What is finding-files?

The finding-files skill provides high-performance file discovery leveraging parallel search and smart defaults. It is designed to replace traditional search commands with a significantly faster alternative (13-23x faster than 'find'), automatically respecting .gitignore rules and hidden file settings to streamline navigation in large-scale codebases and complex directories.

When should I use finding-files?

finding-files is useful in the following scenarios: • Rapidly locating specific source code files by name, pattern, or extension within massive repositories. • Filtering and identifying files based on specific attributes such as type, size, or directory depth for automated system maintenance. • Executing batch operations across multiple files, such as performing global search-and-replace or bulk file renaming. • Integrating with analysis tools like ripgrep or bat to create efficient workflows for code auditing and data extraction.

name	finding-files
description	Performs fast file discovery with parallel search and smart defaults. Use this skill when searching for files by name, pattern, or type, especially when performance matters or when working with large directories

fd: Intuitive File Search

Always invoke fd skill for fast file discovery - do not execute bash commands directly.

Use fd for fast file discovery that's 13-23x faster than find.

Default Strategy

Invoke fd skill for fast file discovery with parallel search and smart defaults. Use when searching for files by name, pattern, or type, especially when performance matters or when working with large directories.

Common workflow: fd skill → other skills (fzf, bat, ripgrep, sd) for further processing.

Key Options

-e ext for extension filtering
-t file|dir for type filtering
-H include hidden files
-I ignore .gitignore
--exclude pattern exclusions
-x exec per file, -X exec batch
{}, {.}, {/} placeholders

When to Use

Quick file searches by pattern
Filter by type, size, extension
Search with depth limits
Batch file operations
Integration with other tools

Common Workflows

fd → fzf → bat: Search files, select interactively, view with syntax highlighting
fd → sd: Find files and perform batch replacements
fd → xargs tool: Execute commands on found files
fd → ripgrep: Search within specific file types

Core Principle

Smart defaults: ignores hidden/.gitignore files, case-insensitive, parallel search - much faster than find.

Detailed Reference

For comprehensive search patterns, filtering options, execution examples, and performance tips, load fd guide when needing:

Advanced filtering patterns (size, time, depth)
Batch execution with placeholders
Performance optimization techniques
Integration with shell scripts
Complex exclusion patterns

The guide includes:

Core search patterns and file discovery
Extension and type filtering techniques
Execution and batch operation examples
Performance optimization strategies
Integration with other tools (xargs, ripgrep)
Advanced filtering and exclusion patterns

Skill Combinations

For Discovery Phase

fd → fzf: Interactive file selection with preview
fd → ripgrep: Search within specific file types
fd → jq/yq: Extract data from found config files
fd → extracting-code-structure: Get structure overview of found files

For Analysis Phase

fd → bat: View found files with syntax highlighting
fd → tokei: Get statistics for specific file sets
fd → jq/yq: Analyze configuration files in directory

For Refactoring Phase

fd → sd: Perform batch replacements across found files
fd → analyzing-code-structure: Apply structural changes to specific file types
fd → xargs: Execute commands on found files

Integration Examples

# Find and edit source files
fd -e py | fzf --multi --preview="bat --color=always {}" | xargs vim

# Find and replace in JavaScript files
fd -e js -x sd "oldPattern" "newPattern"

finding-files

When & Why to Use This Skill

Use Cases