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Grep searches the latest indexed snapshots of repositories you can access in Codemod. Use it to find structural code patterns, text matches, or advanced ast-grep rules across your organization or personal Git account. Open Grep at app.codemod.com/grep.
Codemod Grep searches private and organization repositories you have granted Codemod access to. Public structural search across open-source repositories lives at grep.codemod.com.

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Prerequisites

  • Sign in to Codemod.
  • Connect GitHub or GitLab so repositories appear in your scope.
  • Index the repositories you want to search. Listing and searching never start indexing automatically.
Repository scope follows the app context: the active organization when one is selected, or your personal Git repositories otherwise.

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Search indexed code

1

Open Grep

Go to Grep in the Codemod app.
2

Index repositories (first run)

If no repositories are searchable yet, select the repositories to index and start indexing. Wait until they show as searchable before you run a query.When some repositories are already searchable, use Add repositories to index more without leaving the search studio.
3

Choose a mode and write a query

Pick Pattern, Regex, or YAML, then enter the query. Optionally narrow by language, repository, and path filter.
4

Review matches

Results group by repository and file, with snippets, exact line ranges, and links back to GitHub or GitLab. Use pagination to load more files when the result set continues.

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Query modes

Prefer Regex for discovery and names. Prefer Pattern when the match must respect syntax (for example, a call expression rather than the same text in a comment). Prefer YAML for multi-condition or constrained ast-grep rules.
Pattern and YAML run through Codemod’s indexed ast-grep engine. Regex runs as a PostgreSQL regular expression against decrypted snapshot content inside the database. Interactive Grep does not execute user-authored JavaScript.

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Filters

  • Language: search all indexed languages in scope, or limit to one or more parsers.
  • Repositories: omit the filter to search every searchable repository in the current scope, or select a subset.
  • Path: optional glob, contains, prefix, or basename filter to limit which files are considered.
YAML mode uses the language declared in the YAML document. That top-level language is authoritative for the rule.

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Results

Successful searches return:
  • Match counts and truncated state when limits apply
  • File-grouped snippets with exact ranges (not full source files)
  • Provider links to the indexed commit on GitHub or GitLab
  • Partial failures for repositories that are not indexed, lack the selected language, or fail during execution

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Grep MCP

MCP clients can search the same repository scope through the Grep MCP endpoint:
Authenticate with a Codemod API key that has Use Grep enabled:
The server is read-only. It can list repositories, search indexed code, and read focused source ranges around matches. It does not start indexing or modify code. Index repositories in the Grep UI before searching from an MCP client. Store the key in a secret or environment variable. Do not commit it into MCP configuration files.

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Create Insights dashboards from Grep

Use Grep for exploratory searches, then promote a useful query into a persistent Insights dashboard. The dashboard keeps the query and repository scope as editable configuration so you can track the same pattern over time—with Insights features such as timeseries trends, table breakdowns, and group-by dimensions like repository or codeowner (team ownership). Grep finds the matches. Insights turns that search into ongoing visibility.
1

Run a Grep search

Complete a Pattern, Regex, or YAML search against the repositories you care about. Refine language and path filters until the results look right.
2

Create an Insights dashboard

After results load, choose Create Insights dashboard. Name the dashboard, confirm which repositories to include (up to 10), and select the languages to track.
3

Review and extend in Insights

Open the new dashboard to see the generated match-total and repository-breakdown widgets. From there, add timeseries charts, ownership breakdowns, formulas, or additional queries using the normal Insights editor.
What Grep hands off:
  • The exact query, mode, optional path filter, and selected repositories
  • Count-oriented widgets for total matches and per-repository breakdown
  • Languages you chose at creation time (fewer languages usually compute faster)
What it does not copy into Insights:
  • Match snippets, file paths, or individual result rows from the Grep UI
After creation, the dashboard is a normal Insights dashboard: you can edit widgets, change repositories, and use template variables under the usual Insights permissions.
Prefer a focused language selection when creating the dashboard. Searching with language all in Grep is fine for discovery; for tracking, choose only the languages you need so Insights stays faster.
Regex dashboards use Insights/JSSG regex semantics, which can differ slightly from interactive Grep’s PostgreSQL regex results.

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Troubleshooting

Insights

Track pattern adoption and migration progress with dashboards.

ast-grep YAML queries

Reuse ast-grep rules in Insights widgets.

Wish

Ask Codemod Wish to search or index repositories from chat.

GitHub integration

Grant repository access so Grep can index and search your code.