fix(tools): normalize LIST_PARAMS when TRACK_INVOCATIONS is off

Local models often double-encode EditText `edits` as a JSON string. That
normalization only ran inside the invocation-tracking block, so tools
with TRACK_INVOCATIONS=False (EditText, ReadRange) still saw raw strings
and failed with "edits parameter must be an array".

Also harden EditText format_output to coerce string edits (same pattern
as Grep/UpdateTodoList) and stop emitting Python tracebacks for expected
ToolError responses from process_response.

Co-authored-by: Cursor <cursoragent@cursor.com>

Author: JessicaMulein

cecli/tools/edit_text.py

@@ -1,5 +1,4 @@
-import json
-
+from cecli.helpers import responses
 from cecli.helpers.hashline import (
     ContentHashError,
     apply_hashline_operations,
@@ -12,6 +11,7 @@
     apply_change,
     format_tool_result,
     handle_tool_error,
+    normalize_json_array,
     validate_file_for_edit,
 )
 from cecli.tools.utils.output import color_markers, tool_footer, tool_header
@@ -96,6 +96,23 @@ class Tool(BaseTool):
         },
     }
 
+    @classmethod
+    def _coerce_edits(cls, edits) -> list[dict]:
+        """Normalize ``edits`` for display (local models often double-encode arrays)."""
+        try:
+            normalized = normalize_json_array(edits, param_name="edits", allow_empty=True)
+        except ToolError:
+            return []
+        out: list[dict] = []
+        for item in normalized:
+            if isinstance(item, dict):
+                out.append(item)
+            elif isinstance(item, str):
+                parsed = responses.try_parse_json_value(item)
+                if isinstance(parsed, dict):
+                    out.append(parsed)
+        return out
+
     @classmethod
     def execute(
         cls,
@@ -117,16 +134,18 @@ def execute(
 
         tool_name = "EditText"
         try:
-            # 1. Validate edits parameter
-            if not isinstance(edits, list):
-                raise ToolError("edits parameter must be an array")
+            edits = normalize_json_array(edits, param_name="edits")
 
             if len(edits) == 0:
                 raise ToolError("edits array cannot be empty")
 
             # 2. Group edits by file_path
             edits_by_file = {}
             for i, edit in enumerate(edits):
+                if not isinstance(edit, dict):
+                    raise ToolError(
+                        f"Edit {i + 1} must be an object, got {type(edit).__name__}"
+                    )
                 edit_file_path = edit.get("file_path")
                 if edit_file_path is None:
                     raise ToolError(f"Edit {i + 1} missing required file_path parameter")
@@ -370,17 +389,20 @@ def execute(
     def format_output(cls, coder, mcp_server, tool_response):
         color_start, color_end = color_markers(coder)
 
-        try:
-            params = json.loads(tool_response.function.arguments)
-        except json.JSONDecodeError:
-            coder.io.tool_error("Invalid Tool JSON")
+        params = responses.parse_tool_arguments(tool_response.function.arguments or "")
+        if "@error" in params:
+            coder.io.tool_error(f"Invalid Tool JSON: {params['@error']}")
+            return
 
         tool_header(coder=coder, mcp_server=mcp_server, tool_response=tool_response)
 
         # Group edits by file_path for display
         edits_by_file = {}
+        edits = cls._coerce_edits(params.get("edits", []))
 
-        for i, edit in enumerate(params.get("edits", [])):
+        for i, edit in enumerate(edits):
+            if not isinstance(edit, dict):
+                continue
             edit_file_path = edit.get("file_path")
             if edit_file_path not in edits_by_file:
                 edits_by_file[edit_file_path] = []
@@ -397,7 +419,7 @@ def format_output(cls, coder, mcp_server, tool_response):
             for edit_index, edit in file_edits:
                 operation = edit.get("operation", "replace")
 
-                if len(params.get("edits", [])) > 1:
+                if len(edits) > 1:
                     coder.io.tool_output(
                         f"{color_start}{OPERATION_NOUNS[operation]}_{edit_index + 1}:{color_end}"
                     )

cecli/tools/utils/base_tool.py

@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 from abc import ABC, abstractmethod
 
-from cecli.tools.utils.helpers import handle_tool_error, normalize_json_array
+from cecli.tools.utils.helpers import ToolError, handle_tool_error, normalize_json_array
 from cecli.tools.utils.output import print_tool_response
 
 
@@ -82,6 +82,10 @@ def process_response(cls, coder, params):
                     )
                     return handle_tool_error(coder, tool_name, ValueError(error_msg))
 
