name: code-search
description: Search for patterns inside file contents using ripgrep (rg). Use when searching for code patterns, finding function definitions, locating usages, or when the user asks to search/grep content inside files.
allowed-tools: Bash, Read, Task

Code Search Skill

Use ripgrep (rg) for searching patterns inside file contents. For finding files by name, use the file-nav skill instead.

Prerequisites

If rg is not installed, recommend the user install it:

# Arch Linux
sudo pacman -S ripgrep

# Ubuntu/Debian
sudo apt install ripgrep

# macOS
brew install ripgrep

# Cargo
cargo install ripgrep

Quick Reference

Core rg Options

Output Control

rg "pattern"              # Show matching lines (default)
rg -l "pattern"           # List files only (--files-with-matches)
rg -c "pattern"           # Count matches per file
rg -o "pattern"           # Only show matched text

Context Lines

rg -A 5 "pattern"         # 5 lines after
rg -B 5 "pattern"         # 5 lines before
rg -C 5 "pattern"         # 5 lines before and after

Filtering by File Type

rg -t clojure "pattern"   # Only Clojure files
rg -t js "pattern"        # Only JavaScript files
rg -t py "pattern"        # Only Python files
rg -t rust "pattern"      # Only Rust files
rg -T test "pattern"      # Exclude test files

rg -g "*.clj" "pattern"   # Glob filter
rg -g "!*.test.*" "pat"   # Exclude glob pattern

Scope

rg "pattern" src/         # Search specific directory
rg "pattern" file.clj     # Search specific file

Case Sensitivity

rg -i "pattern"           # Case insensitive
rg -s "pattern"           # Case sensitive (default)
rg -S "pattern"           # Smart case (insensitive if all lowercase)

Line Numbers

rg -n "pattern"           # Show line numbers (default)
rg -N "pattern"           # Hide line numbers

Multiline

rg -U "pattern"           # Multiline mode (pattern can span lines)
rg -U "start.*?end"       # Non-greedy multiline match

Limiting Output

rg -m 5 "pattern"         # Max 5 matches per file
rg "pattern" | head -20   # First 20 lines of output

Common Search Patterns

Find Function Definitions

# Clojure
rg -t clojure "\(defn\s+my-function"
rg -t clojure "\(defn-?\s+my-function"  # defn or defn-

# JavaScript/TypeScript
rg -t js "function\s+myFunction|const\s+myFunction\s*="
rg -t ts "function\s+myFunction"

# Python
rg -t py "def\s+my_function"

# Go
rg -t go "func\s+MyFunction"

# Rust
rg -t rust "fn\s+my_function"

Find Class/Type Definitions

# Clojure defrecord/deftype
rg -t clojure "\(def(record|type)\s+MyType"

# TypeScript interface/type
rg -t ts "(interface|type)\s+MyType"

# Python class
rg -t py "class\s+MyClass"

# Java/Kotlin class
rg -t java "class\s+MyClass"

Find Usages/References

# Find all uses of a symbol
rg -C 2 "my-function"

# Word boundary match (avoid partial matches)
rg -w "user"

# Find require/import statements
rg "\[my\.namespace" -t clojure
rg "import.*MyModule" -t js
rg "from.*import.*my_func" -t py

Find TODO/FIXME Comments

rg -i "(TODO|FIXME|HACK|XXX)"
rg -i "TODO" -C 1

Find Configuration Values

rg "database|connection" -g "*.{yml,yaml,json,edn}"
rg "password|secret|key" -g "*.env*"

Search Strategies

1. Broad to Narrow

Start with file listing, then search with context:

# Step 1: Find files containing pattern
rg -l "authentication"

# Step 2: Search specific file with context
rg -C 5 "authentication" src/auth.clj

2. Definition + Usages (run in parallel)

# Find definition
rg -t clojure "\(defn\s+create-user" -A 10

# Find usages
rg "create-user" -C 2

3. Exclude Tests/Vendor

rg "pattern" -g "!*test*" -g "!vendor/*" -g "!node_modules/*"

4. Multiple File Types

rg "pattern" -t clojure -t edn
rg "pattern" -g "*.{ts,tsx,js,jsx}"

Regex Tips

• \s+ for whitespace
• \( for literal parentheses
• .*? for non-greedy matching
• [^)]+ for anything except closing paren
• \{ and \} for literal braces
• (?:...) for non-capturing groups
• \b for word boundaries
• ^ and $ for line start/end

Performance Tips

1. Use -t type filters - Much faster than searching all files
2. Use -l first - Cheaper than showing content
3. Specify directory - rg "pattern" src/ narrows scope
4. Use -m N - Stop after N matches per file
5. Parallel searches - Run independent rg commands in parallel
6. Exclude directories - -g "!node_modules/*" etc.

Advanced Options

rg --hidden "pattern"     # Include hidden files
rg --no-ignore "pattern"  # Don't respect .gitignore
rg -uuu "pattern"         # Unrestricted (all files)
rg --json "pattern"       # JSON output for parsing
rg -p "pattern" | less -R # Pager with color