SE2 Game Code Search Skill
Allows reading the decompiled C# code of Space Engineers 2.
⚠️ CRITICAL: Commands run in a UNIX shell. Use bash syntax! On Windows this is BusyBox (busybox.exe <cmd>); on Linux use the native shell directly.
Examples:
- ✅
test -f file.txt && echo exists - ✅
ls -la | head -10 - ❌
if exist file.txt (echo exists)- This will NOT work
Actions:
- prepare: Run the one-time preparation (
Prepare.baton Windows,prepare.shon Linux) - bash: Run UNIX shell commands (BusyBox on Windows, native shell on Linux)
- search: Run code searches using
search_game_code.py - test: Test this skill (
test_search_game_code.baton Windows,test_search_game_code.shon Linux)
Routing Decision
Check these patterns in order - first match wins:
| Priority | Pattern | Example | Route |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Empty or bare invocation | se2-dev-game-code |
Show this help |
| 2 | Prepare keywords | se2-dev-game-code prepare, se2-dev-game-code setup, se2-dev-game-code init |
prepare |
| 3 | Bash/shell keywords | se2-dev-game-code bash, se2-dev-game-code grep, se2-dev-game-code cat |
bash |
| 4 | Search keywords | se2-dev-game-code search, se2-dev-game-code find class, se2-dev-game-code lookup |
search |
| 5 | Test keywords | se2-dev-game-code test, se2-dev-game-code verify, se2-dev-game-code check |
test |
Requirements
The host system must have the following on PATH:
- Python 3.13 or newer
- git command line client (used to version each decompiled game build)
- dotnet SDK (for installing
ilspycmd)
Getting Started
⚠️ CRITICAL: Before running ANY commands, read CommandExecution.md to avoid common mistakes that cause command failures.
If the Prepare.DONE file is missing in this folder, you MUST run the one-time preparation steps first. See the prepare action.
Folder Layout
After preparation the skill folder contains a Data junction (Windows) or symlink (Linux). The actual data lives outside the skill folder so that it is preserved across Clean.bat/Prepare.bat (Windows) or clean.sh/prepare.sh (Linux) cycles.
skills/se2-dev-game-code/
├── Data/ (junction/symlink → per-user persistent game-code data)
│ ├── .git/ local Git repository tracking decompiled sources and content
│ ├── .gitignore ignores CodeIndex/, graphify-out/, __pycache__, *.py[cod], *.bak, *.log
│ ├── game_version.txt recorded SE2 version label
│ ├── game_files.json SHA256 of every original game file (committed - diffable)
│ ├── Decompiled/ decompiled C# sources only, organised per assembly (committed)
│ ├── Content/ textual game content (committed - definition changes reviewable)
│ ├── CodeIndex/ CSV indexes (NOT committed - regenerated)
│ └── graphify-out/ Graphify graph of Decompiled/ (NOT committed - regenerated)
├── Game2/ (junction/symlink → game's Game2, removed after preparation)
└── ... skill scripts and documentation
The Data folder points at the per-user persistent data directory:
- Windows: junction to
%USERPROFILE%\.se2-dev\game-code\(%USERPROFILE%is used rather than%LOCALAPPDATA%so the data sits outside any per-app UWP filesystem virtualization). - Linux: symlink to
~/.se2-dev/game-code/.
Treat Data/Decompiled, Data/Content and Data/CodeIndex the same way on every platform.
Local Versioning of Decompiled Sources
The Data folder is a local Git repository. Every successful preparation creates a commit of the decompiled C# sources and the copied content files whose message is the game's version label. Only the indexable text content is copied (definitions, translations, blueprints, shaders), never the binary assets, so definition changes stay reviewable and diffable across game versions.
This means:
- All previously decompiled game versions are preserved in the local Git history. You can
git checkoutany past commit insideData/to inspect or diff against an older build, andgit difftwo version commits to see what a game update changed in both the code and the content definitions. - Game updates are detected automatically by comparing the binaries' embedded version with
Data/game_version.txt. If they differ (or the file is missing),Decompiled/,Content/,CodeIndex/,graphify-out/andgame_files.jsonare wiped and a fresh decompilation runs. - This makes it easy to update plugins for compatibility with new game releases: diff the relevant source between two commits inside
Data/to see exactly what changed.
The repository uses an internal author/email (se2-dev-skills@localhost) so commits work even on machines without a configured global Git identity.
Original Game File Hashes
Preparation also records the SHA256 of every file in the game install into
Data/game_files.json (path relative to the SpaceEngineers2 folder → lower-case hex
digest, alphabetically sorted, one pair per line) and commits it under the version label.
Diffing it between two version commits shows exactly which binaries a game update changed
— including assets that are neither assemblies nor text, so they appear in neither
Data/Decompiled nor Data/Content.
