ripgrep

name	ripgrep
description	Use ripgrep (rg) for fast codebase search, symbol lookup, reference discovery, and project analysis.

ripgrep

Use rg as the default search tool for source code.

When to Use

Use rg whenever you need to:

• Find files.
• Locate symbols.
• Search code references.
• Search configuration values.
• Find environment variables.
• Analyze project structure.
• Estimate the impact of code changes.

Prefer rg over grep, find | grep, or other recursive search tools.

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Search Rules

Prefer precise searches

Search for the exact identifier whenever possible.

Preferred:

rg -n "UserService"

Avoid unnecessarily broad patterns:

rg ".*UserService.*"

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Limit the search scope

When the target location is known, search only the relevant directory.

Example:

rg -n "UserService" src/

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Filter by file type

Restrict the search to relevant source files whenever possible.

Examples:

rg -n "UserService" -t ts

rg -n "UserService" -t js

rg -n "UserService" -t py

Avoid scanning unrelated files.

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Respect ignore files

By default, respect:

• .gitignore
• .ignore
• .rgignore

Do not use:

rg -uuu

unless hidden, generated, or ignored files are explicitly required.

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Common Operations

Find files:

rg --files

Find definitions:

rg -n "class User"

rg -n "function login"

Find references:

rg -n "UserService"

Find configuration:

rg -n "API_URL"

rg -n "TOKEN"

Find TODOs:

rg -n "TODO|FIXME"

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Advanced Search

Use PCRE (-P) only when advanced regular expressions are required.

Use multiline mode (-U) only for true multiline searches.

Avoid enabling either option by default.

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Search Workflow

When investigating existing code:

1. Find the definition.
2. Find all references.
3. Find related tests.
4. Evaluate the impact before making changes.

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Best Practices

ALWAYS:

• Use rg -n to include line numbers.
• Keep the search scope as small as possible.
• Prefer exact identifiers over broad patterns.
• Narrow directories before narrowing file types.

NEVER:

• Scan the entire filesystem.
• Perform unnecessarily broad recursive searches.
• Use complex regular expressions when a simple search is sufficient.
• Disable ignore rules unless explicitly necessary.

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Summary

When searching a codebase:

• ALWAYS use rg.
• ALWAYS include line numbers.
• ALWAYS minimize the search scope.
• ALWAYS respect ignore files.
• NEVER perform unnecessarily broad searches.
• NEVER use grep -r when rg is available.