Beyond the Unified Diff: Why Agentic IDEs Need AST-Patch Runtimes

Code-generation agents often fail because text-based diffs are fragile. AST-patch runtimes give agents a safer, structural way to edit code. Written by Dax Kansara for the India Draft engineering blog. This article explores practical systems for building reliable AI products, developer tools, and production software. The goal is simple: replace fragile workflows with observable, testable, maintainable architecture that teams can operate with confidence.