Grep

Search file contents by regex or literal text; returns matching file paths sorted by modification time (max 100); respects .gitignore. Use glob to filter by filename, not contents.

<usage> - Provide regex pattern to search within file contents - Set literal_text=true for exact text with special characters (recommended for non-regex users) - Optional starting directory (defaults to current working directory) - Optional include pattern to filter which files to search - Results sorted with most recently modified files first </usage>

<regex_syntax> When literal_text=false (supports standard regex):

• 'function' searches for literal text "function"
• 'log..*Error' finds text starting with "log." and ending with "Error"
• 'import\s+.*\s+from' finds import statements in JavaScript/TypeScript </regex_syntax>

<include_patterns>

• '*.js' - Only search JavaScript files
• '*.{ts,tsx}' - Only search TypeScript files
• '*.go' - Only search Go files </include_patterns>

<limitations> - Results limited to 100 files (newest first) - Performance depends on number of files searched - Very large binary files may be skipped - Hidden files (starting with '.') skipped </limitations>

<ignore_support>

• Respects .gitignore patterns to skip ignored files/directories
• Respects .crushignore patterns for additional ignore rules
• Both ignore files auto-detected in search root directory </ignore_support>

<cross_platform>

• Uses ripgrep (rg) if available for better performance
• Falls back to Go implementation if ripgrep unavailable
• File paths normalized automatically for compatibility </cross_platform>

<tips> - For faster searches: use Glob to find relevant files first, then Grep - For iterative exploration requiring multiple searches, consider Agent tool - Check if results truncated and refine search pattern if needed - Use literal_text=true for exact text with special characters (dots, parentheses, etc.) </tips>