Provides metadata analysis for files, including size, line counts, and content search, without changing the file contents.

Install

mkdir -p .claude/skills/file-operations && curl -L -o skill.zip "https://agentskills.codes/api/skills/download/5797" && unzip -o skill.zip -d .claude/skills/file-operations && rm skill.zip

Installs to .claude/skills/file-operations

Activation

This is the description your AI agent reads to decide when to run this skill — the better it matches your request, the more reliably it fires.

Analyze files and get detailed metadata including size, line counts, modification times, and content statistics. Use when users request file information, statistics, or analysis without modifying files.
202 chars✓ has a “when” trigger
Beginner

Key capabilities

  • Retrieve file metadata including size and modification time
  • Calculate line counts for individual files or directories
  • Search file content using pattern matching
  • Identify specific code tags like TODO or FIXME
  • List files matching glob patterns

How it works

It utilizes standard system utilities like stat, wc, find, and grep to extract information from the file system without altering any files.

Inputs & outputs

You give it
file path or directory path
You get back
file metadata, line counts, or search results

When to use file-operations

  • Compare file sizes between versions
  • Count total lines of code in a directory
  • Identify TODO and FIXME tags in the codebase
  • Generate file statistics for project auditing

About this skill

File Operations

Analyze files and retrieve metadata using Claude's native tools without modifying files.

When to Use

  • "analyze [file]"
  • "get file info for [file]"
  • "how many lines in [file]"
  • "compare [file1] and [file2]"
  • "file statistics"

Core Operations

File Size & Metadata

stat -f "%z bytes, modified %Sm" [file_path]  # Single file
ls -lh [directory]                             # Multiple files
du -h [file_path]                              # Human-readable size

Line Counts

wc -l [file_path]                              # Single file
wc -l [file1] [file2]                          # Multiple files
find [dir] -name "*.py" | xargs wc -l          # Directory total

Content Analysis

Use Read to analyze structure, then count functions/classes/imports.

Pattern Search

Grep(pattern="^def ", output_mode="count", path="src/")        # Count functions
Grep(pattern="TODO|FIXME", output_mode="content", -n=true)    # Find TODOs
Grep(pattern="^import ", output_mode="count")                 # Count imports

Find Files

Glob(pattern="**/*.py")

Workflow Examples

Comprehensive File Analysis

  1. Get size/mod time: stat -f "%z bytes, modified %Sm" file.py
  2. Count lines: wc -l file.py
  3. Read file: Read(file_path="file.py")
  4. Count functions: Grep(pattern="^def ", output_mode="count")
  5. Count classes: Grep(pattern="^class ", output_mode="count")

Compare File Sizes

  1. Find files: Glob(pattern="src/**/*.py")
  2. Get sizes: ls -lh src/**/*.py
  3. Total size: du -sh src/*.py

Code Quality Metrics

  1. Total lines: find . -name "*.py" | xargs wc -l
  2. Test files: find . -name "test_*.py" | wc -l
  3. TODOs: Grep(pattern="TODO|FIXME|HACK", output_mode="count")

Find Largest Files

find . -type f -not -path "./node_modules/*" -exec du -h {} + | sort -rh | head -20

Best Practices

  • Non-destructive: Use Read/stat/wc, never modify
  • Efficient: Read small files fully, use Grep for large files
  • Context-aware: Compare to project averages, suggest optimizations

Integration

Works with:

  • code-auditor: Comprehensive analysis
  • code-transfer: After identifying large files
  • codebase-documenter: Understanding file purposes

When not to use it

  • Modifying file contents
  • Performing destructive file operations

Limitations

  • Restricted to read-only operations

How it compares

It automates the execution of multiple command-line tools to provide structured insights rather than requiring manual command entry.

Compared to similar skills

file-operations side by side with the closest alternatives in the catalog.

SkillInstallsUpdatedSafetyDifficulty
file-operations (this skill)19moReviewBeginner
retrospect-external-babysitter-run04moReviewAdvanced
conversation-analyzer89moReviewIntermediate
session-logs82moReviewIntermediate

Try saying

Example prompts that trigger this skill in your AI assistant.

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