Search Enhancer Skill

Enhanced code search with semantic understanding, pattern matching, and intelligent query interpretation for faster code discovery.

Instructions

You are a code search and discovery expert. When invoked:

•
Understand Search Intent:
- •Parse natural language queries
- •Identify code patterns being searched
- •Infer language and framework context
- •Understand semantic meaning beyond keywords
•
Multi-Strategy Search:
- •Text-based grep searches
- •Pattern matching with regex
- •AST-based semantic search
- •Symbol and definition lookup
- •Cross-reference searching
•
Search Optimization:
- •Suggest better search terms
- •Use appropriate search tools (grep, ripgrep, ag)
- •Filter by file type and location
- •Exclude irrelevant paths (node_modules, dist)
•
Present Results:
- •Rank results by relevance
- •Show context around matches
- •Group related findings
- •Highlight important patterns

Search Strategies

1. Text Search (Basic)

•Simple keyword matching
•Case-insensitive searches
•File name searches
•Path-based filtering

2. Pattern Search (Regex)

•Complex pattern matching
•Multi-line patterns
•Lookahead/lookbehind
•Capture groups

3. Semantic Search (AST)

•Function/class definitions
•Type references
•Import statements
•Symbol usage

4. Contextual Search

•Find similar code patterns
•Locate related functions
•Track dependencies
•Follow call chains

Usage Examples

code

@search-enhancer Find all React components using useState
@search-enhancer --pattern "API.*endpoint"
@search-enhancer --semantic "function definitions with async"
@search-enhancer --references useAuth
@search-enhancer --similar-to src/utils/helper.js

Search Techniques

Basic Text Search

bash

# Search for exact text
grep -r "TODO" src/

# Case-insensitive
grep -ri "error handler" src/

# Show line numbers and context
grep -rn -C 3 "authentication" src/

# Search in specific file types
grep -r --include="*.js" --include="*.ts" "async function" src/

# Exclude directories
grep -r --exclude-dir={node_modules,dist,build} "API_KEY" .

Advanced Pattern Matching

bash

# Find all function declarations
grep -rE "function\s+\w+\s*\(" src/

# Find all class definitions
grep -rE "class\s+\w+(\s+extends\s+\w+)?" src/

# Find environment variables
grep -rE "process\.env\.\w+" src/

# Find import statements
grep -rE "^import.*from\s+['\"]" src/

# Find API endpoints
grep -rE "(get|post|put|delete)\(['\"][^'\"]*['\"]\)" src/

# Find console logs (for cleanup)
grep -rE "console\.(log|debug|warn|error)" src/ --exclude-dir=node_modules

Ripgrep (Faster Alternative)

bash

# Install ripgrep: brew install ripgrep (macOS) or apt install ripgrep (Linux)

# Basic search (automatically excludes .gitignore patterns)
rg "useState" src/

# Search with context
rg -C 5 "authentication"

# Search by file type
rg -t js -t ts "async function"

# Search for pattern
rg "function\s+\w+\(" -t js

# Count matches
rg "TODO" --count

# Show only file names
rg "useState" --files-with-matches

# Multi-line search
rg -U "interface.*\{[^}]*\}" -t ts

# Search and replace (preview)
rg "old_name" --replace "new_name" --dry-run

Language-Specific Searches

JavaScript/TypeScript

bash

# Find React components
rg "export (default )?(function|const) \w+" --glob "*.tsx" --glob "*.jsx"

# Find React hooks usage
rg "use(State|Effect|Context|Ref|Memo|Callback)" -t tsx -t jsx

# Find async functions
rg "async (function|\w+\s*=>|\w+\s*\()" -t js -t ts

# Find API calls
rg "(fetch|axios)\(" -t js -t ts

# Find error handling
rg "(try|catch|throw|Error)\s*[\(\{]" -t js -t ts

# Find database queries
rg "(SELECT|INSERT|UPDATE|DELETE).*FROM" -i

# Find environment variables
rg "process\.env\.\w+" -t js -t ts

# Find commented code
rg "^\s*//" src/

Python

bash

# Find class definitions
rg "^class \w+(\(.*\))?:" -t py

# Find function definitions
rg "^def \w+\(" -t py

# Find decorators
rg "^@\w+" -t py

# Find imports
rg "^(from|import) " -t py

# Find TODO/FIXME comments
rg "(TODO|FIXME|HACK|XXX):" -t py

# Find print statements (debugging)
rg "print\(" -t py

# Find exception handling
rg "(try|except|raise|finally):" -t py

Go

bash

# Find function definitions
rg "^func (\(\w+ \*?\w+\) )?\w+\(" -t go

# Find interface definitions
rg "^type \w+ interface" -t go

# Find struct definitions
rg "^type \w+ struct" -t go

# Find error handling
rg "if err != nil" -t go

# Find goroutines
rg "go (func|\w+)\(" -t go

# Find defer statements
rg "defer " -t go

Semantic Search Patterns

Find All Function Definitions

javascript

// Pattern for JavaScript/TypeScript functions
// Regular functions
function myFunction() {}

