diff --git a/assets/functions/tools/fs_patch.sh b/assets/functions/tools/fs_patch.sh
index a47e29a..13d8655 100755
--- a/assets/functions/tools/fs_patch.sh
+++ b/assets/functions/tools/fs_patch.sh
@@ -5,6 +5,23 @@ set -e
 # PREFERRED way to modify a file. Prefer this over fs_write whenever the file already exists: it sends less data,
 # preserves unchanged content automatically, and is less prone to accidental data loss from full rewrites.
 # Use fs_write only when you are creating a new file or doing a complete rewrite where most of the content changes.
+#
+# CRITICAL — the patch is matched byte-for-byte. There is no fuzzy matching, no whitespace tolerance, and no context shift:
+# - Context lines (prefixed with a single space) and removed lines (prefixed with '-') must equal the file content exactly.
+#   If unsure, fs_cat the file first and copy the bytes verbatim into your patch.
+# - JSON-escape the contents string ONCE. Each literal backslash in the file becomes \\ in the JSON contents string. So a
+#   shell line containing s|\\"|"|g must appear in JSON as s|\\\\\"|\"|g — NOT s|\\\\\\\"|\\\"|g. Over-escaping backslashes
+#   is the most common cause of "unable to apply patch" failures, especially in files with sed/jq/regex pipelines or
+#   embedded Python with quoted strings.
+# - Hunks are applied in order; the first hunk that fails aborts the whole patch — later hunks are NOT attempted.
+# - If you've edited this file in earlier tool calls, fs_cat it again before composing the patch. A stale view of the file
+#   produces context lines that no longer match.
+# - On failure the error message names the failing hunk and shows the expected-vs-actual line. Fix that specific line and
+#   retry — do not blindly resend a near-identical patch.
+#
+# For files with heavy escaping (sed/jq/regex pipelines, shell with embedded heredocs, deeply quoted strings), prefer
+# fs_write over chained fs_patch hunks to replace the entire file with the full new contents (i.e. original content +
+# your changes).
 
 # @option --path! The path of the file to apply the patch to
 # @option --contents! The patch to apply to the file
diff --git a/assets/functions/utils/prompt-utils.sh b/assets/functions/utils/prompt-utils.sh
index cfa695a..b00f738 100755
--- a/assets/functions/utils/prompt-utils.sh
+++ b/assets/functions/utils/prompt-utils.sh
@@ -600,6 +600,14 @@ patch_file() {
 
           for (i = 2; i <= hunkTotalOriginalLines[hunkIndex]; i++) {
             if (lines[nextLineIndex] != hunkOriginalLines[hunkIndex,i]) {
+              if (i - 1 > bestPartialLen[hunkIndex]) {
+                bestPartialLen[hunkIndex] = i - 1
+                bestPartialAnchorLine[hunkIndex] = lineIndex
+                bestPartialHunkPos[hunkIndex] = i
+                bestPartialDivergeLine[hunkIndex] = nextLineIndex
+                bestPartialExpected[hunkIndex] = hunkOriginalLines[hunkIndex,i]
+                bestPartialActual[hunkIndex] = lines[nextLineIndex]
+              }
               nextLineIndex = 0
               break
             }
@@ -621,7 +629,32 @@ patch_file() {
         }
 
         if (hunkIndex != totalHunks + 1) {
+          failingHunk = hunkIndex
           print "error: unable to apply patch" > "/dev/stderr"
+          print "" > "/dev/stderr"
+          print "Hunk " failingHunk " of " totalHunks " did not match the file." > "/dev/stderr"
+
+          if (bestPartialLen[failingHunk] == 0) {
+            print "" > "/dev/stderr"
+            print "The first context/removed line of hunk " failingHunk " was not found anywhere in the file:" > "/dev/stderr"
+            print "  expected: " hunkOriginalLines[failingHunk, 1] > "/dev/stderr"
+          } else {
+            print "" > "/dev/stderr"
+            print "Closest match: anchored at file line " bestPartialAnchorLine[failingHunk] ", matched " bestPartialLen[failingHunk] " of " hunkTotalOriginalLines[failingHunk] " original lines before diverging." > "/dev/stderr"
+            print "" > "/dev/stderr"
+            print "At file line " bestPartialDivergeLine[failingHunk] " (hunk original line " bestPartialHunkPos[failingHunk] "):" > "/dev/stderr"
+            print "  expected: " bestPartialExpected[failingHunk] > "/dev/stderr"
+            print "  actual:   " bestPartialActual[failingHunk] > "/dev/stderr"
+          }
+
+          print "" > "/dev/stderr"
+          print "Lines must match byte-for-byte (no fuzzy matching). Check escaping, whitespace, and quoting." > "/dev/stderr"
+
+          if (failingHunk < totalHunks) {
+            print "" > "/dev/stderr"
+            print (totalHunks - failingHunk) " subsequent hunk(s) were not attempted (patcher aborts on first failure)." > "/dev/stderr"
+          }
+
           exit 1
         }
     }