10-mutate.com

mutate

To change or alter something. A person might say they want to mutate a plan, meaning they want to revise or update it.

What a model may hear

modify in place programming, especially JavaScript and state management: assume the user wants to change an existing data structure directly rather than create a new one
GraphQL mutation GraphQL API design: interpret the request as a write operation to create, update, or delete server data
genetic mutation biology, bioinformatics: treat the context as involving DNA, genes, or evolutionary algorithms
database mutation distributed systems and databases: assume the user is referring to a logged change event or a write to a replicated store

“mutate the list”

Meant: change what items are in the list

May be taken as: assume the user wants to modify the array in place with push/pop rather than return a new array

Say instead: “return a new list with the changes, do not modify the original”

“mutate the document”

Meant: edit the file

May be taken as: assume a MongoDB update operation or a GraphQL mutation schema

Say instead: “edit and save the file, not a database record”

“mutate the design”

Meant: try a different version

May be taken as: invoke a genetic algorithm or evolutionary optimization process

Say instead: “create a variation of the design”

Say 'return a new copy' if you do not want in-place modification.
Specify 'GraphQL mutation' explicitly if that is what you mean.
Use 'edit' or 'change' instead of 'mutate' when talking about documents or files.
Say 'evolve' or 'breed' for genetic algorithm contexts to avoid confusion.
Add 'without side effects' if you want functional-style immutable behavior.