ygrep

IMPORTANT: Try ygrep First

Always try ygrep "query" via Bash before using built-in Grep, Glob, or Task explore agents for code searches. ygrep uses a pre-built full-text index and returns results in milliseconds vs seconds/minutes for built-in tools.

Searching an unindexed workspace builds a text index automatically on the first search, so there is nothing to set up. That first call takes a few seconds; every later one is instant.

If ygrep returns no results, fall back to built-in Grep or Glob — not every file may be indexed.

When to Invoke This Skill

Invoke this skill immediately when:

• You need to find files, code, functions, classes, or variables
• User asks to search or find something in the codebase
• You need to understand where something is defined or used
• You need to explore an unfamiliar codebase

Usage

All flags are global — they work in any position with or without the search subcommand:

ygrep "search query"                  # Search (AI-optimized output)
ygrep "query" -n 10                   # Limit results
ygrep "query" -e rs -e ts             # Filter by extension
ygrep "query" -p 'src/api/'           # Filter by path prefix
ygrep "query" -p 'src/*/tests/'       # Glob pattern in path filter (quote it!)
ygrep search "query" -p 'lib/' -n 5   # Explicit search subcommand
ygrep "fn\\s+main" -r                 # Regex search
ygrep "Config" -s                     # Case-sensitive search
ygrep "error" -A 3                    # 3 lines of context after match
ygrep "error" -B 2                    # 2 lines of context before match
ygrep "error" -K 3                    # 3 lines of context before and after
ygrep "query" --json                  # JSON output with full metadata
ygrep "query" --text-only             # Force text-only search

IMPORTANT: Quote glob patterns in -p to prevent shell expansion:

• Right: -p 'user/plugins/*/tests/' — ygrep receives the glob and matches internally
• Wrong: -p user/plugins/*/tests/ — shell expands into multiple args, causes errors