Verify an install against the recorded digests with ./verify_game_files.sh (Linux) or
.\VerifyGameFiles.bat (Windows). Read GameFileHashes.md for the
file format, the diffing recipe and the verification output.
Graphify Graph (optional)
Preparation can build a separate Graphify graph for the decompiled game code under
Data/Decompiled (or SE2_DEV_GAME_CODE_GRAPH_ROOT). The graph is written beside the
graphed tree, to Data/graphify-out (or SE2_DEV_GAME_CODE_GRAPH_OUT), so Data/Decompiled
holds nothing but decompiled C# code and the graph never reaches the repository. It is a navigable map of
call/inherit/reference edges plus clustered communities that answers structural
questions the CSV code index cannot. Prepare installs Graphify on Python 3.12 with the
fast native Rust Leiden clustering backend and, when that backend is available (needs
uv), builds the graph automatically in 1-2 minutes. Where the fast backend cannot be
provisioned it falls back to slow single-core clustering (10-30 minutes) and stays
opt-in with SE2_DEV_GRAPHIFY=1 (ask the user first); SE2_DEV_GRAPHIFY=0 disables it.
The Graphify tooling is shared by all se2-dev-* skills and lives in the
se2-dev skill. Read these on demand — skip them for normal search work:
- Build / health-check / rebuild: GraphifyPrepare.md
- Query an existing graph: GraphifyUsage.md
Health check and query test (only meaningful once a graph is built):
bash ../se2-dev/graphify_check.sh Data --deep # is the graph usable?
./test_graphify_game_code.sh # run a few graph queries
Essential Documentation
- CommandExecution.md - ⚠️ READ THIS FIRST - How to run commands correctly on Windows and Linux
Code Search Documentation
- QuickStart.md - More examples and quick reference
- CodeSearch.md - Complete guide to searching classes, methods, fields, etc.
- HierarchySearch.md - Finding class/interface inheritance and implementations
- Advanced.md - Power user techniques for complex searches
- Troubleshooting.md - What to do when searches return NO-MATCHES or too many results
- GameFileHashes.md - SHA256 digests of the original game files: format, diffing across game versions, verifying an install
- Implementation.md - Technical details for skill contributors (optional)
Quick Search Examples
# Find class declarations
uv run search_game_code.py class declaration CubeGridComponent
# Find method signatures
uv run search_game_code.py method signature OnAddedToScene
# Find class hierarchy
uv run search_game_code.py class children GameComponent
# Count results before viewing (useful for large result sets)
uv run search_game_code.py class usage CubeGridComponent --count
# Limit number of results
uv run search_game_code.py class usage CubeGridComponent --limit 10
# Paginate through results
uv run search_game_code.py class usage CubeGridComponent --limit 10 --offset 0
uv run search_game_code.py class usage CubeGridComponent --limit 10 --offset 20
Always check the game code when:
- You're unsure about the game's internal APIs and how to interface with them.
- The inner workings of Space Engineers is unclear.
Custom Scripting
For building your own utility scripts to work with the indexes and decompiled code:
- ScriptingGuide.md - How to write Python scripts, use BusyBox, handle Windows paths
Game Content Data
The textual part of the game's Content is copied into the Data/Content folder for free text search:
- Language translations, including the string IDs
- Block and other entity definitions
- Default blueprints and scenarios
- See ContentTypes.md for the full list of content types
- See ContentSelection.md for which files are copied and which are
left behind — only text is copied, so models, textures, audio and video are not in
Data/Contenteven when a definition references them
Content Index
Data/CodeIndex/content_index.csv maps every textual content file to the decompiled C#
source files that reference it. Columns: rel_path (path relative to Data/Content/)
and usage (path of a C# source file in Data/Decompiled/ that references it). Each
content file appears once per usage, so you can filter and page by rel_path to see
all C# code that loads or references a given content file. Files with no known usages
have a single row with an empty usage column.
General Rules
- In the
Data/Decompiledfolder search only inside the C# source files (.cs) in general. If you work on transpiler or preloader patches, then also search in the IL code (.il) files. - In the
Data/Contentfolder search the files appropriate for the task. See ContentTypes.md for the list of types and ContentSelection.md for what is not there at all. - Do not search for decompiled game code outside the
Data/Decompiledfolder. The decompiled game source tree must be there if the preparation succeeded. - Do not search for game content data outside the
Data/Contentfolder. The copied game content must be there if the preparation succeeded.
Action References
Follow the detailed instructions in:
- prepare action - One-time preparation
- bash action - Running UNIX shell commands via busybox
- search action - Running code searches
- test action - Testing this skill
Remarks
The original source of this skill: https://github.com/CometWorks/skills2