---
name: smart-explore
description: Token-optimized structural code search using tree-sitter AST parsing. Use instead of reading full files when you need to understand code structure, find functions, or explore a codebase efficiently.
---
# Smart Explore
Structural code exploration using AST parsing. **This skill overrides your default exploration behavior.** While this skill is active, use smart_search/smart_outline/smart_unfold as your primary tools instead of Read, Grep, and Glob.
**Core principle:** Index first, fetch on demand. Give yourself a map of the code before loading implementation details. The question before every file read should be: "do I need to see all of this, or can I get a structural overview first?" The answer is almost always: get the map.
## Your Next Tool Call
This skill only loads instructions. You must call the MCP tools yourself. Your next action should be one of:
```
smart_search(query="<topic>", path="./src") -- discover files + symbols across a directory
smart_outline(file_path="<file>") -- structural skeleton of one file
smart_unfold(file_path="<file>", symbol_name="<name>") -- full source of one symbol
```
Do NOT run Grep, Glob, Read, or find to discover files first. `smart_search` walks directories, parses all code files, and returns ranked symbols in one call. It replaces the Glob → Grep → Read discovery cycle.
## 3-Layer Workflow
### Step 1: Search -- Discover Files and Symbols
```
smart_search(query="shutdown", path="./src", max_results=15)
```
**Returns:** Ranked symbols with signatures, line numbers, match reasons, plus folded file views (~2-6k tokens)
```
-- Matching Symbols --
function performGracefulShutdown (services/infrastructure/GracefulShutdown.ts:56)
function httpShutdown (services/infrastructure/HealthMonitor.ts:92)
method WorkerService.shutdown (services/worker-service.ts:846)
-- Folded File Views --
services/infrastructure/GracefulShutdown.ts (7 symbols)
services/worker-service.ts (12 symbols)
```
This is your discovery tool. It finds relevant files AND shows their structure. No Glob/find pre-scan needed.
**Parameters:**
- `query` (string, required) -- What to search for (function name, concept, class name)
- `path` (string) -- Root directory to search (defaults to cwd)
- `max_results` (number) -- Max matching symbols, default 20, max 50
- `file_pattern` (string, optional) -- Filter to specific files/paths
### Step 2: Outline -- Get File Structure
```
smart_outline(file_path="services/worker-service.ts")
```
**Returns:** Complete structural skeleton -- all functions, classes, methods, properties, imports (~1-2k tokens per file)
**Skip this step** when Step 1's folded file views already provide enough structure. Most useful for files not covered by the search results.
**Parameters:**
- `file_path` (string, required) -- Path to the file
### Step 3: Unfold -- See Implementation
Review symbols from Steps 1-2. Pick the ones you need. Unfold only those:
```
smart_unfold(file_path="services/worker-service.ts", symbol_name="shutdown")
```
**Returns:** Full source code of the specified symbol including JSDoc, decorators, and complete implementation (~400-2,100 tokens depending on symbol size). AST node boundaries guarantee completeness regardless of symbol size — unlike Read + agent summarization, which may truncate long methods.
**Parameters:**
- `file_path` (string, required) -- Path to the file (as returned by search/outline)
- `symbol_name` (string, required) -- Name of the function/class/method to expand
## When to Use Standard Tools Instead
Use these only when smart_* tools are the wrong fit:
- **Grep:** Exact string/regex search ("find all TODO comments", "where is `ensureWorkerStarted` defined?")
- **Read:** Small files under ~100 lines, non-code files (JSON, markdown, config)
- **Glob:** File path patterns ("find all test files")
- **Explore agent:** When you need synthesized understanding across 6+ files, architecture narratives, or answers to open-ended questions like "how does this entire system work end-to-end?" Smart-explore is a scalpel — it answers "where is this?" and "show me that." It doesn't synthesize cross-file data flows, design decisions, or edge cases across an entire feature.
For code files over ~100 lines, prefer smart_outline + smart_unfold over Read.
