ripgrep

name	ripgrep
description	Fast, recursive search tool for pattern matching in files with regex support, ignore handling, and glob filtering. Use when searching codebases for patterns, finding function definitions, filtering by file type, or performing find/replace operations. Triggers: "search for X in files", "find all occurrences of Y", "grep with glob patterns", "recursive search", "find using regex".

ripgrep (rg)

Fast recursive search tool that searches files line-by-line for patterns.

Basic Usage

rg <pattern> [path]        # Recursive search (default)
rg -F <literal> [path]     # Fixed string (no regex)
rg 'pattern' -g '*.rs'     # With glob filter

Key Features

Automatic Filtering (Default)

• Ignores .gitignore, .ignore, .rgignore patterns
• Skips hidden files/directories
• Skips binary files (files with NUL bytes)
• Doesn't follow symlinks

Override with:

--no-ignore          # Disable ignore filtering
--hidden -u          # Show hidden files (-u = --unrestricted)
-a --text            # Search binary files
-L --follow          # Follow symlinks
-uuu                 # Disable all filtering (3x unrestricted)

Manual Filtering: Globs

rg pattern -g '*.toml'           # Only .toml files
rg pattern -g '!*.toml'           # Exclude .toml files
rg pattern -g '*.rs' -g '!test*' # Combine filters

File Types

rg pattern --type rust           # -t<type> shorthand
rg pattern --type-not rust       # -T<type> exclude type
rg pattern --type-list            # List available types
rg --type-add 'web:*.{html,css,js}' -tweb pattern  # Custom type

Replacements

rg fast README.md --replace FAST           # -r shorthand
rg '^.*fast.*$' README.md -r FAST        # Replace entire line
rg 'fast\s+(\w+)' -r 'fast-$1'           # Capture groups

Configuration

Set RIPGREP_CONFIG_PATH env var. Each line is a flag:

--max-columns=150
--hidden
--smart-case

Common Options

Flag	Description
-i --ignore-case	Case insensitive search
-S --smart-case	Case insensitive unless pattern has uppercase
-w --word-regexp	Match whole words only
-c --count	Count matching lines
-C --context N	Show N lines around match
-U --multiline	Allow multiline matches
-M --max-columns N	Truncate long lines
-z --search-zip	Search compressed files
-l --files-with-matches	Print only filenames
-o --only-matching	Show only match, not full line
--debug	Show debug info (why files ignored, config loaded)

Preprocessor (Search Binary/Non-text)

# Create preprocessor script
cat preprocess
#!/bin/sh
exec pdftotext - -

# Use it
rg --pre ./preprocess 'pattern' file.pdf
rg --pre ./preprocess --pre-glob '*.pdf' 'pattern' .