What a surgical edit is
A surgical edit is a single, scoped change you ask Waxe to make in plain language — "drop the deposit to 30%", "add a third pricing tier", "move the start date to August". Waxe changes that one thing and leaves everything else exactly as it was.
This is the difference between steering and regenerating. You keep all the copy, structure and design you already approved, and adjust only the part that needs it.
How it works
Tell Waxe the change
Describe the single edit you want in the editor's chat — be specific about what and where.
Waxe proposes
It comes back with a proposed change you can see before anything moves.
Preview
Review the proposal in the real document, so you see exactly how it will look.
Accept or reject
Approve the change to apply it, or reject it and try a different instruction.
Write a good instruction
Surgical edits work best when the instruction is precise. Name the thing you want changed and the new value.
- "Change the day rate in the pricing table to ₹18,000."
- "Add a payment-terms clause: 50% on signing, 50% on delivery."
- "Shorten the introduction to two sentences."
- "Rename the 'Standard' tier to 'Growth' and keep its contents."
- "Make it better" — too vague for a scoped edit.
- "Redo the whole thing" — that is a regeneration, not a surgical edit.
- Bundling five unrelated changes into one sentence — ask for them one at a time so each is easy to review.
Type it or tell Waxe
Not every change needs Waxe. Because the editor edits the real, paginated document, you can also make the change yourself by typing — what you edit is what you send.
| Use Waxe when | Edit by hand when |
|---|---|
| The change ripples — a price that updates a total, a tier that needs matching copy. | It is a quick wording or typo fix you can make faster yourself. |
| You want Waxe's judgement on phrasing or structure. | You know exactly the text you want and can type it. |
| You are changing several related places at once. | You are nudging a single word or number. |
When the edit misses
If a proposed edit is not what you meant, reject it and rephrase — you have lost nothing, because it was never applied. If a change you accepted turns out wrong, you can correct or undo it.
For larger problems where the whole draft is off, a surgical edit is the wrong tool. See When Waxe gets it wrong.