File Search Skill

Modern file and content search using fd, ripgrep (rg), and fzf for interactive selection.

Triggers

fd, ripgrep, rg, find files, search code, fzf, fuzzy find, search codebase

fd - Find Files (Better than find)

Basic Usage

# Find by name (case-insensitive by default)
fd config                    # Files containing "config"
fd "\.ts$"                   # TypeScript files (regex)
fd -e py                     # Python files by extension

# Multiple extensions
fd -e js -e ts               # JS and TS files
fd -e md -e txt              # Markdown and text files

Filtering

# By type
fd -t f config               # Files only
fd -t d src                  # Directories only
fd -t l                      # Symlinks only

# By depth
fd -d 2 config               # Max 2 levels deep
fd --min-depth 2 config      # At least 2 levels deep

# Include hidden/ignored
fd -H config                 # Include hidden files
fd -I config                 # Include .gitignore'd files
fd -HI config                # Include both

Exclusion

# Exclude patterns
fd -E "*.min.js" -E "dist/"  # Exclude minified and dist
fd -E node_modules           # Exclude node_modules
fd config -E "*.bak"         # Find config, exclude backups

Execute Commands

# Run command on each result
fd -e py -x wc -l            # Line count for each Python file
fd -e ts -x bat {}           # View each TypeScript file with bat
fd -e json -x jq . {}        # Pretty print each JSON file

ripgrep (rg) - Search Content (Better than grep)

Basic Usage

# Simple search
rg "TODO"                    # Find TODO in all files
rg "function \w+"            # Regex pattern
rg -i "error"                # Case-insensitive
rg -w "log"                  # Word boundary (not "catalog")

File Filtering

# By type
rg -t py "import"            # Search Python files only
rg -t js -t ts "async"       # JS and TS files
rg --type-list               # Show all known types

# By glob
rg -g "*.tsx" "useState"     # Search .tsx files
rg -g "!*.test.*" "fetch"    # Exclude test files
rg -g "src/**" "config"      # Only in src directory

Context and Format

# Show context lines
rg -C 3 "function"           # 3 lines before and after
rg -B 2 -A 5 "class"         # 2 before, 5 after

# Output format
rg -l "TODO"                 # File names only
rg -c "TODO"                 # Count per file
rg --json "TODO"             # JSON output
rg -n "TODO"                 # With line numbers (default)

Advanced Patterns

# Multiline
rg -U "class.*\n.*constructor"   # Across lines

# Fixed strings (no regex)
rg -F "[]"                   # Literal brackets

# Invert match
rg -v "console.log"          # Lines NOT containing

# Replace (preview)
rg "oldFunc" -r "newFunc"    # Show replacements (use sd to apply)

fzf - Interactive Selection

Basic Workflows

# Find and open file
fd | fzf                             # Select file interactively
fd -e py | fzf                       # Select from Python files

# Find and edit
nvim $(fd -e ts | fzf)               # Open selected in nvim
code $(fd | fzf -m)                  # Open multiple in VS Code

With Preview

# Preview with bat
fd | fzf --preview 'bat --color=always {}'

# Preview with rg context
rg -l "TODO" | fzf --preview 'rg -C 3 "TODO" {}'

Multi-Select

# Select multiple (Tab to mark, Enter to confirm)
fd -e ts | fzf -m                    # Multi-select mode
fd -e ts | fzf -m | xargs rm         # Delete selected

Combined Workflows

# Fuzzy grep: search content, select file, open at line
rg -n "pattern" | fzf --preview 'bat {1} --highlight-line {2}'

# Kill process interactively
procs | fzf | awk '{print $1}' | xargs kill

# Git branch checkout
git branch | fzf | xargs git checkout

# Git log with preview
git log --oneline | fzf --preview 'git show --color=always {1}'

Combined Patterns

Find and Search

# Find Python files, search for pattern
fd -e py -x rg "async def" {}

# Search specific directories
rg "import" $(fd -t d src lib)

Find, Select, Act

# Interactive file deletion
fd -t f "\.bak$" | fzf -m | xargs rm -i

# Interactive config editing
fd -g "*.config.*" | fzf --preview 'bat {}' | xargs nvim

Codebase Exploration

# Find all entry points
rg -l "^(export )?function main|^if __name__"

# Find all TODO/FIXME with context
rg -C 2 "TODO|FIXME|HACK|XXX"

# Find unused exports (basic)
rg "export (const|function|class) (\w+)" -o -r '$2' | sort | uniq

Performance Tips

Tip	Why
Both respect .gitignore	Automatically skip node_modules, dist, etc.
Use -t over -g when possible	Type flags are faster than globs
Narrow the path	rg pattern src/ faster than rg pattern
Use -F for literal strings	Avoids regex engine overhead
Add -u for unignored only when needed	Hidden files slow things down

Quick Reference

Task	Command
Find TS files	fd -e ts
Find in src only	fd -e ts src/
Search for pattern	rg "pattern"
Search in type	rg -t py "import"
Files containing	rg -l "pattern"
Count matches	rg -c "pattern"
Interactive select	fd | fzf
Multi-select	fd | fzf -m
Preview files	fd | fzf --preview 'bat {}'