search_code
Find C/C++ symbols (functions, classes, enums) by name using full-text search, with optional kind filters and automatic query broadening for better results.
Instructions
Find C/C++ symbols by name — searches function/class/enum NAMES.
Searches symbol names, qualified names, signatures, docstrings, and
pre-computed name tokens (CamelCase/snake_case split). Does NOT search
function bodies — for patterns in code like .attach(,
interrupt handler registrations, callback attachments use search_bodies instead.
Use when you know the concept but not the exact name
("interrupt handler", "modem init"). Prefer lookup_symbol
when you already know the exact or prefix name.
Results include names, file locations, signatures, and docstrings — the metadata about each symbol, not the symbol's implementation code.
FTS5 syntax:
init*matches init, init_uart, initialize (trailing wildcard)"spi init"matches the exact phrase "spi init"Do NOT use underscore in queries —
modem_initis split intomodem AND init. Writemodem initinstead.
Progressive relaxation: when the initial FTS5 search returns nothing, the tool automatically broadens the search in up to six steps:
FTS5 with kind filter — the original query with the user-provided
kindconstraint.FTS5 without kind filter — drops the
kindconstraint (users often guess the wrong kind for a symbol).name_tokens substring match — searches the pre-computed CamelCase/ snake_case token column (e.g.
BuildTypeis indexed as"build type"). Requires at least N‑1 of N query terms to match.Single-term docstring LIKE — when only one query term was given and the token-based steps found nothing, does a raw LIKE over the docstring column to catch terms the FTS5 tokeniser may have missed.
Individual term FTS5 — searches each query word separately and merges the results.
Macro FTS5 fallback — searches the
macros_ftstable for matching#definenames and values (kind="macro",_fallback="macros_fts").
Results from fallback steps carry _fallback indicating which method
succeeded ("fts5", "name_tokens_like", "docstring_like",
"individual_terms", "macros_fts").
Kind filter values: function, method, constructor,
destructor, class, struct, union, enum, enum_constant,
typedef, varglobal, varlocal, variable, field,
namespace.
Each result may include summary, inputs, outputs
when LLM analysis has been generated (fw-context index --analyze).
These provide structured descriptions: what the symbol does, what
parameters/data it receives, and what it returns/produces.
Read-only. No side effects.
Args: query: FTS5 search terms. Keep queries short — 1–3 words. project_root: Project root directory. Auto-detected from CWD if omitted. kind: Optional filter to return only symbols of this kind. limit: Maximum results (default 20, max 100). project_only: When True, exclude vendor SDK directories and return only application code. Default False.
Returns:
list of dicts, each with: name, qualified_name, kind, file, line,
is_definition, signature, docstring, is_template, is_virtual,
is_pure_virtual. Enum constants include enum_value with the
integer value. May also include template_usr, parent_usr,
summary, inputs, outputs when available. Fallback
results include _fallback with the method name.
Input Schema
| Name | Required | Description | Default |
|---|---|---|---|
| kind | No | Optional kind filter: function, method, constructor, destructor, class, struct, union, enum, enum_constant, typedef, varglobal, varlocal, variable, field, namespace. | |
| image | No | Sysbuild image name within the variant (multi-project). Omit for all images of the variant. | |
| limit | No | Maximum results (default 20, max 100). | |
| query | Yes | FTS5 search terms. 1-3 words, omit underscores. E.g. 'modem init' not 'modem_init'. Supports trailing wildcard 'modem*'. | |
| variant | No | Build variant name (multi-project). Omit to use default_variant or fail-closed. Use '*' for all variants. | |
| project_only | No | Exclude vendor SDK code. When True, only application code. Default False. | |
| project_root | No | Project root. Auto-detected if omitted. |
Output Schema
| Name | Required | Description | Default |
|---|---|---|---|
| result | Yes |