Search corpus

search-corpus

You are running the search-corpus skill. The writer needs to find something specific without pulling whole files into context.

When to invoke

• "Where did we name the river?"
• "What was the magic cost we established for X?"
• "Did this character appear before?"
• "Find every mention of <term>."

Hard rules

• Prefer canon hits to chapter hits. Canon is the source of truth; chapter prose may be inconsistent (and you'll catch it that way).
• Don't paste large chunks back. Quote the hit, identify the file, and let the user read more if they want. The point is to not bloat context.
• If canon and chapter prose disagree, flag it. Don't silently resolve.

Steps

0. Dispatch the search to a subagent (main thread only)

If you can spawn subagents (you have the Agent tool), run the search in the Explore subagent (Agent tool, subagent_type: Explore, model: haiku — it's grep + excerpts, no literary judgment needed) so the raw hits and ±2-line context never bloat the main conversation — only the answer comes back. Give it: the query, the series/book, the **tier priority (canon > plan > summary

chapter)**, and the steps below (run search.py, read the output, report). Tell it to return only the resolved answer + the file:line of the load-bearing hits, and to flag any canon-vs-chapter contradiction rather than resolve it. When it returns, relay its answer. Skip the rest of these steps yourself — they are what the subagent runs.

(If you have no Agent tool, just run steps 1-3 here.)

1. Run the search

python3 .claude/skills/search-corpus/scripts/search.py \
    --series-slug <slug> --book-number <N> --query "<regex or literal>"

Options:

• --max-hits 20 to widen.
• --tiers canon,plan to restrict (defaults to all four).

2. Read the output

Each hit shows file:line, tier tag, and ±2 lines of context. The script returns up to 12 hits by default in tier priority order.

3. Report to user

• If 0 hits: tell the user. Suggest the term may be new; if they're about to write it, suggest promoting to canon.
• If 1-3 clean canon hits: quote them with file:line links and answer the question.
• If many hits across tiers: summarize the canon view first, then note where chapter prose discusses it.
• If canon and chapter contradict: flag it explicitly. Do not pick a winner.

What this skill does NOT do

• Does not modify any files.
• Does not invent canon entries.
• Does not summarize the whole book; it answers one specific question.