back before deciding whether a partial result became durable.
• xedit_stop({ force?: true }) — if the session is dirty or the MCP has a pending-shutdown save and force is not set, refuses with code: "dirty_state" or "pending_save" respectively. force:true remains an explicit abandonment and returns an auditable risk record. If the dirty-state probe itself fails, normal lifecycle action refuses with dirty_state_unavailable; retry xedit_dirty instead of guessing.
• xedit_restart({ launcherPath?, gameMode?, dataPath?, pluginsFile?, moProfile?, force?: true }) — same pending-save and dirty-state safety as stop, then relaunches asynchronously with new overrides only when the lifecycle boundary is safe.

Use xedit_restart only when you need to reboot xEdit with a different custom pluginsFile or dataPath and pendingShutdownSave.count is zero. For a deferred save, call xedit_flush, require completed with zero remaining, then launch a fresh daemon and read the plugin back. If lastFlush is partial or has outcome: unknown, surface the residue rather than claiming durability. Once a fresh daemon is ready, that old summary appears as previousSessionFlush with the originating PID and timestamp; use fresh plugin readback to close it.

If xedit_flush reports that the drain response arrived but daemon exit was not confirmed, do not force-stop immediately. The daemon may still be running its normal close path and final rename retry. Wait briefly and call xedit_health; the health tool rechecks the managed PID and clears the retained failed state only after delayed exit is confirmed.