Codebase Search Skill

SkillSearch

Preferred local codebase-understanding workflow for Pi and Codex. Start with codebase_context before shell search or broad reads, then use specialized semantic and graph tools.

Available today. Use it from your connected AI after setup.

Connect ahel once, and every AI you use reads what you have installed.

Then ask your AI: use the Codebase Search Skill skill

What this skill tells your AI

The instructions your AI receives, as published by helweg/open-codebase-index in skills/codebase-search/SKILL.md and read by ahel’s review.

Use this skill when you need local repository knowledge before web lookup.

Core workflow

  1. Run index_status when index readiness or freshness is unknown.
  2. Use codebase_context(query, ...) before shell search, grep, or broad file reads. Pass symbol for an authoritative definition or from + to for a dependency path.
  3. Use codebase_peek(query, ...) for specialized metadata-only conceptual lookup.
  4. Use codebase_search(query, ...) when you need full code context.
  5. Use implementation_lookup(query) for known-symbol definitions and call_graph / call_graph_path for execution flow.
  6. Use find_similar(code) for duplicate patterns and refactor planning.

If results are weak, run index_status (check readiness) and index_codebase.

Tool Priority

  • codebase_context as the preferred first repository tool and unified router.
  • codebase_peek for specialized discovery (fastest, cheap tokens).
  • codebase_search for exact implementation review.
  • find_similar for pattern matching and duplication.
  • call_graph and call_graph_path for execution flow.
  • index_codebase (force/estimate/verbose) for first-time or stale indexes.
  • index_status, index_health_check, index_metrics, index_logs for operational checks.

Suggested Commands

  1. codebase_peek("payment processing flow")
  2. codebase_search("payment processing flow")
  3. call_graph("chargeCard", "callees")
  4. find_similar("function validate(data)")
  5. implementation_lookup("validate")

Additional Notes

  • Use grep for exact identifiers and tiny, deterministic lookups.
  • Use websearch only when local tools return no results and docs are likely missing.
  • Prefer codebase_peek before codebase_search to avoid high token usage.

Signals

GitHub stars
190
Forks
29
Last commit
Sep 2026
Advanced
Catalog kind
skill
Gateway key
codebase-search-helweg
Source
github.com/helweg/open-codebase-index