content-search

Content Search Skill

Search file contents using regular expressions with ripgrep (rg) or grep fallback. Optimized for searching code and text files.

When to Use

✅ USE this skill when:

• Finding where a function is defined
• Searching for specific patterns in code
• Locating files containing specific text
• Analyzing codebase structure

❌ DON'T use this skill when:

• Binary file search (use file command)
• Simple filename matching (use find or glob)
• Regex in filenames only (use find -regex)

Features

• Ripgrep (rg) with grep fallback
• Multiple output modes: content, files, count
• Glob-based file filtering
• Context lines before/after matches
• Case-sensitive/insensitive search
• Multiline pattern support (rg only)
• Respects .gitignore

Usage

Basic Search

node /job/.pi/skills/content-search/search.js --pattern "console.log"

Search with File Filter

node /job/.pi/skills/content-search/search.js \
  --pattern "function.*init" \
  --include "*.js" \
  --include "*.ts"

Files with Matches Only

node /job/.pi/skills/content-search/search.js \
  --pattern "TODO" \
  --output-mode files_with_matches

Match Count Per File

node /job/.pi/skills/content-search/search.js \
  --pattern "error" \
  --output-mode count

With Context

node /job/.pi/skills/content-search/search.js \
  --pattern "async function" \
  --context-before 2 \
  --context-after 2

Case Insensitive

node /job/.pi/skills/content-search/search.js \
  --pattern "todo" \
  --case-insensitive

CLI Options

--pattern <regex>        Pattern to search for (required)
--path <directory>       Directory to search (default: .)
--include <glob>         File glob filter (e.g., "*.rs")
--exclude <glob>         Exclude glob pattern
--output-mode <mode>     content|files_with_matches|count
--case-insensitive       Case-insensitive search
--context-before <n>     Lines before match
--context-after <n>      Lines after match
--multiline              Enable multiline (rg only)
--max-results <n>        Maximum results (default: 1000)

Output Format

Content mode:

{
  "matches": [
    {
      "file": "src/index.js",
      "line": 42,
      "content": "  console.log('Hello');",
      "before": [],
      "after": []
    }
  ],
  "totalMatches": 1
}

Files mode:

{
  "files": ["src/index.js", "src/utils.js"],
  "totalFiles": 2
}

Count mode:

{
  "counts": [
    {"file": "src/index.js", "count": 5},
    {"file": "src/utils.js", "count": 3}
  ],
  "totalMatches": 8
}

Example Patterns

Find all function definitions:

node /job/.pi/skills/content-search/search.js \
  --pattern "fn\s+\w+\s*\(" \
  --include "*.rs"

Find TODOs:

node /job/.pi/skills/content-search/search.js \
  --pattern "TODO|FIXME|XXX" \
  --case-insensitive

Find imports:

node /job/.pi/skills/content-search/search.js \
  --pattern "^import.*from.*$" \
  --include "*.js" --include "*.ts"

Find error handling:

node /job/.pi/skills/content-search/search.js \
  --pattern "try\s*{|catch\s*\(|\.catch\(" \
  --include "*.js"

Performance Tips

• Use specific --include patterns to reduce search scope
• Prefer ripgrep (rg) over grep - it's 10-100x faster
• Limit results with --max-results
• Use --output-mode files_with_matches for quick existence checks
• Exclude node_modules: --exclude "node_modules/*"