code-intelligence

Code Intelligence

Pick the search tool by task, not by habit. Generic and language-agnostic; domain skills extend it with server capability matrices and ecosystem prerequisites - for example the terraform-skill plugin (same marketplace) owns the terraform-ls capability matrix and Terraform setup. It is model-triggered guidance, not enforcement.

Tool Precedence

Goal	Use	Tradeoff
Symbol relationships: definition, references, call sites, rename safety	Language server (LSP) at a position	Needs a running server + indexed workspace
Exact text, known name, exhaustive enumeration, config/value files	rg then Read	No semantic scope; matches strings in comments too
Conceptual / fuzzy / "where might this live" / cross-repo discovery	A semantic/neural search tool, if the host provides one	Not exact; never use for counts or completeness claims

Detail: Precedence Table, When LSP Is Wrong.

Calling the LSP

• DO call at a position (file:line:character). Anchor the position with a text search for a known occurrence first.
• DON'T pass a bare symbol name and expect resolution. A name-only call that returns empty is a usage defect, not server failure.
• DO Read the returned locations for source text; LSP returns locations and symbols, not the lines.
• DO retry once on a cold start: the first call after launch may return empty while the server indexes.
• DO prefer the server's own operation when it advertises it: use rename / prepareRename for renames and call hierarchy for callers - they carry language-specific semantics a manual pass misses.
• DON'T report an unsupported operation as a finding. When the server lacks one, redirect: findReferences (then filter to call sites) instead of call hierarchy; enumerate references then hand-edit instead of a rename provider.

Detail: Position Anchoring, Unsupported Operations.

Degradation Gate

Two distinct cases:

• No LSP at all (host exposes no language-server tool, or the server fails to start): that IS unavailability. Disclose it on the first line (see below) and use text search. The gate does not apply - there is nothing to gate.
• LSP callable but a position-anchored call returns empty: do NOT conclude "unavailable" yet. Pass ALL three:
  1. documentSymbol on an in-scope file returns symbols -> server responsive (responsiveness only, NOT proof of complete reference coverage).
  2. The failing call was position-anchored (not symbol-name-only).
  3. That anchored call still returned empty after a cold-start retry.

Only after the three-part case passes is a disclosed text fallback warranted.

Detail: Degradation Gate.

Disclose Substitutions

State any tool substitution OR omission on the FIRST line of the response, not in a later summary (post-hoc accounting is a rule violation):

Intended: <tool>. Actual: <tool>. Reason: <why>. Impact: <completeness/confidence>.

Detail: Disclosure Format.

Do Not Invent a Missing Tool

Before claiming a tool (e.g. rg) is shimmed, aliased, or absent, prove it: type -a <tool>, ls -l the resolved path, <tool> --version shows the expected banner. An unproven "tool is missing" claim followed by a fallback is a verification failure, not a sanctioned substitution.

If genuinely absent or aliased: prefer the LSP for semantic tasks; for exact text use the host-approved text search; git grep / grep only as an explicitly disclosed last resort, never the default substitute.

Detail: Anti-Phantom-Shim Proof.