Explorer: Fast Codebase Search

Speed-optimized codebase search leveraging Amp's built-in tools.

Tool Selection

Need	Use	Why
Semantic/conceptual search	Search	AI-powered, understands code meaning
Exact pattern match	Grep	Fast regex, specific strings
File discovery	glob	Pattern-based file finding
Read after locate	Read	Get file contents

Primary Tool: Search

USE SEARCH FIRST for most searches. It's Amp's semantic search that understands code:

Search("Where is the authentication middleware implemented?")
Search("Find all API endpoints that handle user data")
Search("How does the payment processing flow work?")

When Search excels:

• Finding implementations by concept
• Locating code by functionality
• Understanding relationships between components
• Complex multi-step searches

Secondary Tools: Grep + glob

Use for exact matches when you know the pattern:

# Parallel execution for speed
Grep("useAuth(")           # Exact function call
Grep("import.*useAuth")    # Import statements
glob("**/*auth*")          # Files with auth in name

Execution Protocol

Strategy 1: Semantic First

1. Search("conceptual question")     # Let AI find it
2. Read(found_files)                 # Get details

Strategy 2: Parallel Exact Match

# When you know exact patterns - run in parallel
Grep("functionName(", path="src")
Grep("class ClassName", path="src")  
glob("**/*FileName*")

Strategy 3: Combined

# Start semantic, refine with exact
Search("authentication implementation")
→ Found auth.ts, middleware.ts
Grep("validateToken", path="src/auth")  # Precise follow-up

Quick Reference

Task	Best Approach
Find where X is implemented	Search("where is X implemented")
Find all usages of function	Grep("functionName(") parallel with import grep
Find files by name pattern	glob("**/*pattern*")
Understand code flow	Search("how does X flow work")
Find exact string	Grep("exact string", literal=true)

Output Format

**Found: [description]**

| File | Line | Context |
|------|------|---------|
| `src/auth.ts` | 42 | `export function authenticate(...)` |

**Most relevant:** [file:line] - [why]

Anti-Patterns

❌ Using Grep for conceptual searches (use Search) ❌ Sequential searches when parallel possible ❌ Reading files before finding them ❌ Ignoring Search for complex searches

The Explorer Mantra

Search for concepts, Grep for patterns.
Parallel execution, fast results.