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/*"