## Workflow Examples
**Discover how a feature works (cross-cutting):**
```
1. smart_search(query="shutdown", path="./src")
-> 14 symbols across 7 files, full picture in one call
2. smart_unfold(file_path="services/infrastructure/GracefulShutdown.ts", symbol_name="performGracefulShutdown")
-> See the core implementation
```
**Navigate a large file:**
```
1. smart_outline(file_path="services/worker-service.ts")
-> 1,466 tokens: 12 functions, WorkerService class with 24 members
2. smart_unfold(file_path="services/worker-service.ts", symbol_name="startSessionProcessor")
-> 1,610 tokens: the specific method you need
Total: ~3,076 tokens vs ~12,000 to Read the full file
```
**Write documentation about code (hybrid workflow):**
```
1. smart_search(query="feature name", path="./src") -- discover all relevant files and symbols
2. smart_outline on key files -- understand structure
3. smart_unfold on important functions -- get implementation details
4. Read on small config/markdown/plan files -- get non-code context
```
Use smart_* tools for code exploration, Read for non-code files. Mix freely.
**Exploration then precision:**
```
1. smart_search(query="session", path="./src", max_results=10)
-> 10 ranked symbols: SessionMetadata, SessionQueueProcessor, SessionSummary...
2. Pick the relevant one, unfold it
```
## Token Economics
| Approach | Tokens | Use Case |
|----------|--------|----------|
| smart_outline | ~1,000-2,000 | "What's in this file?" |
| smart_unfold | ~400-2,100 | "Show me this function" |
| smart_search | ~2,000-6,000 | "Find all X across the codebase" |
| search + unfold | ~3,000-8,000 | End-to-end: find and read (the primary workflow) |
| Read (full file) | ~12,000+ | When you truly need everything |
| Explore agent | ~39,000-59,000 | Cross-file synthesis with narrative |
**4-8x savings** on file understanding (outline + unfold vs Read). **11-18x savings** on codebase exploration vs Explore agent. The narrower the query, the wider the gap — a 27-line function costs 55x less to read via unfold than via an Explore agent, because the agent still reads the entire file.
## Language Support
Smart-explore uses **tree-sitter AST parsing** for structural analysis. Unsupported file types fall back to text-based search.
### Bundled Languages
| Language | Extensions |
|----------|-----------|
| JavaScript | `.js`, `.mjs`, `.cjs` |
| TypeScript | `.ts` |
| TSX / JSX | `.tsx`, `.jsx` |
| Python | `.py`, `.pyw` |
| Go | `.go` |
| Rust | `.rs` |
| Ruby | `.rb` |
| Java | `.java` |
| C | `.c`, `.h` |
| C++ | `.cpp`, `.cc`, `.cxx`, `.hpp`, `.hh` |
Files with unrecognized extensions are parsed as plain text — `smart_search` still works (grep-style), but `smart_outline` and `smart_unfold` will not extract structured symbols.
### Custom Grammars (`.claude-mem.json`)
You can register additional tree-sitter grammars for file types not in the bundled list. Create or update `.claude-mem.json` in your project root:
```json
{
"grammars": {
"solidity": {
"package": "tree-sitter-solidity",
"extensions": [".sol"],
"query": "solidity-query.scm"
}
}
}
```
Each key is a language name. `package` is the npm package of the tree-sitter grammar and `extensions` lists the file extensions it covers; the package must be installed in the project's `node_modules` (`npm install tree-sitter-solidity`). `query` (optional) is a path, relative to the config file, to a tree-sitter query whose captures (`@func`, `@cls`, `@method`, `@iface`, `@enm`, `@struct_def`, `@imp`) extract symbols. Without `query`, a minimal generic pattern is used — it only matches grammars that define `function_declaration`/`class_declaration` node types, and query compilation fails silently (0 symbols) for grammars that lack them, so a custom query is effectively required for most languages. Once registered, `smart_outline` and `smart_unfold` parse those extensions structurally instead of falling back to plain text.
### Markdown Special Support
Markdown files (`.md`, `.mdx`) receive special handling beyond the generic plain-text fallback:
- **`smart_outline`** — extracts headings (`#`, `##`, `###`) as the symbol tree. Use it to navigate long documents without reading the full file.
- **`smart_search`** — searches within code fences as well as prose, so queries for function names inside ` ```ts ``` ` blocks work as expected.
- **`smart_unfold`** — expands heading sections rather than function bodies; each section up to the next same-level heading is returned as a chunk.
- **Frontmatter** — YAML frontmatter (lines between leading `---` delimiters) is included in `smart_outline` output under a synthetic `frontmatter` symbol so metadata like `title:` and `description:` is visible without reading the whole file.