formae-patch

name	formae-patch
description	Use when the user needs to make an urgent targeted infrastructure change, hotfix, incident response fix, or patch without a full reconcile

Patch Infrastructure (Patch Mode)

Use the apply_forma MCP tool in patch mode for urgent targeted changes.

Targeting an environment (profile)

apply_forma (and get_command_status) hit the formae agent's API directly and take an optional profile argument. If the user is working against a specific environment (e.g. prod, staging), pass that profile name as profile on the apply_forma call and any get_command_status follow-up so it targets that environment — for this session only, without changing global state. Patches are usually incident/hotfix work against one environment. If which environment they mean is unclear and list_profiles shows more than one, ask first. Never use use_profile to "set up" this session — the active profile is global and shared with the user's CLI and any other open sessions. When no profile is named, the active profile is used. Requires formae >= 0.87.0.

How Patch Works

Patch only applies the changes explicitly specified in the forma file. Other resources are untouched. Use this for:

• Incident response (scaling up during traffic spikes)
• Urgent security fixes
• Quick configuration changes
• Any situation where a full reconcile is inappropriate

Workflow

1. Help the user identify the resource(s) to modify
2. Create or locate a minimal forma file with only the targeted change
3. Always simulate first: call apply_forma with mode: patch, simulate: true
4. Show exactly what will change
5. Ask for explicit confirmation
6. If confirmed: call apply_forma with mode: patch, simulate: false
7. Poll get_command_status to monitor progress:
   • Wait 5 seconds between polls (sleep 5). Do NOT poll in a tight loop.
   • Only report state transitions — do NOT print anything unless a resource changed status since the last poll. Silently poll until something changes.
   • When reporting, summarize what changed rather than dumping the full JSON.
8. Report results

Post-Patch Reminder

After a successful patch, always remind the user:

This patch will appear as drift until you reconcile your IaC code. When the incident is resolved, consider the formae-fix-code-drift skill to incorporate this change into your codebase.

Important

• NEVER use pkl eval to evaluate forma files — ALWAYS use formae eval --output-consumer machine. Forma files use formae-specific extensions that only the formae CLI can resolve, and --output-consumer machine ensures parseable output instead of human-formatted text.
• NEVER skip the simulation step
• NEVER apply without user confirmation
• Patches are for urgency. For planned changes, use the formae-apply skill