Code Ferret

A lightweight code search tool using keyword indexing. Code Ferret helps you quickly find relevant code snippets across your codebase.

Features

• Fast code search using keyword indexing
• In-memory index for quick searches
• MCP server integration for use with Cline and other LLM tools
• Command-line interface for direct usage

Installation

You can install Code Ferret globally:

npm install -g code-ferret

Or use it directly with npx:

npx code-ferret <command>

Usage

Command Line Interface

Index a directory

code-ferret index --directory ./src --extensions .ts .js

Search for code

code-ferret search --query "function fetchData"

Show only file paths

code-ferret search --query "fetchData" --files-only

MCP Server

Code Ferret can run as an MCP (Model Context Protocol) server, which allows it to be used by LLM tools like Cline.

Run the MCP server

npx code-ferret mcp

Or if installed globally:

code-ferret mcp

Run the MCP server directly

You can also run the MCP server directly using npx:

npx code-ferret-mcp

MCP Server Integration

When running as an MCP server, Code Ferret exposes the following tools:

• search_code: Search for code snippets matching a query
  • Parameters:
    • query: Search query (required)
    • directory: Directory to search in (optional, defaults to current directory)
    • extensions: File extensions to include (optional)

Examples

Search for code using the CLI

code-ferret search --query "database connection"

Search for code using the MCP server

When using with Cline or other LLM tools that support MCP, you can use the search_code tool:

search_code(query="database connection", directory="./src")

How It Works

Code Ferret creates an in-memory index of your code files, extracting keywords and their frequencies. When you search, it uses this index to quickly find relevant code snippets based on keyword matching and scoring.

License

MIT