search

Unified semantic exploration skill combining qmd hybrid retrieval with cgg call graph generation. Use when the user says "search the codebase", "find ADRs about X", "what specs cover Y", "search architecture", or wants to semantically explore design artifacts and code together.

Governing Artifacts

ADR-0024 · ADR-0033 · SPEC-0019 · SPEC-0034

Usage

/sdd:search [query] [--output markdown|json] [--unfiltered] [--module <name>]

Required Tools

Bash
Read
Glob
Grep
mcp__plugin_qmd_qmd__query
mcp__plugin_qmd_qmd__status

Overview

Search ADRs, specs, and code simultaneously using qmd hybrid retrieval, then enrich results with cgg call graphs for deeper code exploration.

Process

Handle no-args / --help: If $ARGUMENTS is empty or contains --help, output the usage block below and stop:

Usage: /sdd:search <query> [--output markdown|json] [--unfiltered] [--module <name>]

Examples:
  /sdd:search "JWT authentication"
  /sdd:search "payment processing" --output json
  /sdd:search "token validation" --unfiltered
  /sdd:search "auth middleware" --module api

Searches ADRs, specs, and code with qmd hybrid retrieval, then generates
call graphs with cgg for the most relevant code matches.

Parse arguments: Extract from $ARGUMENTS:
- <query>: everything before any -- flags (required; stop here if empty after flag extraction)
- --output markdown|json: output format (default: markdown)
- --unfiltered: when present, skip filter derivation and pass raw query keywords to cgg
- --module <name>: when present, scope all collections and cgg to that module
Compute the repo slug and collection names:



Compute the slug per references/qmd-helpers.md § "This-Repo Collection Identification":
```
SLUG=$(git rev-parse --show-toplevel | xargs basename | tr '[:upper:]' '[:lower:]' | sed 's/[^a-z0-9-]/-/g')
```
- Standard mode (no --module): target collections \{slug\}-adrs, \{slug\}-specs, \{slug\}-code
- Workspace mode (--module <name> provided): target collections \{slug\}-\{module\}-adrs, \{slug\}-\{module\}-specs, \{slug\}-\{module\}-code
Validate qmd collections exist:

Use mcp__plugin_qmd_qmd__status (or qmd status --json as CLI fallback per references/qmd-helpers.md § "MCP-vs-CLI Selection") to list available collections. Apply exact-prefix match from references/qmd-helpers.md § "This-Repo Collection Identification".

If none of the three target collections exist, stop with: "No qmd collections found for {repo}. Run /sdd:index first."

Note which collections are missing (e.g., only -adrs and -specs but not -code) — search only what exists.

Run qmd hybrid retrieval:

Issue three separate qmd queries — one per collection type — so that ADR, spec, and code results are already partitioned when building output sections. Use MCP tool mcp__plugin_qmd_qmd__query (preferred) or qmd query --json as CLI fallback.

ADR query (if \{slug\}-adrs or \{slug\}-\{module\}-adrs collection exists):

searches: [
  { type: "lex", query: "<query verbatim>" },
  { type: "vec", query: "Architecture decisions about <query>" }
],
intent: "/sdd:search — find ADRs relevant to: <query>",
collections: ["{slug}-adrs"],    // or {slug}-{module}-adrs
limit: 8,
minScore: 0.3

Spec query (if \{slug\}-specs or \{slug\}-\{module\}-specs collection exists):

searches: [
  { type: "lex", query: "<query verbatim>" },
  { type: "vec", query: "Specifications and requirements for <query>" }
],
intent: "/sdd:search — find specs relevant to: <query>",
collections: ["{slug}-specs"],    // or {slug}-{module}-specs
limit: 8,
minScore: 0.3

Code query (if \{slug\}-code or \{slug\}-\{module\}-code collection exists):

searches: [
  { type: "lex", query: "<query verbatim>" },
  { type: "vec", query: "Source code implementing <query>" }
],
intent: "/sdd:search — find code relevant to: <query>",
collections: ["{slug}-code"],    // or {slug}-{module}-code
limit: 8,
minScore: 0.3

Filter each result set: keep only items with score >= 0.3. Collect the three partitioned result sets.

