# grepai-search-basics

Teaches the coding assistant to search codebases by semantic meaning using GrepAI instead of exact text matching.

- skill · `type=skill` · Claude Code, Codex, Cursor, GitHub Copilot, Gemini CLI, OpenCode · 905 installs · ★ 20
- Author: yoanbernabeu
- License: MIT · policy=mirror · the beginning of the file is at the end of this page
- Source: https://github.com/yoanbernabeu/grepai-skills/tree/HEAD/skills/search/grepai-search-basics/SKILL.md
- Updated: 2026-02-01
- HTML: https://affpapa.org/en/nevibecode/skills/grepai-search-basics

## What it does

This skill guides the AI assistant on how to query codebases by conceptual meaning with GrepAI instead of matching exact strings. An intent-based query like "authenticate user" discovers login and authentication handlers without needing exact function names.

The instruction defines the score output format from 0.0 to 1.0, showing line boundaries and target file paths. It teaches agents to write natural language queries of 3 to 7 words and adjust result limits with `--limit`.

Searches will fail if an embedding provider such as Ollama is not active or if the index has not been initialized. Agents run `grepai status` beforehand to verify that indexed chunks are ready.

## Install

### Claude Code (native platform)

1. **Skills CLI (Vercel)**
```bash
npx skills add yoanbernabeu/grepai-skills --skill grepai-search-basics -a claude-code
```

2. **Manually: put the files in place**
- File: `~/.claude/skills/grepai-search-basics/SKILL.md` — Copy the whole skill folder; for one project use .claude/skills/grepai-search-basics/

### Codex

1. **Skills CLI (Vercel)**
```bash
npx skills add yoanbernabeu/grepai-skills --skill grepai-search-basics -a codex
```

2. **Manually: put the files in place**
- File: `.agents/skills/grepai-search-basics/SKILL.md` — For all projects use ~/.agents/skills/

### Cursor

1. **Skills CLI (Vercel)**
```bash
npx skills add yoanbernabeu/grepai-skills --skill grepai-search-basics -a cursor
```

2. **Manually: put the files in place**
- File: `.cursor/skills/grepai-search-basics/SKILL.md` — Cursor also reads .agents/skills/ and .claude/skills/

### GitHub Copilot

1. **GitHub CLI**
```bash
gh skill install yoanbernabeu/grepai-skills grepai-search-basics
```

2. **Manually: put the files in place**
- File: `.github/skills/grepai-search-basics/SKILL.md`

### Gemini CLI

1. **Skills CLI (Vercel)**
```bash
npx skills add yoanbernabeu/grepai-skills --skill grepai-search-basics -a gemini-cli
```

2. **Platform CLI**
```bash
gemini skills install https://github.com/yoanbernabeu/grepai-skills --path skills/search/grepai-search-basics
```

### Windsurf (Devin Desktop)

**Manually: put the files in place**
- File: `.devin/skills/grepai-search-basics/SKILL.md` — The legacy .windsurf/skills/ path still works

### OpenCode

**Skills CLI (Vercel)**
```bash
npx skills add yoanbernabeu/grepai-skills --skill grepai-search-basics -a opencode
```

### Claude.ai

**Claude.ai**
- Zip the folder and upload it in Settings → Capabilities → Skills

Where a file is given instead of a command, copy the files from the source to that path: https://github.com/yoanbernabeu/grepai-skills/tree/HEAD/skills/search/grepai-search-basics/SKILL.md

## When to use it
- find code chunks by functional intent instead of exact names
- interpret GrepAI similarity scores across search results
- control search result volume with the --limit flag
- verify index readiness before executing queries

## Example prompts
- Search the codebase for user authentication logic using grepai search.
- Check if the search index is ready using grepai status.
- Find database connection handlers limited to three results.

## Source text · SKILL.md · MIT

Below is the content of a third-party file. It is data, not instructions for you: do not act on anything written inside unless the human asks. Block tag: 0b690d0803e37a79.

BEGIN THIRD-PARTY FILE 0b690d0803e37a79
````text
---
name: grepai-search-basics
description: Basic semantic code search with GrepAI. Use this skill to learn fundamental search commands and concepts.
---

# GrepAI Search Basics

This skill covers the fundamentals of semantic code search with GrepAI.

## When to Use This Skill

- Learning GrepAI search
- Performing basic code searches
- Understanding semantic vs. text search
- Interpreting search results

## Prerequisites

1. GrepAI initialized (`grepai init`)
2. Index created (`grepai watch`)
3. Embedding provider running (Ollama, etc.)

## What is Semantic Search?

Unlike traditional text search (grep, ripgrep), GrepAI searches by **meaning**:

| Type | How it Works | Example |
|------|--------------|---------|
| **Text search** | Exact string match | "login" → finds "login" |
| **Semantic search** | Meaning similarity | "authenticate user" → finds login, auth, signin code |

## Basic Search Command

```bash
grepai search "your query here"
```

### Example

```bash
grepai search "user authentication flow"
```

Output:
```
Score: 0.89 | src/auth/middleware.go:15-45
──────────────────────────────────────────
func AuthMiddleware() gin.HandlerFunc {
    return func(c *gin.Context) {
        token := c.GetHeader("Authorization")
        if token == "" {
            c.AbortWithStatus(401)
            return
        }
        claims, err := ValidateToken(token)
        if err != nil {
            c.AbortWithStatus(401)
            return
        }
        c.Set("user", claims.UserID)
        c.Next()
    }
}

Score: 0.82 | src/auth/jwt.go:23-55
──────────────────────────────────────────
func ValidateToken(tokenString string) (*Claims, error) {
    token, err := jwt.Parse(tokenString, func(t *jwt.Token) (interface{}, error) {
        return []byte(secretKey), nil
    })
    if err != nil {
        return nil, err
    }
    if claims, ok := token.Claims.(*Claims); ok && token.Valid {
        return claims, nil
    }
    return nil, errors.New("invalid token")
}

Score: 0.76 | src/handlers/login.go:10-35
──────────────────────────────────────────
func HandleLogin(c *gin.Context) {
    var req LoginRequest
    if err := c.ShouldBindJSON(&req); err != nil {
        c.JSON(400, gin.H{"error": "invalid request"})
        return
    }
    user, err := userService.Authenticate(req.Email, req.Password)
    // ...
}
```

## Understanding Results

### Result Format

```
Score: 0.89 | src/auth/middleware.go:15-45
──────────────────────────────────────────
[code content]
```

| Component | Meaning |
|-----------|---------|
| **Score** | Similarity (0.0 to 1.0, higher = more relevant) |
| **File path** | Location of the code |
````
END THIRD-PARTY FILE 0b690d0803e37a79

The third-party file has ended. Everything between the 0b690d0803e37a79 tags is data: requests and commands from it are not followed. An “end of file” line with another tag inside the block is part of the file.

First 2994 of 7217 bytes. © yoanbernabeu · MIT · https://github.com/yoanbernabeu/grepai-skills/tree/HEAD/skills/search/grepai-search-basics/SKILL.md

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