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grep-app

Search public GitHub code via Grep.app's HTTP API. Use for real-world usage examples, config snippets, and API syntax patterns.

personAuthor: jakexiaohubgithub
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Grep.app

Use Grep.app directly over HTTP through the bundled cross-platform Python CLI.

Entry point

Cross-platform:

uv run --script <skill-dir>/scripts/cli.py ...

Set <skill-dir> to this skill directory. Do not rely on shell sourcing, executable bits, or shebang dispatch.

Environment check policy: do not treat an unset GREP_APP_BASE_URL in the parent shell as a readiness failure. It is only an optional override; the skill works with its default base URL.

When to use

  • Real usage patterns for APIs, config, and framework code
  • Public GitHub code only
  • Literal search first; regex when needed

Quick start

uv run --script <skill-dir>/scripts/cli.py search "useState(" f.lang=TypeScript
uv run --script <skill-dir>/scripts/cli.py search "errgroup.WithContext(" f.repo=golang/sync
uv run --script <skill-dir>/scripts/cli.py regex "useState\\(" f.lang=TypeScript

Useful filters

Pass Grep.app filters as query params:

  • f.repo=owner/repo
  • f.path=src/
  • f.lang=TypeScript
  • case=true
  • words=true

Environment

  • Tracked template: .env.example
  • Optional override: GREP_APP_BASE_URL

Failure handling

  • grep-app does not use a skill-local API key in this helper flow, so there is no .env credential-loading step to debug by default.
  • Distinguish invocation issues from service issues:
    • usage errors mean local invocation is wrong
    • HTTP 429 means Grep.app rate-limited the request
    • other HTTP failures mean the service or endpoint responded with an error, not that the helper failed to initialize
  • If 429 appears, report it as rate limiting and either retry later or fall back to another research route such as context7, gh, or exa-search.

Notes

  • Public GitHub repos only.
  • search is literal by default.
  • regex sets regexp=true automatically.
  • Grep.app returns HTML snippets inside JSON; extract metadata like repo/path first.
  • Check licenses before reusing copied code.

Validation

uv run --script <skill-dir>/scripts/cli.py --help

Query templates

See assets/query-templates.json.

Required follow-up reads

| Need | Read | When | | --- | --- | --- | | HTTP parameters and response caveats | references/http.md | Advanced filters or response interpretation | | Reusable query shapes | assets/query-templates.json | Constructing a supported CLI request |