Efficient repository inspection

When to use

Use this skill before recursive searches, rg, Select-String, git grep, git diff, gh api, or inspections of many files.

Procedure

1. Restrict the search to the relevant directory or project.

2. Prefer rg to Get-ChildItem -Recurse | Select-String:

   rtk rg -n -g '*.cs' -g '!**/bin/**' -g '!**/obj/**' 'pattern' <directory>

3. Combine related patterns in one pass:

   rtk git --no-pager grep -n -I -E "ServidorCis|PortaDConnect|Historico|Observacao" -- "*.cs"

4. If only file names are needed, use -l. If few results are needed, limit output without rereading the entire repository.
5. For diffs, start with rtk git diff --stat, --name-status, and --check. Read the complete diff only for relevant files or sections.
6. Use view_range for known files. Do not format and print an entire file line by line when a range is sufficient.
7. Do not reread a large temporary file with a full PowerShell pipeline. Use rg with error patterns and result limits.
8. For gh api, prefer a known path, code search, or local data. --jq reduces output delivered to the agent, but a recursive endpoint still downloads and processes the entire tree.
9. Use rtk proxy only when complete output is genuinely necessary for diagnosis.

Rules

• Always prefix shell commands with rtk, as required by the global instructions.
• Exclude at least bin, obj, .git, packages, and generated artifacts when the search does not need them.
• Do not run multiple serial repository-wide searches for patterns that can be combined.
• Do not use Select-Object -Last N as a substitute for a scoped or appropriately quiet command.
• Do not hide errors; reduce noise without discarding necessary context.

Completion criteria

• The search traversed only the necessary scope.
• Related patterns were combined when possible.
• The first diff inspection was statistical and concise.
• Complete output was loaded only for relevant files or failures.