Skill v1.0.2
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name: large-file-write-via-temp-script description: Reliable fallback technique for writing large or special-character-heavy file content when inline write_file or shell_agent calls fail with unknown errors — uses a Python helper script written to a temp file to avoid escaping and truncation pitfalls.
Large File Write via Temp Script
Problem
Writing large files — especially TypeScript, TSX, or any content containing Unicode emoji, backticks, ${} template literals, or multi-line heredoc conflicts — can silently fail or truncate content when passed inline.
Failure modes observed:
write_filereturns[ERROR] unknown erroron large payloadsnode -e '...'with backtick template literals silently empties the target filepython3 -c '...'breaks on unescaped quotes or special charactersshell_agentmay time out or fail when the inline content is too large
Solution: Write a Python Script to a Temp File First
Instead of passing file content inline, write a small Python helper script to /tmp/write_task.py (or similar), then execute it. The helper script holds the target file content as a raw Python string or via base64 decoding.
Approach A — Python Triple-Quoted String (preferred for readability)
Use write_file or a heredoc to create the helper, then run it:
# Step 1: Write the helper script to /tmpcat > /tmp/write_task.py << 'PYEOF'import pathlibcontent = r"""// Your TypeScript / file content goes here// Backticks `like this`, ${template} literals, and emoji 🎉 are all safeexport const MyComponent = () => {const msg = `Hello, world!`;return <div>{msg}</div>;};"""pathlib.Path("/path/to/target/file.ts").write_text(content.lstrip("\n"), encoding="utf-8")print("Written successfully.")PYEOF# Step 2: Execute the helperpython3 /tmp/write_task.py
Why `r"""`? A raw triple-quoted string avoids all backslash escapingissues. The only content that cannot appear verbatim is"""itself — ifneeded, split the string or escape that sequence only.
Approach B — Base64-Encoded Content (most robust for binary/complex content)
When the content contains """ or other Python string edge cases:
# Step 1: Base64-encode your content (done once, outside the target system)# python3 -c "import base64; print(base64.b64encode(open('file.ts').read().encode()).decode())"# Step 2: Embed the base64 blob in the helper scriptcat > /tmp/write_task.py << 'PYEOF'import base64, pathlibb64 = ("aW1wb3J0IFJlYWN0IGZyb20gJ3JlYWN0JzsKCmV4cG9ydCBjb25zdCBNeUNvbXBvbmVudCA9""ICgpID0+IHsKICByZXR1cm4gPGRpdj5IZWxsbzwvZGl2PjsKfTsK"# ... more lines if needed)content = base64.b64decode(b64).decode("utf-8")pathlib.Path("/path/to/target/file.ts").write_text(content, encoding="utf-8")print(f"Written {len(content)} bytes successfully.")PYEOFpython3 /tmp/write_task.py
Approach C — shell_agent Delegation (simplest for agents)
Ask shell_agent to perform the write using the temp-script pattern:
"Write the following TypeScript content to/src/components/MyPanel.ts.Do NOT usenode -eor inline Python. Instead write a Python script to/tmp/write_panel.pyusing a triple-quoted raw string, then execute it."
Decision Guide
| Situation | Recommended Approach | |
|---|---|---|
Content has backticks / ${} template literals | Approach A (raw r""") | |
Content has """ sequences | Approach B (base64) | |
| Content is binary or non-UTF-8 | Approach B (base64) | |
| Delegating to shell_agent | Approach C with explicit instructions | |
| Quick small file | Direct write_file (no workaround needed) |
Anti-Patterns to Avoid
# ❌ DANGEROUS — backtick template literals will break node -enode -e "const fs = require('fs'); fs.writeFileSync('out.ts', \`${content}\`);"# ❌ FRAGILE — breaks on unescaped quotes and special characterspython3 -c "open('out.ts','w').write('${content}')"# ❌ UNRELIABLE for large payloads — may silently truncateecho "${large_content}" > out.ts
Verification Step
Always verify the write succeeded:
# Check file exists and has non-zero sizepython3 -c "import pathlibp = pathlib.Path('/path/to/target/file.ts')assert p.exists() and p.stat().st_size > 0, f'Write failed: {p}'print(f'OK — {p.stat().st_size} bytes written to {p}')"
Notes
- The temp script approach works for any file type:
.ts,.tsx,.js,.json,.md,.py, etc. - Always
lstrip("\n")the triple-quoted string to avoid a leading blank line. - For very large files (>50 KB), prefer base64 to avoid any risk of heredoc conflicts.
- Clean up temp scripts after use:
rm /tmp/write_task.py