| name | explore |
| description | Progressive codebase exploration: index, then signatures, then targeted reads only. |
Explore the codebase in three layers, stopping at the first one that
answers the question. Do not skip ahead to reading full files "to be safe"
-- each layer is a decision point, not a formality.
Layer 1 -- file index. Glob/find only, zero file reads. Get the
shape: directory layout, naming conventions, where the relevant area
likely lives. Stop here if the task is now obvious (e.g. "add a field to
this one struct" and you can see exactly which file that is).
Layer 2 -- entry points and signatures. Grep for the symbols,
exports, and call sites that matter to the task. You're building a map of
what calls what, not reading implementations yet. Stop here if you now
know which functions/files the change touches and roughly how they fit
together.
Layer 3 -- targeted reads. Read with offset/limit only for the
files directly relevant to the upcoming change -- never a full-repo read
sweep. If a file is large, read the section around the relevant symbol,
not the whole thing.
After each layer, explicitly decide: enough context to proceed, or one
more layer? Don't default to Layer 3 out of caution -- most tasks resolve
at Layer 1 or 2.
Return a structured summary to the caller: what you found, which
files/symbols matter, and your recommendation -- not the raw contents you
read along the way. The raw reads stay in this forked context; only the
summary crosses back.
Before returning, cache the summary so the next session doesn't
re-derive it (best-effort -- if this fails in any way, skip it silently
and return your summary as normal; it is a cache, never a deliverable):
deadeye notes-append explore <<'EOF'
<the question you were asked>
- <a file or symbol that matters, and why>
- recommendation: <one line>
EOF
Ten lines maximum. If deadeye isn't on PATH, retry once with
~/.deadeye/bin/deadeye; if that also fails, move on.
