windows-safe-grep

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:

1. Use this skill
2. Replace the path with forward slashes: D:\Projects\Vibe Code\isometricid → /d/Projects/Vibe Code/isometricid
3. Or use the bash command pattern with proper quoting

Example

rg --fixed-strings "polar_product_id" "/d/Projects/Vibe Code/isometricid/src"