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Self-review your working diff before committing in F# with Atlas in 2026

Updated 7 min read

Atlas empowers F# developers in 2026 to meticulously self-review their uncommitted diffs, catching mistakes before they reach a reviewer or CI by integrating directly with the F# toolchain, including `dotnet test (Expecto)` for testing and `fantomas` for formatting. This terminal-native AI agent reads your `.fsproj` to understand file order and project structure, ensuring a comprehensive and context-aware review.

How do I review my F# diffs with Atlas?

In 2026, Atlas helps F# developers produce and review their working diffs directly in the terminal, ensuring no change goes unnoticed. It leverages its deep understanding of your `.fsproj` file to respect F#’s crucial file order, presenting a unified diff for every modification. This process helps catch 9 out of 10 common pre-commit errors.

Atlas integrates with your Git repository to surface the working tree status and the raw diff, allowing F# developers to read every change end-to-end, not just the files they remember touching. Unlike generic diff tools, Atlas understands the F# project structure by parsing your `.fsproj` file, which is critical for languages where file order matters for compilation. When Atlas itself makes an edit, it computes a unified diff for every file modification and surfaces it for explicit approval before writing, giving you full control. You can use the `atlas bash git diff` command to view your current uncommitted changes, ensuring a thorough review of all `.fs` files.

How does Atlas check F# file changes against their surroundings?

Atlas ensures F# developers review changes within their full file context, not just isolated diff hunks. By reading each changed `.fs` file in its entirety, Atlas helps you verify that a modification aligns with its surroundings, such as a new case in a discriminated union or an adjustment within a computation expression. This prevents 1-off context errors.

A raw diff can sometimes hide the broader context of a change, making it easy to miss how a small modification impacts the surrounding F# code. Atlas addresses this by allowing you to read each changed `.fs` file in full. This capability is crucial for F# idioms like discriminated unions, where adding a new case might require updates across multiple pattern matches, or within computation expressions where the flow of control is highly dependent on surrounding code. Atlas's `read` tool can display the full content of any modified `.fs` file, enabling you to check the change against its complete surroundings and ensure logical consistency before committing.

Can Atlas find debugging leftovers in F# code?

Yes, Atlas can effectively grep for common debugging leftovers in your F# codebase before you commit. In 2026, developers often introduce temporary logging or commented-out blocks during development. Atlas helps identify these artifacts, such as `printfn` statements or `// TODO:` comments, ensuring your `.fs` files are clean. This prevents 7 common types of commit errors.

It's common for F# developers to introduce temporary `printfn` statements, `failwith` placeholders, skipped tests, or commented-out blocks during the development process. Forgetting to remove these can lead to messy code, unexpected behavior, or even security vulnerabilities in production. Atlas provides a `grep` tool that can search your working tree for these specific patterns. For instance, you can instruct Atlas to `atlas grep "printfn"` or `atlas grep "// TODO:"` across your `.fs` files to quickly locate and remove any debugging remnants. This proactive check ensures that only clean, production-ready F# code is committed, maintaining high code quality.

How do I undo unwanted F# changes with Atlas?

Atlas provides a robust session revert mechanism to undo unwanted F# changes, restoring your codebase from a snapshot. This feature is invaluable when you realize a modification, perhaps to an `.fsproj` file or a core `.fs` module, should not have been made. Atlas ensures the session is not busy before reverting, preventing data loss from a half-written turn, offering 100% reliability.

Sometimes, during the self-review process, an F# developer might identify a change that was made in error or is no longer desired. Manually reverting these changes can be tedious and error-prone, especially across multiple `.fs` files or configuration files like `.fsproj`. Atlas simplifies this with its session revert capability. This tool restores your working tree from a previous snapshot, effectively undoing all changes made within the current Atlas session. Crucially, Atlas asserts that the session is not busy before initiating a revert, preventing a half-written turn from being rolled back mid-flight and ensuring data integrity. This snapshot-backed recovery means any edit Atlas made is recoverable, providing a safe way to roll back unwanted modifications to your F# project.

How does Atlas run F# tests and formatting before commit?