+        for param in cls.LIST_PARAMS:
+            if param in params:
+                params[param] = normalize_json_array(params[param], param_name=param)
+
         # Check for repeated invocations if TRACK_INVOCATIONS is enabled
         if cls.TRACK_INVOCATIONS:
             tool_name = None
@@ -122,10 +126,6 @@ def process_response(cls, coder, params):
                         coder, tool_name, ValueError(error_msg), add_traceback=False
                     )
 
-            for param in cls.LIST_PARAMS:
-                if param in params:
-                    params[param] = normalize_json_array(params[param], param_name=param)
-
             # Add current invocation to history (keeping only last 3)
             if params:
                 cls._invocations[tool_name].append((current_params_tuple, params))
@@ -134,6 +134,9 @@ def process_response(cls, coder, params):
 
         try:
             return cls.execute(coder, **params)
+        except ToolError as e:
+            tool_name = (cls.SCHEMA or {}).get("function", {}).get("name", cls.__name__)
+            return handle_tool_error(coder, tool_name, e, add_traceback=False)
         except Exception as e:
             return handle_tool_error(coder, cls.SCHEMA.get("function").get("name"), e)
 

tests/tools/test_edit_text.py

@@ -0,0 +1,101 @@
+"""EditText tool — double-encoded edits and format_output safety."""
+
+import json
+from types import SimpleNamespace
+from unittest.mock import Mock
+
+from cecli.tools import edit_text
+from cecli.tools.utils.base_tool import BaseTool
+
+
+class DummyIO:
+    def __init__(self):
+        self.tool_output = Mock()
+        self.tool_error = Mock()
+        self.tool_warning = Mock()
+
+
+class DummyCoder:
+    def __init__(self):
+        self.io = DummyIO()
+        self.pretty = False
+        self.verbose = False
+
+
+class _NoTrackTool(BaseTool):
+    """Minimal tool mirroring EditText LIST_PARAMS + TRACK_INVOCATIONS=False."""
+
+    NORM_NAME = "notrack"
+    TRACK_INVOCATIONS = False
+    LIST_PARAMS = ["edits"]
+    SCHEMA = {
+        "function": {
+            "name": "NoTrack",
+            "parameters": {
+                "type": "object",
+                "properties": {
+                    "edits": {"type": "array"},
+                },
+                "required": ["edits"],
+            },
+        }
+    }
+
+    @classmethod
+    def execute(cls, coder, edits=None, **kwargs):
+        if not isinstance(edits, list):
+            return f"edits type={type(edits).__name__}"
+        return f"edits len={len(edits)}"
+
+
+def test_list_params_normalized_when_track_invocations_disabled():
+    coder = DummyCoder()
+    edits_json = json.dumps(
+        [{"file_path": "pubspec.yaml", "operation": "replace", "start_line": "@000", "end_line": "@000"}]
+    )
+    result = _NoTrackTool.process_response(coder, {"edits": edits_json})
+    assert result == "edits len=1"
+
+
+def test_format_output_accepts_edits_as_json_string():
+    coder = DummyCoder()
+    edits_json = json.dumps(
+        [
+            {
+                "file_path": "pubspec.yaml",
+                "operation": "replace",
+                "start_line": "@000",
+                "end_line": "@000",
+                "text": "name: demo",
+            }
+        ]
+    )
+    args = json.dumps({"edits": edits_json})
+    tool_response = SimpleNamespace(function=SimpleNamespace(name="EditText", arguments=args))
+
+    edit_text.Tool.format_output(
+        coder,
+        mcp_server=SimpleNamespace(name="test"),
+        tool_response=tool_response,
+    )
+
+    output_text = "\n".join(call.args[0] for call in coder.io.tool_output.call_args_list)
+    assert "pubspec.yaml" in output_text
+    coder.io.tool_error.assert_not_called()
+
+
+def test_format_output_string_edits_does_not_crash():
+    """Regression: iterating a JSON string used to raise AttributeError in format_output."""
+    coder = DummyCoder()
+    edits_json = json.dumps([{"file_path": "a.txt", "operation": "replace"}])
+    tool_response = SimpleNamespace(
+        function=SimpleNamespace(name="EditText", arguments=json.dumps({"edits": edits_json}))
+    )
+
+    edit_text.Tool.format_output(
+        coder,
+        mcp_server=SimpleNamespace(name="test"),
+        tool_response=tool_response,
+    )
+
+    coder.io.tool_error.assert_not_called()