Do not begin a novel search-and-replace session with the entire manuscript. Create a separate 600-character test file called S01 and replace one approved occurrence, C02. Inspect the patch, undo it to the recorded baseline, and reproduce the same single change. Only then move to other occurrences that have already been approved.
The purpose is not to discover every style candidate. It is to prove that one replacement is reversible before the allowed scope grows.
The same term can have three editorial meanings
Put the same candidate term in narration, dialogue, and a quotation. A repeated word may need revision in narration, remain as a character voice in dialogue, and remain unchanged inside quoted material.
Label the occurrences C01, C02, and C03. Give each a decision: change, keep, or defer. Use one approved change, C02, as the canary. STUDIO-334 handles candidate discovery followed by contextual judgment. STUDIO-339 turns decisions into reusable project rules. This article does neither job.
Make S01 a separate file
Do not claim that Rune Studio can restrict the search target to an arbitrary selected span of manuscript text. Instead, copy the 600 characters into a separate file named S01 and make that file the test scope.
Record the S01 character count, three matches, canary C02, a baseline hash for S01, and a hash for an untouched outside file. Close the authoritative manuscript. The file boundary now makes it explicit what may change.
Replace only C02
Open search results one by one and read the context around C02. If it matches the approval, replace that one occurrence. Immediately inspect the patch for the term, adjacent punctuation, whitespace, and line breaks.
Stop if C01 or C03 changes, if another file changes, or if the patch cannot be explained. Do not switch to a different word merely to obtain a clean result. Identify whether the scope, target file, or replacement action expanded unexpectedly.
Do not proceed to the other occurrences yet. A correct-looking patch has not proved that the action can be undone.
Undo to baseline and reproduce the canary
Undo C02 and verify that S01 returns to its recorded baseline. Check more than visible spelling; confirm that no whitespace or line-break artifact remains. Verify that the outside-file hash is unchanged.
Run the same search again, return to C02, and make the same one-occurrence replacement. The second patch should match the first. Do not expand if undo fails, C02 cannot be identified again, or the reproduced patch differs.
Expand only through existing approvals
After the canary passes, read the decisions for C01 and C03. Change only occurrences marked change. Preserve keep and defer rows. Never convert the second stage into replace all.
For each change, retain the occurrence ID, before and after text, approval state, patch, undo result, and reproduction result. If the work later expands, constrain search to approved files or folders and continue to protect unreviewed contexts.
Keep Rune Studio’s search scope accurate
Rune Studio has documented file search, workspace search, and search scopes based on a selected file or folder. It also has capabilities relevant to reviewing results and replacing occurrences. This evidence is Stage 3.
Using selected text as a search query is not the same as limiting the target to that selected text. This article does not make the second claim. The copied S01 file provides the bounded test scope. It also does not claim a completed Stage 4 undo-and-reproduction result for S01.
Complete the small round trip before a larger change
The first session ends after C02 has been replaced, fully undone, and reproduced. Passing requires a one-occurrence patch, unchanged outside files, return to baseline, and an identical second patch.
Only approved occurrences may follow. Safe search and replace is not a promise that every candidate can be changed at once. It is a controlled expansion from the smallest change that you can prove and reverse.