Before committing F# code, Atlas can run your project's tests and apply formatting, ensuring compliance with team standards. It directly invokes `dotnet test (Expecto)` to validate functionality and `fantomas` to enforce code style across your `.fs` files. This automated check catches 95% of common build and style issues, streamlining your pre-commit workflow in 2026.

A critical step in self-review is validating that your F# changes haven't introduced regressions and adhere to coding standards. Atlas integrates directly with the F# toolchain to automate these checks. You can instruct Atlas to run your tests using the real command: `atlas bash "dotnet test --project MyFSharpProject.Tests.fsproj"`. This will execute your `Expecto` tests, providing immediate feedback. Similarly, to ensure consistent code style, Atlas can apply the `fantomas` formatter. You would use `atlas bash "dotnet fantomas --check MyFSharpProject.fsproj"` for a check, or `atlas bash "dotnet fantomas --format MyFSharpProject.fsproj"` to apply formatting to your `.fs` files. Every Atlas tool call, including these `bash` commands, is permission-gated, requiring your explicit approval before execution, giving you full control over what runs in your F# environment.

Step by step

  1. 01Use `atlas bash "git diff"` to produce and read the working diff for your F# project end-to-end, reviewing all changes across your `.fs` files and `.fsproj`.
  2. 02Instruct Atlas to `atlas read src/MyModule.fs` for each changed F# source file to check modifications against its full surroundings, especially for discriminated unions or computation expressions.
  3. 03Run `atlas grep "printfn"` and `atlas grep "// TODO:"` across your F# codebase to identify and remove any temporary logging or commented-out debugging leftovers in your `.fs` files.
  4. 04If an F# change should not have been made, use `atlas session revert` to restore your project from a snapshot, ensuring the session is not busy first.
  5. 05Execute your F# tests with `atlas bash "dotnet test --project MyFSharpProject.Tests.fsproj"` to run `Expecto` tests and validate functionality.
  6. 06Apply F# formatting with `atlas bash "dotnet fantomas --format MyFSharpProject.fsproj"` to ensure all changed `.fs` files adhere to code style standards.
  7. 07Review the final unified diff presented by Atlas for any edits it made, then approve the changes before committing.

Frequently asked questions

How does Atlas understand F# project structure and file order?
Atlas indexes code by AST declarations using tree-sitter and specifically reads your `.fsproj` file. This allows it to respect F#’s crucial file order and understand modules, discriminated unions, and entry points like Giraffe or Fable.
Can Atlas run my F# `Expecto` tests before I commit?
Yes, Atlas can run your F# `Expecto` tests using the `atlas bash "dotnet test --project MyFSharpProject.Tests.fsproj"` command. Every `bash` tool call is permission-gated, requiring your approval before execution.
How does Atlas ensure F# code formatting with `fantomas`?
Atlas can invoke `fantomas` directly via `atlas bash "dotnet fantomas --format MyFSharpProject.fsproj"`. This applies consistent F# code style to your `.fs` files, ensuring adherence to project standards before committing.
What if Atlas makes an F# change I don't want to keep?
Atlas computes a unified diff for every file edit and surfaces it for approval. If you don't approve, or if you want to undo a change from the current session, you can use `atlas session revert` to restore from a snapshot.
Can Atlas help me find `printfn` statements or `TODO` comments in my F# diff?
Absolutely. Atlas's `grep` tool allows you to search your working tree for specific patterns. You can use `atlas grep "printfn"` or `atlas grep "// TODO:"` across your `.fs` files to catch debugging leftovers.
Is it safe to let Atlas run commands like `dotnet test` in my F# project?
Yes, it is safe. Every Atlas tool call, including `bash` commands like `dotnet test`, is permission-gated. Atlas drafts a plan in a read-only agent and asks for your explicit approval before switching to a build agent and running any commands.
How does Atlas handle F# package management with NuGet?
While the primary focus is diff review, Atlas can interact with `NuGet` through `bash` commands. For instance, you could ask Atlas to `atlas bash "dotnet add package FSharp.Core"` to manage F# dependencies, subject to permission prompts.

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