Codebase Search Skill

This skill provides powerful capabilities for searching codebases using ripgrep (rg) and glob patterns. These tools are the foundation for efficient agentic exploration.

Tools

1. ripgrep (rg)

• •Description: A line-oriented search tool that recursively searches directories for a regex pattern.
• •Why use it: It's faster than standard grep, respects .gitignore, and provides cleaner output for LLMs.
• •Common Flags:
  • •-n: Show line numbers (essential for context).
  • •-i: Case insensitive search.
  • •-C 2: Show 2 lines of context around matches.
  • •-t <type>: Filter by file type (e.g., -t py, -t js).
  • •-g <glob>: Include/exclude files based on glob patterns.
• •Example Usage:
  bash

  rg "class User" -t py -n
  rg "TODO" -g "!tests/" -C 2
  

2. Glob

• •Description: Pattern matching for file paths.
• •Usage: Use with rg, find, or directly via shell.
• •Patterns:
  • •*: Matches any characters in a filename.
  • •**: Matches directories recursively.
  • •?: Matches a single character.
  • •[...]: Matches a range of characters.
• •Example:
  bash

  ls **/*.py
  rg --files -g "**/*.{js,ts}"
  

Agentic Workflow

1. •Global Discovery: Start with ls -R or fd to map the structure.
2. •Narrow Search: Use glob patterns to filter relevant files.
3. •Precise Search: Use rg to find specific symbols or text within the narrowed set.
4. •Read: Finally, read the content of the identified files.

Best Practices

• •Prefer rg over grep: Always use ripgrep for code searches due to its speed and ignore-handling.
• •Use Context: When searching for code, always request context lines (-C) to understand usage.
• •Filter: Use file type filters (-t) to reduce noise.