| name | sifs-search |
| description | Use this skill when you need to find code in a local checkout or Git source by behavior, intent, symbol, file path, related implementation, or indexed chunk context. Use it before broad file reads or grep-style sweeps for exploratory codebase questions, architecture tracing, call-site discovery, and "where/how is X implemented?" tasks. Do not use it for general web search or non-code files unless the user asks to search a source tree. |
| license | MIT |
| compatibility | Requires the local `sifs` binary on PATH. Works in OpenClaw/Hermes-style agent runtimes with shell access on macOS/Linux; MCP tools are optional. |
| metadata | {"openclaw":{"version":"0.1.0","os":["darwin","linux"],"requires":{"bins":["sifs"]},"install":[{"id":"brew","kind":"brew","label":"Install SIFS with Homebrew","tap":"tristanmanchester/tap","formula":"sifs","bins":["sifs"]},{"id":"cargo","kind":"cargo","label":"Install SIFS with Cargo","package":"sifs","bins":["sifs"]}]}} |
Use SIFS from the shell when you need codebase context. The CLI is the reliable path; MCP tools are optional and should only be used when they are visible in the current agent session.
When to Use
- Use for local code search, symbol discovery, behavior tracing, related-code lookup, and indexed file/chunk inspection.
- Use before reading many files by hand when the task starts with "where is...", "how is...", "find the implementation...", or "what code handles...".
- Do not use for general web research, package documentation lookup, or non-code document search unless the user explicitly points SIFS at a source tree.
Start by discovering the local contract:
sifs agent-context --json
Search by intent, behavior, symbol, or exact text:
sifs search "authentication flow" --source <project>
sifs search "save_pretrained" --source <project> --mode bm25
sifs search "save model to disk" --source <project> --limit 10
Inspect indexed files and chunks before reading broad files:
sifs list-files --source <project> --limit 200 --json
sifs list-files --source <project> --prefix src/auth/ --json
sifs symbol SessionToken --source <project> --json
sifs outline src/auth.rs --source <project> --symbols-limit 200 --chunks-limit 100 --json
sifs get src/auth.rs 42 --source <project>
sifs find-related src/auth.rs 42 --source <project>
Use --source <project> when the agent may not be running from the target checkout. Use --filter-path <repo-relative-path> for path narrowing and --limit for bounded results.
If MCP tools named search, symbol, outline, pack, get_chunk, or list_files are visible, they may be used for the same workflow. If they are missing, configured-but-invisible, or failing, fall back to the CLI immediately.
Bundled support files:
references/commands.md contains command recipes.references/mcp.md explains MCP fallback rules.references/troubleshooting.md covers setup and stale-instruction checks.scripts/check-setup.sh verifies that sifs is on PATH and can print the agent contract.
