Code Search

Search codebase contents, filenames, or directory structures using ripgrep, fd, and tree with filters for file types, context, depth, and result limits.

Code Search Skill

Fast code search toolkit for exploring codebases. Provides structured grep (content search), glob (filename search), and tree (directory structure) via ripgrep, fd, and tree CLI tools.

When to Use

• Searching for function/class/variable definitions or usages in code
• Finding files by name or extension pattern
• Understanding project directory structure
• Exploring unfamiliar codebases
• Looking for configuration files, imports, error messages

Prerequisites

Run dependency check first:

bash /root/.openclaw/workspace/skills/code-search/scripts/search.sh check

Commands

All commands go through a single entry point:

bash /root/.openclaw/workspace/skills/code-search/scripts/search.sh <command> [options]

grep — Search file contents

# Basic search
bash /root/.openclaw/workspace/skills/code-search/scripts/search.sh grep "func main" --path /some/project

# Literal text (no regex interpretation)
bash /root/.openclaw/workspace/skills/code-search/scripts/search.sh grep "fmt.Println(" --literal --path /some/project

# Filter by file type
bash /root/.openclaw/workspace/skills/code-search/scripts/search.sh grep "import" --type go --path /some/project

# With context lines
bash /root/.openclaw/workspace/skills/code-search/scripts/search.sh grep "TODO" --context 2 --path /some/project

# Limit results
bash /root/.openclaw/workspace/skills/code-search/scripts/search.sh grep "error" --max 20 --path /some/project

Options:

• --path <dir> — Search directory (default: current dir)
• --type <ext> — File type filter: go, py, ts, js, etc. (repeatable)
• --literal — Treat pattern as literal text, not regex
• --max <n> — Max results (default: 100)
• --context <n> — Show N lines of context around matches (default: 0)

glob — Search filenames

# Find all Go files
bash /root/.openclaw/workspace/skills/code-search/scripts/search.sh glob "*.go" --path /some/project

# Find test files
bash /root/.openclaw/workspace/skills/code-search/scripts/search.sh glob "*_test.go" --path /some/project

# Find config files
bash /root/.openclaw/workspace/skills/code-search/scripts/search.sh glob "*.{json,yaml,yml,toml}" --path /some/project

# Filter by type
bash /root/.openclaw/workspace/skills/code-search/scripts/search.sh glob "config" --type f --path /some/project

Options:

• --path <dir> — Search directory (default: current dir)
• --type <f|d> — f=files only, d=directories only
• --max <n> — Max results (default: 200)

tree — Directory structure

# Default (3 levels deep)
bash /root/.openclaw/workspace/skills/code-search/scripts/search.sh tree --path /some/project

# Shallow view
bash /root/.openclaw/workspace/skills/code-search/scripts/search.sh tree --path /some/project --depth 1

# With file sizes
bash /root/.openclaw/workspace/skills/code-search/scripts/search.sh tree --path /some/project --depth 2 --size

Options:

• --path <dir> — Target directory (default: current dir)
• --depth <n> — Max depth (default: 3)
• --size — Show file sizes

check — Verify dependencies

bash /root/.openclaw/workspace/skills/code-search/scripts/search.sh check

Output Format

All commands output structured text with clear delimiters:

• [SEARCH RESULTS: grep] / [SEARCH RESULTS: glob] / [DIRECTORY TREE]
• [END RESULTS] / [END TREE]
• [TRUNCATED: ...] when results exceed the limit
• [ERROR] ... on failures

Notes

• All operations are read-only — no files are modified
• Automatically ignores .git, node_modules, pycache, vendor, build artifacts
• Respects .gitignore rules
• Results sorted by modification time (newest first) for grep and glob