codesearch-cli

Local-first code search with semantic embeddings. Search by meaning, not just keywords.

A lightweight CLI tool that searches your codebase. Two modes:

• Keyword search (default): Fast regex-based search like ripgrep
• Semantic search (--semantic): Finds conceptually similar code using local embeddings

Why codesearch-cli?

• ✅ Local-first: Runs entirely on your machine, no API calls
• ✅ No API costs: No OpenAI/Anthropic dependency
• ✅ Fast: Built in Python with smart skipping of irrelevant files
• ✅ Privacy: Your code never leaves your machine
• ✅ Open source: MIT license, code on GitHub

Installation

pipx install codesearch-cli

Or with pip:

pip install --user codesearch-cli

Usage

Keyword search (default)

# Find all TODO comments in Python files
codesearch "TODO|FIXME"

# Case-sensitive search
codesearch "MyClass" --case-sensitive

# Search specific file types
codesearch "import requests" --glob "*.py"

# Substring search (no regex)
codesearch "my_function" --type substring

Semantic search (coming soon)

# Find code that "validates email addresses" (concept, not exact match)
codesearch "function that validates email format" --semantic

What it detects

Pricing

License

MIT