search_files
Search for files and directories recursively by matching a pattern, starting from a specified path. Returns full paths to matches, supporting case-insensitive and partial name searches. Automatically excludes unwanted items and operates within secure directory boundaries.
Instructions
Recursively search for files and directories matching a pattern. Searches through all subdirectories from the starting path. The search is case-insensitive and matches partial names. Returns full paths to all matching items. Great for finding files when you don't know their exact location. Only searches within allowed directories.
Input Schema
TableJSON Schema
| Name | Required | Description | Default |
|---|---|---|---|
| excludePatterns | No | Patterns to exclude from search results | |
| path | Yes | Root path to start searching from | |
| pattern | Yes | Pattern to match against filenames and directories |
Implementation Reference
- src/index.ts:606-680 (handler)Main execution logic for the 'search_files' tool. Validates input using SearchFilesArgsSchema, performs recursive directory traversal starting from the given path, matches filenames against the pattern (case-insensitive substring match), skips excluded patterns using minimatch, collects full paths of matches, and returns formatted results.
case 'search_files': { const parsed = SearchFilesArgsSchema.safeParse(a) if (!parsed.success) { throw new FileSystemError(`Invalid arguments for ${name}`, 'INVALID_ARGS', undefined, { errors: parsed.error.format(), }) } const validPath = await validatePath(parsed.data.path, config) const patternLower = parsed.data.pattern.toLowerCase() const results: string[] = [] async function search(currentPath: string) { try { const entries = await fs.readdir(currentPath, { withFileTypes: true }) for (const entry of entries) { const fullPath = path.join(currentPath, entry.name) try { await validatePath(fullPath, config) const relativePath = path.relative(validPath, fullPath) // Check if the path should be excluded const shouldExclude = parsed.data && parsed.data.excludePatterns.some((excludePattern) => { const globPattern = excludePattern.includes('*') ? excludePattern : `**/${excludePattern}**` return minimatch(relativePath, globPattern, { nocase: true }) }) if (shouldExclude) { continue } // Check if the name matches the search pattern if (entry.name.toLowerCase().includes(patternLower)) { results.push(fullPath) } // Recursively search subdirectories if (entry.isDirectory()) { await search(fullPath) } } catch (error) { // Skip paths we can't access or validate continue } } } catch (error) { // Skip directories we can't read return } } await search(validPath) await logger.debug(`Search complete: ${parsed.data.pattern}`, { resultCount: results.length, }) endMetric() return { content: [ { type: 'text', text: results.length > 0 ? `Found ${results.length} matches:\n${results.join('\n')}` : 'No matches found', }, ], } } - src/index.ts:133-141 (schema)Zod schema defining the input arguments for the search_files tool: root path to search from, search pattern (case-insensitive substring), and optional array of exclude patterns.
const SearchFilesArgsSchema = z.object({ path: z.string().describe('Root path to start searching from'), pattern: z.string().describe('Pattern to match against filenames and directories'), excludePatterns: z .array(z.string()) .optional() .default([]) .describe('Patterns to exclude from search results'), }) - src/index.ts:307-314 (registration)Tool registration in the ListTools response, providing name, description, and input schema reference for search_files.
name: 'search_files', description: 'Recursively search for files and directories matching a pattern. ' + 'Searches through all subdirectories from the starting path. The search ' + 'is case-insensitive and matches partial names. Returns full paths to all ' + "matching items. Great for finding files when you don't know their exact location. " + 'Only searches within allowed directories.', inputSchema: zodToJsonSchema(SearchFilesArgsSchema) as ToolInput,