No-matches path: If all three queries return zero results above minScore, output the following and stop — do NOT proceed to cgg:

No relevant ADRs, specs, or code found for '{query}'. Try a broader search term.

Derive cgg filter (unless --unfiltered was passed):



From the code query results, extract filter tokens per references/cgg-integration.md § "Filter Derivation Strategy — From qmd code matches":
1. Take each matched file path stem (e.g., auth/jwt.go → jwt, auth)
2. Take each qmd-matched symbol or heading keyword surfaced in the result snippets
3. Compose a regex alternation: token1|token2|token3
If the code query returned no results (collection absent or zero matches), fall back to keyword-based derivation per references/cgg-integration.md § "Filter Derivation Strategy — From requirement keywords":
- Lowercase and split the query on spaces/punctuation
- Strip common stop words (the, a, an, for, with, of, in, and, or, to)
- Compose alternation from remaining terms
If --unfiltered was passed, skip this step entirely. Warn the user:
```
Generating unfiltered call graph — output may be large. Use /cgg directly for advanced scoping.
```
Generate call graph with cgg:



Follow references/cgg-integration.md § "Availability Check" first:
```
which cgg >/dev/null 2>&1
```
If cgg is not found, record the unavailability notice and skip to step 7 (graceful degradation).

Determine the target path:
- Standard mode: repo root (git rev-parse --show-toplevel)
- Workspace mode (--module <name>): resolve module source dir per references/shared-patterns.md § "Artifact Path Resolution"
Invoke cgg per references/cgg-integration.md § "cgg Invocation Pattern":
```
# With filter:
timeout 30 cgg <target-path> --filter "<filter-regex>" --format mermaid 2>/tmp/cgg-stderr-$$.txt
# Without filter (--unfiltered):
timeout 30 cgg <target-path> --format mermaid 2>/tmp/cgg-stderr-$$.txt
CGG_EXIT=$?
CGG_STDERR=$(cat /tmp/cgg-stderr-$$.txt)
rm -f /tmp/cgg-stderr-$$.txt
```
Handle exit codes per references/cgg-integration.md § "Exit code handling":
- Exit 0: normalize the Mermaid output per references/cgg-integration.md § "Mermaid Output Normalization"
- Exit 1: record "Call graph generation failed: {stderr}" and skip to step 7
- Exit 124: record timeout message per references/cgg-integration.md § "Timeout Handling" and skip to step 7
- Other exit: treat as exit 1
Apply node cap: if the Mermaid output has more than 20 nodes (lines matching ^\s+\w+\[), trim to top 20 by connectivity and add the trimming comment per references/cgg-integration.md § "Node cap".

Normalize output per references/cgg-integration.md § "Mermaid Output Normalization":
- Sort nodes alphabetically
- Rewrite graph LR or graph RL to graph TD
- Strip memory-address node ID prefixes
- Append legend footer %% Showing entry points + main flow; internal helpers omitted
- Validate all --> edges reference declared nodes; remove dangling edges
Handle unsupported-language warnings per references/cgg-integration.md § "Unsupported Language Handling".

Produce output:

Markdown output (default, or --output markdown):

## Search Results: {query}

Found {A} ADRs, {S} specs, {C} code snippets for "{query}".

### 1. Matching ADRs

{For each ADR result, sorted by score descending:}
- **{ADR-ID}: {title}** (score: {score:.2f})
  {1-2 sentence relevance note derived from the result snippet and context}

{If no ADR matches:}
No matching ADRs found.

### 2. Matching Specs

{For each spec result, sorted by score descending:}
- **{SPEC-ID}: {title}** (score: {score:.2f})
  {1-2 sentence relevance note derived from the result snippet and context}

{If no spec matches:}
No matching specs found.

### 3. Relevant Code Snippets

{For each code result, sorted by score descending:}
- **{path}** (score: {score:.2f})
  {1-2 sentence description of what this code does relative to the query}

{If no code matches:}
No relevant code found.

