navigating-code

Navigating Code

Rider answers "who uses this?" and "who implements this?" from its reference index. One call replaces a grep-and-read loop, and it skips same-name symbols, comments and strings that grep returns.

Pick the tool

Question	Tool	Required flags
Where is a symbol declared?	search_symbol	--q
Who uses / calls / reads / writes this symbol?	find_usages	--filePath + --symbolName or --line
Which .NET classes implement this interface or derive from this class?	find_implementations	--filePath + --symbolName or --line
Which .NET members override or implement this virtual, abstract or interface member?	find_implementations	--filePath + --symbolName or --line
Where does this text occur (strings, comments, config)?	search_text / search_regex	--q

Call through execute_tool: the first token is the tool name, then --flag value pairs.

execute_tool(command="find_usages --filePath API/Services/OrderService.cs --symbolName OrderService.Submit")
execute_tool(command="find_implementations --filePath Domain/IPaymentGateway.cs --symbolName IPaymentGateway")

If your client lists the Rider tools directly, call find_usages and find_implementations by name with the same arguments.

Identify the symbol

• You know the declaring file: pass --filePath and --symbolName as Name or Type.Member.
• You do not know the file: call search_symbol first, then pass its filePath.
• Overloads, or a symbol you see at a call site: pass --filePath and --line of that declaration or usage, plus --symbolName (or --column) to pick the symbol on the line. This works in any file that mentions the symbol.
• C++: pass --line together with --symbolName as Type::Member. The qualifier picks the member on the line, such as the constructor in AMyActor::AMyActor(). Without --line, a qualified C++ name does not resolve. find_implementations does not support C++ yet, so it returns an error for a C++ symbol.

Read the result

• find_usages returns {symbol, declarations, files: [{file, usages: [{line, column, text, kinds, member}]}], total, more, note}. text is the source line, so do not open the file only to see the call. kinds tells how the symbol is used (for example Invocation, Read, Write). member names the caller.
• find_implementations returns {symbol, declarations, implementations: [{symbol, file, line, column}], total, more, note}. The list is recursive: it holds indirect inheritors and overrides too.
• A note means that the IDE is still indexing, so the list can be incomplete. Say so, or retry later.
• more=true means that --limit (default 100) cut the list. Narrow with --paths '["src/Api/**"]' before you raise the limit.

Rules

1. Prefer these tools to grep for identifiers. Grep finds text, not references: it misses usages through aliases, nameof, XAML/Razor bindings and C++ macros, and it adds same-name symbols.
2. Fix the input, then retry. "not declared in" means the file does not declare the symbol: pass the declaring file from search_symbol, or pass --line. "has N overloads" lists the line of each overload: pass --line of the one you mean. Do not retry with the same arguments.
3. Fall back to text search only when the tool cannot answer. The cases are a timeout (the tools stop after 60 seconds), a file outside the solution, a language that Rider does not parse, and find_implementations on a C++ symbol. Then say that the result comes from text search.
4. Ask about several symbols at once. When you need the usages or implementations of several symbols, issue all the calls in one turn, not one call per turn.
5. Use the counts. total answers "how many callers?" without reading the files. Read a usage only when you need the code around it.