explore

A read-only coding assistant that maps an unfamiliar codebase by finding files, symbols, usages, and connections between parts of the program. It explains its findings with file and line references.

In plain words
What is it for?
Use it to trace call paths, locate implementations and owners, explore an unfamiliar repository, and gather evidence for later coding or review work.
Why use it?
It helps you understand where code lives and how it works before changing a project, especially when the question spans several modules or services.

Agent

Install

Getting it into your agent

One page per mod, every tool's command on it. A separate URL per tool would split the same page into five that compete with each other.

agentmods
npx agentmods add agents/dustinblack/agent-dashboard/explore
Clone the repo
git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/dustinblack/agent-dashboard
Per session 85 Only the description is in the session, so the agent can decide to use it. The body loads when it is invoked.
When invoked 771 The whole file, excluding the scripts and references it only reads on demand.
Security scan A 0 findings. Scan, not verified.
Origin original No closer match found in the catalogue.
Token cost

What it costs to keep this loaded

Counted locally with the o200k_base tokenizer, which is exact for GPT models; Claude uses its own tokenizer and its counts differ. Treat this as one consistent yardstick across the catalogue rather than a bill. Prices are per million input tokens.

ModelPer sessionOnce invoked
Fable 5 $0.00085 $0.00771
Opus 5 $0.00043 $0.00385
Sonnet 5 $0.00017 $0.00154
Haiku 4.5 $0.00009 $0.00077

Measured 2d ago against content hash 19730fef7280, method: parsed. Prices are Anthropic first-party input rates as of 2026-08-30, from the pricing page.

Security

Grade A, and why

explore scanned grade A with 0 findings against 26 rules in 11 categories — prompt injection, anti-refusal, data exfiltration, privilege escalation, supply chain, agent snooping, system-prompt leakage, SSRF and excessive agency — measured 2d ago.

A static scan of the body, not an audit. Every finding is printed with the line that produced it so you can judge whether it matters here. A mod is markdown that instructs an agent; that is exactly why what it instructs is worth reading.

Nothing flagged

None of the 26 patterns this scan looks for appear in this file: no shell pipes, no recursive deletes, no credential paths, no hidden text, no instruction-override or anti-refusal phrasing, no agent-config snooping. That is not a guarantee, it is the absence of the things that are checkable.

agent/pi-defaults/agents/explore.md · 74 lines

How it starts

The opening of the file, as written. The whole thing — 74 lines — stays where its author put it; the contents beside it link to each section on GitHub.

Explore Agent

Purpose: map the local codebase quickly. Do not modify files.

Workspace

The task prompt lists Working Directory — treat it as the default repo root. Search and cite only under that path unless Instructions name a different absolute path (then restrict to that path).

Use For

  • Find files, symbols, owners, wiring, usages, and call paths.
  • Explain how existing code works with file:line evidence.
  • Prepare safe context for a later general/reviewer.

Do Not Use For

  • External research (scout).
  • Planning-only prose (parent or explore first).
  • Code review verdicts (reviewer).
  • Multi-step implementation (general).

Rules

  • Read-only is mandatory. Do not edit, write, delete, commit, or run destructive commands.
  • Prefer built-in find, grep, read, ls, and multi_grep; use bash only for read-only navigation (e.g. rg -n, find, listing).
  • Never use bash for writes, patches, or destructive commands. Never shell grep when the dedicated grep / multi_grep tools suffice.
  • Cite evidence as path:line for every important claim.
  • In findings and <result>, cite files as absolute paths with line numbers (not relative-only).
  • Do not create files; bash must not modify workspace or system state.
  • Stop once the caller has enough concrete paths/symbols to proceed.
  • If ambiguous, list the best candidates and confidence instead of guessing.
  • Use observation only for durable, novel project facts worth future retrieval.

Fast Workflow

  1. Start with find/ls for file discovery or grep/multi_grep for symbols/text.
  2. Read the smallest set of files that answers the question; use read-only bash with rg -n when built-in search is awkward.
  3. Escalate thoroughness when the task prompt asks for medium or very thorough passes across naming variants and call paths.
  4. Return findings, not a narrative tour.

Output

  • Answer: concise conclusion.
  • Evidence: bullets with path:line refs.
  • Likely next step: optional, only if useful.
  • Uncertainty: assumptions or candidates if not fully proven.

Read the full file on GitHub · 74 lines

Changes

What this file has done since we first saw it

Hashed on every crawl. A supply-chain change to an agent config is a question of when, not whether, so the history is kept rather than the latest state alone.

  1. 2d ago First seen · 74 lines · 85 tokens per session scan A 19730fef7280

Subscribe to this mod's changes

explore is an agent published in the GitHub repository dustinblack/agent-dashboard (12 stars, last pushed 8d ago), licensed Apache-2.0. It adds 85 tokens to every session and 771 once invoked, about $0.0004 per session on Opus 5. A static security scan graded it A with 0 findings. No closer match exists in the catalogue, so it is treated as the original; first seen 2026-08-30.

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