| name | windows-safe-grep |
| description | Use when grep/ripgrep fails on Windows due to paths with backslash-space sequences creating malformed paths like 'nul' from \n+ul |
Windows-Safe Grep Skill
Problem
On Windows, paths containing backslash-space sequences (e.g., D:\Projects\Vibe Code\isometricid) can cause ripgrep to fail because:
- The
\n in isometricid is interpreted as a newline character
- Combined with the following
ul, this creates a reference to the reserved Windows device name nul
- Error:
rg: D:\Projects\Vibe Code\isometricid\nul: Incorrect function. (os error 1)
Solution
Use bash commands with proper path quoting to work around this Windows-specific issue:
Safe Grep Command Pattern
rg --fixed-strings "SEARCH_TERM" "/d/Projects/Vibe Code/isometricid"
Or use forward slashes and proper quoting:
rg --fixed-strings "SEARCH_TERM" "$(cygpath -u "D:\Projects\Vibe Code\isometricid")"
Alternative: Use find + grep
find "/d/Projects/Vibe Code/isometricid" -type f \( -name "*.ts" -o -name "*.js" -o -name "*.tsx" -o -name "*.jsx" \) -exec grep -H --line-number "SEARCH_TERM" {} \;
Usage
When grep fails with "Incorrect function (os error 1)" on Windows:
- Use this skill
- Replace the path with forward slashes:
D:\Projects\Vibe Code\isometricid → /d/Projects/Vibe Code/isometricid
- Or use the bash command pattern with proper quoting
Example
rg --fixed-strings "polar_product_id" "/d/Projects/Vibe Code/isometricid/src"
