Offload exploration to a cheap model running out-of-band. Instead of polluting your context with sequential rg → read → rg cycles, get back a curated summary.
Use cases:
- •"Where is the rate limiting middleware?" - you don't know the file, ripper finds it
- •"What test framework does this use?" - quick pre-flight with
--max-iterations 1 --token-budget 3000 - •"How does auth work across this codebase?" - broad orientation in unfamiliar code
- •"Find all external API calls and their error handling" - pattern audit across 100+ files
- •Before any coding task in unfamiliar areas - parallel search beats sequential exploration
Why use it
- •Saves your context window - exploration happens outside your session, only the summary lands in your context
- •Saves money - uses a cheap/fast model for exploration, not your expensive main model
- •Parallel execution - 30-80 commands per iteration beats sequential exploration
- •Tunable output -
--token-budget 3000for quick checks,40000for deep dives - •Finds what you'd miss - bulk search patterns surface things you wouldn't think to look for
When to use
- •Any exploration that would pollute your context - broad or narrow
- •You don't know the file location - "where is rate limiting defined?"
- •Quick pre-flight checks - "does this use SQLAlchemy or raw SQL?" with
--max-iterations 1 --token-budget 3000 - •Pattern/dependency audits - "list all external API calls and their error handling"
- •Before coding in unfamiliar areas - even targeted questions benefit from parallel search
When NOT to use
- •You know the exact file path (just
readit) - •Codebase is already in your context
- •You need structured code artifacts for generation (use
codebase_explorerfor imports/signatures/segments)
Usage
bash
$HOME/.flatagents/skills/codebase_ripper/run.sh "<task>" [-d <directory>] [--token-budget N] [--max-iterations N]
Examples
bash
# Precise question, tight output ./run.sh "Find the function that validates JWT tokens" --token-budget 5000 # Quick pre-flight check ./run.sh "What test framework does this project use?" --max-iterations 1 --token-budget 3000 # Broad architectural survey ./run.sh "Map out the data layer" --max-iterations 4 # Pattern audit ./run.sh "Find all database queries and their error handling patterns" -d src/ # Targeted search when you don't know where to look ./run.sh "Where is the WebSocket connection handler?" --token-budget 8000
Output
Returns a curated context field - summary with key files, patterns, and findings. Stats go to stderr.
How it works
- •Cheap model generates 30-80 shell commands based on your task
- •Commands run in parallel (read-only: rg, fd, cat, git log, etc.)
- •Cheap model extracts relevant context from bulk output
- •Repeat for N iterations (default: 2)
- •Return compressed summary to your main session
Cost: 2-4 cheap LLM calls. Benefit: parallel search + clean context.