When should I use tree-sitter instead of ast-grep?

Use tree-sitter tags to quickly extract all definitions (functions, classes, methods) within a file. Use ast-grep when you need to find specific, custom structural patterns or perform complex searches.

Which programming languages are supported?

The skill supports a wide range of languages including Python, JavaScript, TypeScript, Go, Rust, Java, C, C++, CSS, and HTML.

How does this differ from standard Grep?

While standard Grep finds literal text strings, this skill finds code constructs based on the actual syntax tree. It can distinguish between a function call in code and the same text appearing in a comment or string.

What are ast-grep meta-variables?

Meta-variables like $NAME or $$$ARGS act as placeholders in code patterns. $NAME matches a single AST node, while $$$ARGS is greedy and matches zero or more nodes, such as function arguments.

AST-Grep Structural Search

Name: AST-Grep Structural Search
Author: AnExiledDev

byAnExiledDev

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Developer Tools

Enables syntax-aware code searching and structural pattern matching across multiple programming languages using ast-grep and tree-sitter.

This skill empowers Claude to perform highly precise, structural code searches that go far beyond simple text-based grep. By leveraging abstract syntax trees (AST) and meta-variables, it allows for finding complex code constructs—such as specific function signatures, class definitions, or unhandled error blocks—while intelligently ignoring comments and string literals. It is an essential tool for large-scale refactoring, code auditing, and deep codebase exploration where traditional regex-based searches often produce noisy or inaccurate results.

Key Features

016 GitHub stars

02Support for 10+ languages including Python, TypeScript, Go, and Rust

03Syntax-aware structural search using ast-grep meta-variables

04Integration with tree-sitter for full AST parsing and symbol tag extraction

05Distinguishes between actual code, comments, and string literals

06Pre-configured patterns for functions, imports, classes, and error handling

Use Cases

01Large-scale refactoring of deprecated function calls across a complex repository

02Identifying security anti-patterns or missing error handling blocks

03Quickly mapping out a project's API surface and class hierarchies for onboarding

What are Skills?·How to Install

Install with 🐟 Skill.Fish

npx skillfish add anexileddev/codeforge ast-grep-patterns

For use in Claude.ai and ChatGPT

Download Skill