| name | ade-search |
| description | Use this skill when an agent needs to search across everything in ADE — chat transcripts, terminal scrollback, CLI sessions, PRs, commits, branches, lanes, files, Linear issues, proof artifacts — via the `ade search` CLI, instead of grepping .ade/ internals or asking the user where something is. |
ADE search
What it is
ade search queries one deterministic full-text index that ADE maintains over
everything it knows about the project: chat transcripts, terminal/CLI-session
scrollback, PRs, commits, branches, lanes, workspace files, Linear issues, and
proof artifacts. It is not a grep over .ade/ — the index is built and kept
fresh by the runtime, and query-time work is delegated to the same search
service the desktop command palette and TUI palette use. Every hit carries a
deep link back to the exact ADE surface.
Use it instead of poking at .ade/ade.db, replaying git log, or asking the
user "which chat was that in". It answers "where did this happen in ADE" across
kinds in one call.
Command forms
ade search "<query>"
ade search "<query>" --text
ade search "<query>" --kind chat,terminal
ade search "<query>" --lane fix-login
ade search "<query>" --limit 20
ade search "<query>" --cursor <nextCursor>
ade search --status --text
ade search --rebuild --text
Query syntax
The query string is passed through to the index. It supports:
| Form | Meaning | Example |
|---|
| bare terms | AND-ed together | ade search "retry backoff" |
"quoted phrase" | exact adjacent phrase | ade search '"connection refused"' |
kind:<kind> | restrict to a kind inline | ade search "kind:pr merge queue" |
lane:<name> | restrict to a lane inline | ade search "lane:fix-login timeout" |
session:<id> | restrict to one session | ade search "session:abc123 panic" |
since:<date> | recency floor (ISO date) | ade search "since:2026-06-01 crash" |
Inline kind: / lane: filters and the --kind / --lane flags can be mixed;
the flags are the scriptable form and validate their input.
Kind values: lane, chat, terminal, pr, commit, branch, file,
linear, artifact. --kind takes a comma-separated list and rejects unknown
kinds with a usage error (exit 2).
Result kinds and where they deep-link
| kind | deep-links to |
|---|
chat | the Work chat session, scrolled to the matching message |
terminal | the terminal/CLI session, at the matching scrollback offset |
pr | the PR detail tab |
commit | the commit in the lane's history |
branch | the branch (find-or-offer-to-create lane) |
lane | the lane |
file | the workspace file |
linear | the Linear pane for the issue |
artifact | the proof/artifact in the proof drawer |
Each result also carries laneId/laneName, sessionId, and updatedAt; the
deepLink is an ade://… URL you can hand to ade open.
Output modes
--json (default): the full SearchQueryResult — results[] (each with
kind, id, title, snippet, matchRanges, laneId, laneName,
sessionId, deepLink, updatedAt), totalByKind, and nextCursor. Use
this when you need the deep link or want to page.--text: aligned KIND TITLE SNIPPET ID rows, then a
N results (chat 3, terminal 2, …) summary from totalByKind, and a
more: --cursor <value> line when another page exists. Use this for a quick
human-readable scan.
Exit codes are script-friendly: 0 when the query matched at least one result,
1 when it matched nothing (so ade search "x" >/dev/null && … works), and 2
on a usage error such as an unknown --kind.
When to use which
- "Which chat discussed X?" →
ade search "X" --kind chat --text, then
ade open <deepLink> (or read the session with ade chat read).
- "Which terminal ran the failing command?" →
ade search "<command or error>" --kind terminal --text; the result offset
drops you at the failure in scrollback.
- "Find the PR discussing Y." →
ade search "Y" --kind pr --text.
- "Where in this lane did we touch Z?" →
ade search "Z" --lane <lane> --text across files, commits, and chats.
- Index looks stale or empty →
ade search --status --text to see
docCount, per-kind counts, and backfillComplete; rebuild with
ade search --rebuild (CTO-only) only if backfill is genuinely broken.
Reach for ade search before grepping .ade/ internals or asking the user to
locate something — it is the one index that spans every ADE kind.
