search_code_advanced
Search codebases for patterns using automatic tool selection with options for case sensitivity, context lines, file filters, fuzzy matching, and regex.
Instructions
Search for a code pattern in the project using an advanced, fast tool.
This tool automatically selects the best available command-line search tool
(like ugrep, ripgrep, ag, or grep) for maximum performance.
Args:
pattern: The search pattern. Can be literal text or regex (see regex parameter).
case_sensitive: Whether the search should be case-sensitive.
context_lines: Number of lines to show before and after the match.
file_pattern: A glob pattern to filter files to search in
(e.g., "*.py", "*.js", "test_*.py").
All search tools now handle glob patterns consistently:
- ugrep: Uses glob patterns (*.py, *.{js,ts})
- ripgrep: Uses glob patterns (*.py, *.{js,ts})
- ag (Silver Searcher): Automatically converts globs to regex patterns
- grep: Basic glob pattern matching
All common glob patterns like "*.py", "test_*.js", "src/*.ts" are supported.
fuzzy: If True, enables fuzzy/partial matching behavior varies by search tool:
- ugrep: Native fuzzy search with --fuzzy flag (true edit-distance fuzzy search)
- ripgrep, ag, grep, basic: Word boundary pattern matching (not true fuzzy search)
IMPORTANT: Only ugrep provides true fuzzy search. Other tools use word boundary
matching which allows partial matches at word boundaries.
For exact literal matches, set fuzzy=False (default and recommended).
regex: Controls regex pattern matching behavior:
- If True, enables regex pattern matching
- If False, forces literal string search
- If None (default), automatically detects regex patterns and enables regex for patterns like "ERROR|WARN"
The pattern will always be validated for safety to prevent ReDoS attacks.
Returns:
A dictionary containing the search results or an error message.Input Schema
TableJSON Schema
| Name | Required | Description | Default |
|---|---|---|---|
| pattern | Yes | ||
| case_sensitive | No | ||
| context_lines | No | ||
| file_pattern | No | ||
| fuzzy | No | ||
| regex | No |