Search and Browse¶

MFS is most useful when search and browse are used together.

Search¶

Use search when the answer could be anywhere in the indexed corpus.

mfs search "how is the queue drained" .
mfs search "structured jsonl display" ./src --mode hybrid
mfs search "OPENAI_API_KEY" . --mode keyword

Modes:

Mode	Use it when
`hybrid`	default; best general-purpose mode
`semantic`	wording may differ from the documents
`keyword`	exact identifiers, error codes, config keys

Grep¶

Use grep when the literal token matters.

mfs grep "queue.json" .
mfs grep -C 3 "cache.max_size_mb" .
mfs grep -i "zilliz" --all

Browse¶

Use browse when you need orientation or verification.

mfs tree --peek -L 2 .
mfs ls --skim ./docs
mfs cat --skim ./docs/architecture.md
mfs cat -n 120:180 ./src/mfs/cli.py

Density presets:

Preset	Output shape	Typical use
`--peek`	skeleton, headings, filenames	orient quickly
`--skim`	compact summaries or excerpts	decide where to inspect
`--deep`	richer expansion	prepare for edits or final verification

The knobs behind the presets:

Option	Meaning
`-W`	width: characters per node or excerpt
`-H`	height: number of top-level items
`-D`	depth: structure levels to expand

A good agent loop¶

# 1. Get the map.
mfs tree --peek -L 2 .

# 2. Search globally inside the current project.
mfs search "how are pdf files converted and cached" . --top-k 5

# 3. Inspect the candidate file in bounded form.
mfs cat --skim ./src/mfs/ingest/converter.py

# 4. Read the exact lines before changing anything.
mfs cat -n 1:140 ./src/mfs/ingest/converter.py

Search should locate. Browse should verify. Line ranges should be used before editing or quoting behavior.