Explore

Explore unfamiliar code with semantic search when you don't know which files to read. Not needed for quick lookups where grep or a known file path gets you there.

belentani7 Updated

File contents

Explore

Use the codebase_search tool to explore a codebase, this saves time and tokens.

When To Use

  • Broad questions like "how does this work?" or "where is X implemented?" in code you haven't mapped yet.
  • You need entry points, data flow, or ownership of a behavior.
  • Keyword grep is likely to miss the relevant files.

Skip it when you already know the file to read or the exact string to grep for.

Steps

  1. Translate the user question into a tight natural language question, or description of the functionality you're looking for.
  2. Run 2-3 instances of the codebase_search tool against the repo root, for each use a different search_string so you can explore the codebase from multiple angles
  3. Read the returned files/sections.
  4. Summarize the flow with concrete file paths.

Query Template

"Find the entry points and data flow for . Include router/handlers, config, and tests."

belentani7/agent-skills/tree/main/skills/explore commit 40665d5175

Frequently asked questions

npx skillmds@latest add belentani7/explore