<!-- Grep is NOT in the default main-agent tool set on native builds as of Claude Code 2.1.211 (replaced by embedded ugrep via Bash since ~2.1.117, April 2026). Search subagents (Explore etc.) still receive it, and it can be restored to the main agent by explicitly listing it in a full `--tools` whitelist. The definition below is identical in both cases — verified 2026-07-16 against a 2.1.211 main-agent `--tools` capture and an Explore subagent extraction. -->

# Grep

Content search built on ripgrep. Prefer this over `grep`/`rg` via Bash — results integrate with the permission UI and file links.

- Full regex syntax (e.g. "log.*Error", "function\s+\w+"). Ripgrep, not grep — escape literal braces (`interface\{\}`).
- Filter with `glob` (e.g. "**/*.tsx") or `type` (e.g. "js", "py", "rust").
- `output_mode`: "content" (matching lines), "files_with_matches" (paths only, default), or "count".
- `multiline: true` for patterns that span lines.

```json
{
  "$schema": "https://json-schema.org/draft/2020-12/schema",
  "type": "object",
  "properties": {
    "pattern": {
      "description": "The regular expression pattern to search for in file contents",
      "type": "string"
    },
    "path": {
      "description": "File or directory to search in (rg PATH). Defaults to current working directory.",
      "type": "string"
    },
    "glob": {
      "description": "Glob pattern to filter files (e.g. \"*.js\", \"*.{ts,tsx}\") - maps to rg --glob",
      "type": "string"
    },
    "output_mode": {
      "description": "Output mode: \"content\" shows matching lines (supports -A/-B/-C context, -n line numbers, head_limit), \"files_with_matches\" shows file paths (supports head_limit), \"count\" shows match counts (supports head_limit). Defaults to \"files_with_matches\".",
      "type": "string",
      "enum": [
        "content",
        "files_with_matches",
        "count"
      ]
    },
    "-B": {
      "description": "Number of lines to show before each match (rg -B). Requires output_mode: \"content\", ignored otherwise.",
      "type": "number"
    },
    "-A": {
      "description": "Number of lines to show after each match (rg -A). Requires output_mode: \"content\", ignored otherwise.",
      "type": "number"
    },
    "-C": {
      "description": "Alias for context.",
      "type": "number"
    },
    "context": {
      "description": "Number of lines to show before and after each match (rg -C). Requires output_mode: \"content\", ignored otherwise.",
      "type": "number"
    },
    "-n": {
      "description": "Show line numbers in output (rg -n). Requires output_mode: \"content\", ignored otherwise. Defaults to true.",
      "type": "boolean"
    },
    "-i": {
      "description": "Case insensitive search (rg -i)",
      "type": "boolean"
    },
    "-o": {
      "description": "Print only the matched (non-empty) parts of each matching line, one match per output line (rg -o / --only-matching). Requires output_mode: \"content\", ignored otherwise. Defaults to false.",
      "type": "boolean"
    },
    "type": {
      "description": "File type to search (rg --type). Common types: js, py, rust, go, java, etc. More efficient than include for standard file types.",
      "type": "string"
    },
    "head_limit": {
      "description": "Limit output to first N lines/entries, equivalent to \"| head -N\". Works across all output modes: content (limits output lines), files_with_matches (limits file paths), count (limits count entries). Defaults to 250 when unspecified. Pass 0 for unlimited (use sparingly — large result sets waste context).",
      "type": "number"
    },
    "offset": {
      "description": "Skip first N lines/entries before applying head_limit, equivalent to \"| tail -n +N | head -N\". Works across all output modes. Defaults to 0.",
      "type": "number"
    },
    "multiline": {
      "description": "Enable multiline mode where . matches newlines and patterns can span lines (rg -U --multiline-dotall). Default: false.",
      "type": "boolean"
    }
  },
  "required": [
    "pattern"
  ],
  "additionalProperties": false
}
```
