Edit Command

Fetch a resource, edit it locally, and send it back.

edit is for APIs where a resource is easier to review in an editor than to rebuild from command-line arguments. Restish fetches the resource, opens it in your editor, then sends the changed document back with the appropriate update request.

Generated Command Reference

Generated from the current Cobra command tree.

restish edit

Fetch a resource, edit it locally, then send it back

Fetch a resource, edit it locally, then send the changed representation back.

Restish first sends GET, opens the response body as JSON or YAML, then sends either PATCH with JSON Merge Patch when supported or PUT otherwise. Use shorthand patch arguments for non-interactive edits.

Safety controls:

  • Use --dry-run to print the diff without sending an update.
  • Use --no-editor to print or patch the editable body without launching $VISUAL or $EDITOR.
  • Use --yes only after reviewing the diff in automation.

Usage:

restish edit <uri> [patch ...] [flags]

Examples:

  restish edit https://api.example.com/items/123
  restish edit https://api.example.com/items/123 'name: Ada' --dry-run
  restish edit demo/items/123 --no-editor

Flags:

--dry-run

Type: bool; default: false

Show the diff without sending the update

--no-editor

Type: bool; default: false

Do not open an editor; with no patch args, print the editable resource

-e, --edit-format

Type: string; default: json

Editor file format: json or yaml

-y, --yes

Type: bool; default: false

Skip the confirmation prompt

Examples

restish edit api.rest.sh/types
restish edit --edit-format yaml api.rest.sh/types
restish edit --no-editor api.rest.sh/types
restish edit --dry-run api.rest.sh/types 'string: changed'
restish edit -y api.rest.sh/types 'string: changed'

Use these examples against the public demo API while learning the workflow. The generated reference above is the source of truth for exact flags and safety behavior.

Notes

Restish compares the normalized resource value after parsing the edited file. Editor-only formatting changes do not produce a diff and do not send an update.

The edit workflow depends on the API supporting a writable representation of the resource. Start with a safe or resettable endpoint while learning. The Edit Workflow guide covers editor selection, merge behavior, and safety habits.

Last modified May 21, 2026: feat(cli): polish v2 command diagnostics (64ac36c)