Search Can Silently Miss Binary-Detected Files
Problem
search_files (ripgrep) returned 0 matches for SECRET- even though
data.log contains SECRET-1722. Trusting the empty result would fail the
task ("which file contains the secret?").
Root cause
Ripgrep skips files it heuristically classifies as binary. The empty result means "no match in text-classified files", not "string absent".
Fix
- When a content search returns nothing but files exist, do NOT trust the empty result blindly.
- Force text mode:
grep -a -l PATTERN <files>and/orfile+xxd/hexdump to confirm where the string lives. - Confirm the actual match content before writing the answer.
Evidence
- Hit in a real graded task:
SECRET-1722lived in a binary-detected file; the agent correctly suspected "encoding or binary detection issues" and verified directly instead of concluding "not found".