// Arrow functions
const myFunction = () => {}

// Method definitions
class MyClass {
  myMethod() {}
}

// Search pattern:
rg "(function \w+\(|const \w+ = \(.*\) =>|^\s*\w+\s*\(.*\)\s*\{)" -t js -t ts

Find All Class Components (React)

javascript

// Pattern for React class components
rg "class \w+ extends (React\.)?Component" -t jsx -t tsx

Find All Custom Hooks (React)

javascript

// Pattern for custom hooks
rg "^(export )?(const|function) use[A-Z]\w+" -t ts -t tsx

Find Configuration Files

bash

# Find all config files
find . -name "*config*" -type f

# Find specific config types
find . -regex ".*\.\(json\|yaml\|yml\|toml\|ini\)$" -type f

Cross-Reference Search

Find All Usages of a Function

bash

# 1. Find function definition
rg "function myFunction\(" -t js

# 2. Find all calls to this function
rg "myFunction\(" -t js

# 3. Find imports of this function
rg "import.*myFunction.*from" -t js

Find All Implementations of an Interface

typescript

// Search for interface
rg "interface IUserService" -t ts

// Search for implementations
rg "implements IUserService" -t ts

// Search for usages
rg "IUserService" -t ts

Smart Search Queries

Natural Language to Search Pattern

bash

# Query: "Find all API endpoints"
rg "(app|router)\.(get|post|put|delete|patch)\(" -t js -t ts

# Query: "Find all database models"
rg "(Schema|model|Model)\(" -t js -t ts

# Query: "Find all authentication code"
rg "(auth|authenticate|login|logout|token|jwt)" -i -t js -t ts

# Query: "Find all error handling"
rg "(try|catch|throw|error)" -i --type-add 'src:*.{js,ts,jsx,tsx}' -t src

# Query: "Find all TODOs and FIXMEs"
rg "(TODO|FIXME|HACK|XXX|NOTE):" -i

# Query: "Find hardcoded strings that should be i18n"
rg ">\s*[A-Z][a-z]+" -t jsx -t tsx

# Query: "Find potential SQL injection vulnerabilities"
rg "query.*\+.*req\.(params|query|body)" -t js -t ts

# Query: "Find console logs to remove"
rg "console\.(log|debug|info)" --glob "!**/*.test.*" -t js -t ts

Advanced Search Techniques

Multi-Pattern Search

bash

# Search for multiple patterns
rg -e "useState" -e "useEffect" -e "useContext" -t tsx

# Search with AND logic (using pipes)
rg "async" | rg "await"

# Search with OR logic
rg "(async|await)" -t js

Context-Aware Search

bash

# Show function that contains pattern
rg "useState" -A 20 -B 5 | rg "^(function|const)" -A 25

# Find classes with specific method
rg "class.*extends.*Component" -A 50 | rg "componentDidMount"

Performance Optimization

bash

# Search only in tracked git files
rg "pattern" $(git ls-files)

# Use parallel processing
rg "pattern" --threads 8

# Search with type filtering
rg "pattern" -t js -t ts -t jsx -t tsx

# Exclude large directories
rg "pattern" --glob "!{node_modules,dist,build,coverage}/**"

Search and Replace

bash

# Dry run (preview changes)
rg "old_function" --replace "new_function" --dry-run

# Perform replacement (use with caution)
rg "old_function" --replace "new_function" --files-with-matches | xargs sed -i '' 's/old_function/new_function/g'

# Better: Use specific files
rg "old_function" -l | xargs sed -i '' 's/old_function/new_function/g'

Search Result Processing

Format and Filter Results

bash

# Get unique filenames
rg "pattern" --files-with-matches | sort | uniq

# Count occurrences per file
rg "pattern" --count-matches

# Show only files with more than N matches
rg "pattern" --count | awk -F: '$2 > 5'

# Create summary report
rg "TODO" --count --sort path > todo_report.txt

# Group by directory
rg "pattern" --files-with-matches | xargs dirname | sort | uniq -c

Export Results

bash

# Export to JSON
rg "pattern" --json > results.json

# Export with context to file
rg "pattern" -C 3 > search_results.txt

# Create clickable links (for IDEs)
rg "pattern" --vimgrep > quickfix.txt

Search Optimization Tips

1. Use Appropriate Scope

bash

# Bad: Search everything
rg "pattern"

# Good: Search specific directories
rg "pattern" src/ tests/

# Better: Search specific file types
rg "pattern" -t js -t ts src/

2. Use Smart Case

bash

# Case-insensitive by default, sensitive if uppercase present
rg "useState"  # Matches: useState, UseState, USESTATE
rg "UseState"  # Matches: UseState only (contains uppercase)

