tilth — code intelligence CLI

Tree-sitter + ripgrep + smart file reading in one binary. Replaces grep, cat, find, ls with AST-aware equivalents across 14 languages (Rust, TS/TSX, JS, Python, Go, Java, Scala, C, C++, Ruby, PHP, C#, Swift, Elixir).

Run via Bash: tilth <args>. Search before reading — tilth <symbol> --scope . returns definitions, usages, and callee footers in one call.

DO NOT use grep, rg, cat, head, tail, find, ls — use tilth instead. DO NOT re-read files whose content is already shown in expanded search results.

Read

tilth <path>                      # smart view: full if small, outline if large
tilth <path> --section 45-89      # exact line range
tilth <path> --section "## Foo"   # markdown heading (suggests fuzzy matches on miss)
tilth <path> --full               # force full content (file paths)

Outline format: [<start>-<end>] <symbol>. Full/section format: <line> │ <content>. Binary files print [skipped]; lockfiles, minified bundles, generated code print [generated].

Search

tilth <symbol> --scope <dir>                # definitions + usages
tilth "Foo,Bar,Baz" --scope <dir>           # multi-symbol (max 5)
tilth <symbol> --expand                     # inline source for top 2 matches
tilth <symbol> --expand=5                   # inline source for top 5
tilth <symbol> --full                       # up to 100 matches, source for the top 50
tilth <symbol> --full --expand=0            # up to 100 matches, no inline source
tilth <symbol> --callers --scope <dir>      # call sites (structural, not text)
tilth "TODO: fix" --scope <dir>             # content search (literal text)
tilth "/regex/" --scope <dir>               # regex search
tilth <symbol> --glob "*.rs" --scope <dir>  # file pattern filter

--full semantics depend on query type:

• File path → return whole file (bypass smart-view outline).
• Symbol / text / regex → raise the match cap from 10 to 100 and inline source for the top 50 matches. --expand=N sets the inline-source count only, so --full --expand=0 still lists up to 100 matches. Multi-symbol ("Foo,Bar") is the exception: it always expands at least one match per symbol.
• Glob → no-op.

Symbol search also surfaces markdown headings as soft definitions — tilth StreamingResponse --scope docs/ finds ## StreamingResponse headings ranked between code defs (60-80) and usages (0). Section body inlines automatically in the default preview (capped at 40 lines; pass --expand for the rest).

Output per match:

## <path>:<start>-<end> [definition|usage|impl]
<outline context>
<expanded source block>
-- calls --
  <callee>  <path>:<start>-<end>  <signature>
-- siblings --
  <related>  <path>:<start>-<end>  <signature>

--callers finds direct, by-name call sites. If it returns 0 matches but the symbol exists, the call is likely indirect (trait/interface dispatch, reflection, route registration, callback) — fall back to tilth <symbol> --scope . to see references.

Files

tilth "*.test.ts" --scope <dir>   # glob (respects .gitignore)
tilth --map --scope <dir>         # codebase skeleton with directory token rollups

Deps (blast radius)

tilth <file> --deps               # what it imports + what depends on it

Use only before renaming, removing, or changing an export's signature.

Diff (structural)

tilth diff                        # uncommitted changes
tilth diff HEAD~1                 # vs prior commit
tilth diff main..feat             # branch comparison
tilth diff --log HEAD~5..HEAD     # per-commit symbol summaries
tilth diff --blast                # warn on signature-changed exports
tilth diff --expand 3             # inline source for top 3 changed symbols

Function-level change detection — [+] added, [-] removed, [~] modified, [~:sig] signature changed. Replaces git diff for symbol-level review.

Budget

tilth <args> --budget 2000        # cap response at ~N tokens

Use when an outline or search returns more than you need.