glob_search

The glob_search tool finds files in your project using glob patterns. It’s useful for discovering files, understanding project structure, and locating specific file types.

Description

Search for files matching a glob pattern. Use patterns like **/*.rs to find all Rust files, src/*.py for Python files in src directory, etc.

Parameters

Parameter	Type	Required	Description
pattern	string	Yes	The glob pattern to match (e.g., **/*.rs)
base_path	string	No	Base directory to search from (default: .)
max_results	integer	No	Maximum results to return (default: 100)

Examples

Find All Files of a Type

you: What Rust files are in this project?

ai: I'll search for all .rs files.

[tool: glob_search]
  pattern: "**/*.rs"

Found 8 files:
src/main.rs
src/lib.rs
src/config.rs
src/error.rs
src/conversation.rs
src/api/mod.rs
src/api/client.rs
src/api/types.rs

Search in Specific Directory

you: What's in the tests folder?

ai: I'll list all files in the tests directory.

[tool: glob_search]
  pattern: "tests/**/*"

Found 4 files:
tests/integration_test.rs
tests/fixtures/config.toml
tests/fixtures/sample.txt
tests/fixtures/expected.json

Find Configuration Files

you: Find all TOML configuration files

ai: I'll search for .toml files.

[tool: glob_search]
  pattern: "**/*.toml"

Found 3 files:
Cargo.toml
config.toml
tests/fixtures/config.toml

With Base Path

you: Find JavaScript files in the frontend directory

ai: I'll search within the frontend folder.

[tool: glob_search]
  pattern: "**/*.js"
  base_path: "frontend"

Found 12 files:
frontend/src/index.js
frontend/src/App.js
frontend/src/utils/helpers.js
...

Glob Pattern Syntax

Basic Patterns

Pattern	Matches
*	Any characters in a single path segment
**	Any characters across path segments
?	Any single character
[abc]	Any character in brackets
[!abc]	Any character not in brackets

Examples

Pattern	Matches	Doesn’t Match
*.rs	main.rs, lib.rs	src/main.rs
**/*.rs	main.rs, src/main.rs, src/api/mod.rs	main.txt
src/*.rs	src/main.rs	src/api/mod.rs
src/**/*.rs	src/main.rs, src/api/mod.rs	tests/test.rs
*.{rs,toml}	main.rs, Cargo.toml	main.py
test_?.rs	test_1.rs, test_a.rs	test_12.rs

Output Format

Success with Matches

Found {count} files:
path/to/file1
path/to/file2
...

No Matches

No files found matching the pattern.

Truncated Results

Found 100 files:
...
(showing first 100 results)

Use Cases

Explore Project Structure

# Find all source files
glob_search: "src/**/*"

# Find all test files
glob_search: "**/*test*.rs"

Find Configuration

# Find dotfiles
glob_search: "**/.*"

# Find config files
glob_search: "**/*.{json,yaml,toml}"

Locate Assets

# Find images
glob_search: "**/*.{png,jpg,svg}"

# Find stylesheets
glob_search: "**/*.{css,scss}"

Check for Files Before Writing

# Does this file exist?
glob_search: "**/expected_name.rs"
# If no results, safe to create

Comparison with grep

Need	Use glob_search	Use grep
Find files by name	✅	❌
Find files by content	❌	✅
List project structure	✅	❌
Search for patterns in code	❌	✅

Often used together:

# 1. Find relevant files
glob_search: "**/*.rs"

# 2. Search within those files
grep: "fn main"
     file_pattern: "*.rs"

Best Practices

1. Use ** for recursive search

   • **/*.rs finds all Rust files at any depth

2. Be specific to reduce noise

   • src/**/*.rs instead of **/*.rs

3. Use braces for multiple extensions

   • **/*.{ts,tsx} for TypeScript files

4. Limit results for large projects

   • Set max_results if expecting many matches

5. Combine with read_file

   • Find files, then read the ones you need

Error Handling

Error	Cause
Invalid glob pattern: ...	Syntax error in pattern
No files found matching the pattern.	No matches in scope

Related Tools

• grep - Search file contents
• read_file - Read files after finding them
• write_file - Create new files