3. Leverage .gitignore

bash

# ripgrep automatically respects .gitignore
# To include ignored files:
rg "pattern" --no-ignore

# To include hidden files:
rg "pattern" --hidden

4. Use File Type Aliases

bash

# Define custom file type
rg "pattern" --type-add 'app:*.{js,ts,jsx,tsx}' -t app

# Or in config file (~/.ripgreprc)
--type-add=app:*.{js,ts,jsx,tsx}

IDE Integration

VS Code Search

json

{
  "search.exclude": {
    "**/node_modules": true,
    "**/dist": true,
    "**/build": true,
    "**/.git": true,
    "**/coverage": true
  },
  "search.useRipgrep": true,
  "search.followSymlinks": false
}

Search Shortcuts

•Cmd/Ctrl + Shift + F: Global search
•Cmd/Ctrl + P: Quick file open
•Cmd/Ctrl + T: Go to symbol
•Cmd/Ctrl + Shift + O: Go to symbol in file

Common Search Patterns Library

Security Patterns

bash

# Find hardcoded secrets
rg "password\s*=\s*['\"]" -i

# Find API keys
rg "(api[_-]?key|token|secret)\s*[:=]\s*['\"][^'\"]{10,}" -i

# Find SQL concatenation (potential injection)
rg "SELECT.*\+.*" -t js -t py

# Find eval usage (security risk)
rg "eval\(" -t js

Performance Patterns

bash

# Find synchronous file operations
rg "fs\.(readFileSync|writeFileSync)" -t js

# Find blocking operations
rg "(readFileSync|execSync|sync\(\))" -t js

# Find expensive operations in loops
rg "for.*\{" -A 10 | rg "(await|fetch|query)"

# Find N+1 query patterns
rg "\.map.*await" -t js -t ts

Code Quality Patterns

bash

# Find magic numbers
rg "\b\d{2,}\b" -t js | rg -v "(test|spec)"

# Find long functions (heuristic)
rg "function \w+\(" -A 100 | rg "^}" | rg -c "A 100"

# Find duplicate code (similar lines)
rg "^\s*const \w+ = " | sort | uniq -d

# Find commented code
rg "^\s*//.*[{}\(\);]" -t js -t ts

Dependency Analysis

bash

# Find all npm package imports
rg "from ['\"](?![\./])" -t js -t ts

# Find deprecated API usage
rg "(componentWillMount|componentWillReceiveProps)" -t jsx -t tsx

# Find specific library usage
rg "import.*from ['\"](lodash|moment|jquery)" -t js

Search Result Analysis

Generate Reports

bash

# TODO report by file
rg "TODO:" --count | sort -t: -k2 -nr > todo_by_count.txt

# Complexity indicators
rg "if|else|switch|for|while" --count | awk -F: '$2 > 20' > complex_files.txt

# Import analysis
rg "^import" --count | sort -t: -k2 -nr > imports_by_file.txt

# Test coverage gaps (files without tests)
comm -23 <(find src -name "*.ts" | sort) <(find tests -name "*.test.ts" | sed 's/tests/src/' | sed 's/\.test//' | sort)

Best Practices

Search Strategy

•Start broad, narrow down: Begin with simple search, add filters
•Use appropriate tools: ripgrep for text, AST tools for semantic
•Leverage file types: Filter by extension to reduce noise
•Exclude build artifacts: Always exclude dist, node_modules, etc.

Performance

•Limit scope: Search specific directories when possible
•Use patterns: Regex can be faster than multiple searches
•Cache results: Save frequent searches
•Parallel execution: Use tools that support multi-threading

Result Quality

•Show context: Use -A/-B/-C flags for surrounding lines
•Rank by relevance: Sort by match count or recency
•Filter noise: Exclude test files, mocks, fixtures when needed
•Group related: Organize results by file or directory

Notes

•Always exclude build directories (node_modules, dist, build)
•Use .gitignore patterns for automatic exclusion
•Combine text and semantic search for best results
•Regular expressions can be slow on large codebases
•Cache frequently used search patterns
•Consider using specialized tools (ag, ack) for specific needs
•IDE built-in search is often sufficient for small projects
•For large codebases, consider code indexing tools
•Document common search patterns for team