### 4. Call Graphs

{If cgg unavailable:}
Call graphs unavailable — install cgg with: cargo install cgg
or see https://github.com/NeuralNotwerk/cgg

{If cgg timed out:}
Call graph generation timed out (30s). The codebase may be very large.
Try: /cgg <module/path> --filter <keyword> to narrow the scope.

{If cgg failed:}
Call graph generation failed: {stderr}

{If --unfiltered:}
> Generating unfiltered call graph — output may be large. Use /cgg directly for advanced scoping.

{If cgg succeeded:}
<!-- Call graph: {filter used or "unfiltered"}, generated {date} -->
```mermaid
graph TD
    ...
%% Showing entry points + main flow; internal helpers omitted

{If no nodes matched the filter after trimming:} No call graph nodes matched the filter. Try broadening your search term or use --unfiltered.

5. Summary

Collection	Matches
ADRs	{A}
Specs	{S}
Code	{C}
Call graph nodes	{N or "unavailable"}

{If cgg succeeded:} Refine the call graph with: /cgg \{target-path\} --filter "\{filter\}" {If no call graph:} Generate a focused call graph with: /cgg \{target-path\} --filter "\{derived-filter-keywords\}"

**JSON output** (`--output json`):

Emit a single JSON object:

```json
{
  "query": "<query>",
  "adr_matches": [
    {
      "id": "ADR-XXXX",
      "title": "<title>",
      "path": "<path>",
      "score": 0.85,
      "snippet": "<snippet text>"
    }
  ],
  "spec_matches": [
    {
      "id": "SPEC-XXXX",
      "title": "<title>",
      "path": "<path>",
      "score": 0.75,
      "snippet": "<snippet text>"
    }
  ],
  "code_snippets": [
    {
      "path": "<path>",
      "score": 0.65,
      "snippet": "<snippet text>"
    }
  ],
  "call_graphs": [
    {
      "filter": "<filter-regex or null>",
      "mermaid": "<normalized mermaid block or null>",
      "error": "<error message or null>"
    }
  ]
}

For the call_graphs array:

When cgg succeeds: mermaid contains the normalized Mermaid string, error is null
When cgg is unavailable/fails/times out: mermaid is null, error contains the user-facing message
filter is null when --unfiltered was used

Rules

This skill is READ-ONLY — it MUST NOT create, modify, or delete any files
MUST check qmd availability and collections before querying; stop with a clear message if none found for this repo
MUST issue three separate qmd queries (ADRs, specs, code) so result sets are cleanly partitioned by collection type
MUST use limit: 8 and minScore: 0.3 for all qmd queries per SPEC-0034
MUST gracefully degrade when cgg is unavailable or fails — return qmd sections 1–3 with a one-line notice in section 4, never fail the skill (Governing: 📝 ADR-0033, SPEC-0034 REQ "Graceful Degradation")
When cgg succeeds, MUST normalize Mermaid output per references/cgg-integration.md § "Mermaid Output Normalization" before embedding
MUST cap call graph at 20 nodes; add trimming comment when nodes are omitted
When --unfiltered is set, MUST skip filter derivation AND emit the large-graph warning before invoking cgg
When --module <name> is set, MUST scope all qmd collections to \{slug\}-\{module\}-\{kind\} AND scope cgg to the module source directory
ADR and spec entries in markdown output MUST include the ID, title, score, and a 1–2 sentence relevance note
JSON output MUST match the schema in step 7 exactly — no extra top-level keys
No-matches path (zero results above minScore across all three collections) MUST output the exact message: No relevant ADRs, specs, or code found for '\{query\}'. Try a broader search term. — and stop before invoking cgg
The help/no-args output MUST include a usage line, at least two examples, and a brief explanation
Use ## for the top-level heading and ### for sections within the report
Do NOT invoke cgg if the no-matches path is taken
MUST prefer MCP tool mcp__plugin_qmd_qmd__query over the qmd CLI; fall back to CLI only when the MCP is not loaded (per references/qmd-helpers.md § "MCP-vs-CLI Selection")
All cgg invocation patterns, error messages, filter derivation, timeout handling, and graceful degradation MUST follow references/cgg-integration.md verbatim — do not inline custom variants

Governing Artifacts​

Usage​

Overview​

Process​

5. Summary​

Rules​