Installation

$ npx skills add netresearch/file-search-skill --skill file-search

Agent compatibility

Declared targets from SKILL.md / docs. Unmarked agents are not listed — the skill may still install via the CLI.

Claude Code Not declared

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Windsurf Not declared

Gemini CLI Not declared

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Repository health

Stars 36

License LICENSE-CC-BY-SA-4.0

Default branch main

Open issues 1

Status Active

Skill metadata

Parsed from SKILL.md frontmatter.

Version1.8.0

License(MIT AND CC-BY-SA-4.0). See LICENSE-MIT and LICENSE-CC-BY-SA-4.0

CompatibilityRequires ripgrep (rg). Optional: fd, ast-grep, rga, tokei, scc, semgrep.

Allowed toolsBash(rg:*) Bash(fd:*) Bash(sg:*) Bash(rga:*) Bash(tokei:*) Bash(scc:*) Bash(semgrep:*) Read Glob Grep

More metadata

author: Netresearch DTT GmbH
version: 1.8.0
repository: https://github.com/netresearch/file-search-skill

Package contents

Files included with this skill beyond the listing page.

skill md SKILL.md 3,913 B

docs SUMMARY.md 147 B

History

Mar 16, 2026 First seen on skills.sh

Sep 9, 2026 First recorded snapshot · 451 installs

SKILL.md

File Search Skill

Efficient CLI search tools for AI agents.

Tool Selection Guide

Task	Use	Instead of
Search text in code files	`rg` (ripgrep)	`grep`, `grep -r`
Find files by name/path	`fd`	`find`, `ls -R`
Structural/syntax-aware code search	`sg` (ast-grep)	regex hacks
Apply rule packs (security/lint, taint)	`semgrep`	regex CI checks
Search PDFs, Office docs, archives	`rga` (ripgrep-all)	manual extraction
Count lines of code by language	`tokei`	`cloc`, `wc -l`
Code stats with complexity metrics	`scc`	`cloc`, `tokei`

Quick Examples

rg 'def \w+\(' -t py src/          # rg: text search in Python files
rg -c 'TODO' -t js | wc -l         # rg: count first, then drill down
sg --pattern 'console.log($$$)' --rewrite 'logger.info($$$)' --lang js  # sg: structural replace
fd -g '*.test.ts' --changed-within 1d  # fd: -g for compound suffixes (NOT -e)
fd -g '*_test.go' -X rg 'func Test'   # fd+rg: find files, verify contents
rga 'quarterly revenue' docs/       # rga: search inside PDFs/archives
tokei --sort code                   # tokei: language stats
scc --wide                          # scc: complexity + COCOMO

Best Practices

Start narrow. Specify types (-t, --lang, -e), scope dirs, count first (rg -c).
Exclude noise (-g '!vendor/', fd -E node_modules).
Batch independent queries. Union patterns with rg -e P1 -e P2 -e P3 (one walk), or issue distinct queries as parallel tool calls in one message — never sequential && chains.
--json for programmatic processing.
rg ≠ fd types. rg -t ts includes .tsx; fd -e ts does NOT. No -t tsx in rg.

See [references/search-strategies.md](references/search-strategies.md).

Beyond Local Files

If local search finds nothing and context lives in issues/PRs/external docs — hand off (gh, Jira, WebFetch). Issue keys in comments signal this.

See [references/remote-handoff.md](references/remote-handoff.md).

References

Topic	File
rg flags, patterns, recipes	[references/ripgrep-patterns.md](references/ripgrep-patterns.md)
ast-grep patterns by language	[references/ast-grep-patterns.md](references/ast-grep-patterns.md)
semgrep rules and taint mode	[references/semgrep-patterns.md](references/semgrep-patterns.md)
fd flags, usage, fd+rg combos	[references/fd-guide.md](references/fd-guide.md)
rga formats, usage, caching	[references/rga-guide.md](references/rga-guide.md)
tokei and scc usage	[references/code-metrics.md](references/code-metrics.md)
PreToolUse nudge (ships with plugin)	[references/enforcement-hook.md](references/enforcement-hook.md)
Search targeting strategies	[references/search-strategies.md](references/search-strategies.md)
Remote context handoff guide	[references/remote-handoff.md](references/remote-handoff.md)
Modern CLI tools comparison (legacy→modern, all domains)	cli-tools-skill/SKILL.md#preferred-modern-tools