search-codebase
Maps codebase structure and traces concepts to ensure sweeping changes across all occurrences.
Install
mkdir -p .claude/skills/search-codebase && curl -L -o skill.zip "https://agentskills.codes/api/skills/download/18224" && unzip -o skill.zip -d .claude/skills/search-codebase && rm skill.zipInstalls to .claude/skills/search-codebase
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.
Use this skill whenever you need to know where something lives in a codebase or what else a change touches — before any code change, when you're new to a repo, when a request names one screen and parallel ones may exist, or when a visible label or error must be traced to code. It owns three jobs: ORIENT (build the mental map from the repo layout and its enforced tooling — the configs are the conventions), FIND (trace a concept from user-visible vocabulary to i18n keys to symbol names to usages — what a thing is called and what it calls), and SWEEP (after changing one site, enumerate every other occurrence of the concept and change or rule out each — the request names one site; the task is the concept). Load it at Gate A of implement-feature, make-improvement, fix-bug, or implement-ui. Never change one copy of a duplicated concept without sweeping the rest. For facts outside the repo use deep-research.Key capabilities
- →Orient to a new codebase by reading layout and manifests
- →Trace concepts from user-visible vocabulary to code symbols
- →Search for localized UI elements using i18n keys
- →Sweep for all occurrences of a concept after a change
- →Identify blast radius of a change including importers, copies, and cross-cutting artifacts
How it works
The skill builds a mental map of the codebase, traces concepts from user-facing terms to code, and then enumerates all occurrences of a concept to ensure complete changes.
Inputs & outputs
When to use search-codebase
- →Find code location for a feature
- →Map codebase structure
- →Trace labels to source code
About search-codebase
Provides tools to navigate complex codebases. It identifies where concepts live, traces user-facing labels to source code, and ensures that modifications to duplicated code are applied comprehensively.
Use this skill whenever you need to know where something lives in a codebase or what else a change touches — before any code change, when you're new to a repo, when a request names one screen and parallel ones may exist, or when a visible label or error must be traced to code. It owns three jobs: OR
When not to use it
- →For facts outside the repository like documentation or web resources
- →When the user wants to change only one copy of a duplicated concept without sweeping the rest
- →When the user is already familiar with the codebase
Limitations
- →Does not search for facts outside the repository
- →Requires enumerating the sweep set before editing
- →A sweep ends only when the enumeration is exhausted
How it compares
This skill provides a structured methodology for understanding a codebase and ensuring changes are applied consistently across all relevant locations, unlike an unstructured search.
Compared to similar skills
search-codebase side by side with the closest alternatives in the catalog.
| Skill | Installs | Updated | Safety | Difficulty |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| search-codebase (this skill) | 0 | 2mo | No flags | Intermediate |
| architect-review | 109 | 4mo | No flags | Advanced |
| solid-principles | 57 | 10mo | No flags | Intermediate |
| codex | 32 | 3mo | Review | Advanced |
Try saying
Example prompts that trigger this skill in your AI assistant.
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