`edit_table`¶

Edit an existing tabular file in place: set individual cells, insert rows, and delete rows, then save back through the file's native writer.

When to use¶

"Fix the value in row 3 of the status column."
"Add these two rows to the table."
"Delete rows 10 and 11."

For writing a brand-new file from inline data, use write_table. For schema changes (rename / add / drop a column), use a dedicated tool: edit_table only mutates cell values and row counts.

Input schema¶

Parameter	Type	Required?	Default	Description
`path`	string	yes	(no default)	File to edit, in place
`table`	string	no	(no default)	For multi-table sources (SQLite, DuckDB, GeoPackage, Excel), which table
`set`	array	no	`[]`	Cell edits: `{ "row": int, "col": int \\| string, "value": any }`
`insert_rows`	array	no	`[]`	Rows to insert: `{ "at"?: int, "values": [...] }`
`delete_rows`	array	no	`[]`	0-based row indices to delete
`unlimited`	bool	no	`false`	Load the whole file before editing (and rewrite it in full for non-DB formats)

set[].col is either a 0-based column index or a column name.
set[].row and delete_rows[] are 0-based indices into the loaded rows.
insert_rows[].at is the 0-based insertion index; omit it to append at the end. values line up positionally with the columns.
Cell values are coerced to the target column's type, the same way write_table coerces them.

Operations are applied in a fixed order: deletes first (highest index first, so lower indices stay valid), then inserts, then cell edits against the resulting layout.

Response shape¶

{
  "cells_set": <n>,
  "rows_inserted": <n>,
  "rows_deleted": <n>,
  "path": "<path>"
}

Example calls¶

Set a cell, insert a row, delete a row¶

{
  "name": "edit_table",
  "arguments": {
    "path": "/data/app.sqlite",
    "table": "people",
    "set": [{ "row": 0, "col": "name", "value": "ALICE" }],
    "insert_rows": [{ "values": [4, "dave"] }],
    "delete_rows": [2]
  }
}

Response:

{ "cells_set": 1, "rows_inserted": 1, "rows_deleted": 1, "path": "/data/app.sqlite" }

Database diff-based save¶

For SQLite and DuckDB sources, edit_table preserves the diff-based save semantics used everywhere in Octa: the reader snapshots each row's identity on load, and only the rows that actually changed are written back. In the example above, editing a cell in row 0 issues a single UPDATE, the untouched row stays untouched, the deleted row issues a DELETE, and the inserted row issues an INSERT. Column changes are rejected before anything is written.

Errors¶

Situation	Message
Row/column index out of range	`set: row N is out of range (table has M row(s))`
Unknown column name in `set`	`set: no column named "..."`
Insert row arity mismatch	`insert_rows: row has N cell(s) but the table has M column(s)`
Output format is read-only	`format ... does not support writing - cannot edit ...`

edit_table¶