import sys f = sys.argv[1] o = sys.argv[2] n = sys.argv[3] with open(f, 'r', encoding='utf-8') as fh: c = fh.read() if o not in c: print(f"NOT FOUND: {o[:50]}...") sys.exit(1) c = c.replace(o, n, 1) with open(f, 'w', encoding='utf-8') as fh: fh.write(c) print(f"OK: patched {f}")