socraticode/skills/codebase-exploration/SKILL.md

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codebase-exploration

Explore and understand codebases using SocratiCode semantic search, dependency graphs, and context artifacts. Use when exploring code, understanding architecture, finding functions/types, analyzing dependencies, searching database schemas or API specs, or when socraticode/codebase_search tools are available. Activates when the user asks about code structure, wants to find where a feature lives, or needs to understand how code is organized.

SocratiCode Codebase Exploration

Use SocratiCode MCP tools to explore codebases efficiently. The core principle: search before reading — the index gives you a map of the codebase in milliseconds; raw file reading is expensive and context-consuming.

Workflow

1. Start most explorations with codebase_search

Hybrid semantic + keyword search (vector + BM25, RRF-fused) runs in a single call.

• Broad queries for orientation: "how is authentication handled", "database connection setup", "error handling patterns"
• Precise queries for symbol lookup: exact function names, constants, type names
• Prefer search results to infer which files to read — do not speculatively open files
• Use fileFilter to narrow to a specific file path, languageFilter for a specific language
• Adjust minScore (default 0.10) for precision vs recall — lower for more results, higher for stricter matching

When to use grep instead: If you already know the exact identifier, error string, or regex pattern, grep/ripgrep is faster and more precise — no semantic gap to bridge. Use codebase_search when exploring, asking conceptual questions, or when you don't know which files to look in.

2. Follow the graph before following imports

Use codebase_graph_query to see what a file imports and what depends on it before diving into its contents. This prevents unnecessary reading of transitive dependencies.

• codebase_graph_query — imports and dependents for any file (pass relative path)
• codebase_graph_stats — architecture overview: total files, edges, most connected files, orphans, language breakdown
• codebase_graph_circular — find circular dependencies (these cause subtle runtime bugs; check proactively when debugging unexpected behavior)
• codebase_graph_visualize — Mermaid diagram color-coded by language, circular deps highlighted in red

The graph is auto-built after indexing. Use codebase_graph_status to check if the graph is ready.

3. Read files only after narrowing via search

Once search results clearly point to 1-3 files, read only the relevant sections. Never read a file just to find out if it's relevant — search first.

A single codebase_search call returns ranked, deduplicated snippets from across the entire codebase in milliseconds. This gives you a broad map at negligible token cost — far cheaper than opening files speculatively.

4. Leverage context artifacts for non-code knowledge

Projects can define a .socraticodecontextartifacts.json config to expose database schemas, API specs, infrastructure configs, architecture docs, and other project knowledge that lives outside source code.

• codebase_context — list available artifacts (names, descriptions, paths, index status)
• codebase_context_search — semantic search across all artifacts (or filter with artifactName)
• Artifacts are auto-indexed on first search and auto-detect staleness

Run codebase_context early to see what's available. Use codebase_context_search before asking about database structure, API contracts, or infrastructure.

5. Check status if something seems wrong

• codebase_status — check index status, progress, watcher state, graph status
• If search returns no results, the project may not be indexed yet
• If the watcher is inactive, results may be stale — run codebase_update or start the watcher

6. Get an overview of all tools

• codebase_about — quick reference of all SocratiCode tools and a typical workflow

Goal → Tool Quick Reference

Goal	Tool
Understand what a codebase does / where a feature lives	codebase_search (broad query)
Find a specific function, constant, or type	codebase_search (exact name) or grep
Find exact error messages, log strings, or regex patterns	grep / ripgrep
See what a file imports or what depends on it	codebase_graph_query
Get architecture overview (files, edges, most connected)	codebase_graph_stats
Spot circular dependencies	codebase_graph_circular
Visualize module structure	codebase_graph_visualize
Check graph build status	codebase_graph_status
Verify index is up to date	codebase_status
Discover available schemas, specs, configs	codebase_context
Find database tables, API endpoints, infra configs	codebase_context_search
Quick overview of all tools	codebase_about

For full parameter details on every tool, see references/tool-reference.md.