ty-find 0.3.1

CLI tool for finding Python function definitions using ty's LSP server

ty-find

A command-line tool for Python code navigation using ty's LSP server. Uses a daemon-backed architecture to keep LSP connections warm between commands (~50-100ms after initial startup).

Usage with Claude Code

Add this to your project's CLAUDE.md to enable type-aware code navigation:

### Python Symbol Navigation (ty-find)

IMPORTANT: Use `tyf` instead of Grep for Python symbol lookups.
Grep matches in comments, strings, and docs — tyf is type-aware and precise.
Run `tyf --help` to see all commands. Run `tyf <cmd> --help` for details.

- Symbol overview (definition + type + refs): `tyf inspect my_function`
- Find definition: `tyf find MyClass`
- Class public interface: `tyf members TheirClass`
- All usages before refactoring: `tyf refs my_function` or `tyf refs -f file.py -l LINE -c COL`
- File outline: `tyf list file.py`

All commands accept multiple symbols in one call — batch to save tool invocations.

Grep is still appropriate for string literals, config values, TODOs, and non-symbol text.

Why ty-find over grep?

• Type-aware precision — grep matches in comments, docstrings, and strings; tyf returns only actual code references through ty's type inference engine
• Rich symbol detail — definition location, type signatures, full class interfaces (methods, properties, class variables), and cross-project references, all in one call
• Token-efficient — condensed output by default, giving AI agents maximum information in minimum context window space

Installation

Prerequisite: ty type checker (uv add --dev ty)

Optional: ripgrep (rg) — speeds up lookups for non-existent symbols by quickly verifying whether a symbol appears in any .py file before retrying LSP queries. Without it, searches for non-existent symbols still work but may be slower.

# macOS
brew install ripgrep

# Ubuntu/Debian
sudo apt install ripgrep

# Or via cargo
cargo install ripgrep

From PyPI

pip install ty-find

# Or with uv
uv add --dev ty-find

From Git (Pre-Release)

Requires the Rust toolchain to build from source:

pip install "ty-find @ git+https://github.com/mojzis/ty-find.git"

# Or with uv
uv add --dev "ty-find @ git+https://github.com/mojzis/ty-find.git"

From Source

git clone https://github.com/mojzis/ty-find.git
cd ty-find
cargo install --path .

Note: Windows support is limited — see Platform Support below.

Platform Support

ty-find builds and installs on all platforms, but the background daemon requires Unix domain sockets and is only available on Unix systems (Linux, macOS).

Command	Linux / macOS	Windows
find --file	Yes	Yes
find (no file)	Yes	No
find --fuzzy	Yes	No
inspect	Yes	No
refs	Yes	No
list	Yes	No
daemon	Yes	No

On Windows, daemon-dependent commands exit with a clear error message. Adding the package as a dependency won't break your project on Windows — it just won't have full functionality. PRs for Windows named-pipe support are welcome!

Usage

Inspect (Definition + Type Info + References)

All-in-one command — searches the workspace by symbol name, no file needed. Supports multiple symbols in a single call:

tyf inspect calculate_sum

# Inspect multiple symbols at once (results grouped by symbol)
tyf inspect calculate_sum UserService Config

# Narrow to a specific file
tyf inspect calculate_sum --file src/math.py

# JSON output for scripting
tyf --format json inspect UserService

Find Symbol by Name

Searches the workspace for a symbol's definition. Supports multiple symbols in a single call. Use --fuzzy for partial/prefix matching with richer output (kind + container):

tyf find calculate_sum

# Find multiple symbols at once (results grouped by symbol)
tyf find calculate_sum multiply divide

# Narrow to a specific file (text-based search + goto_definition)
tyf find function_name --file myfile.py

# Fuzzy/prefix match (returns symbol kind + container info)
tyf find handle_ --fuzzy

Find References

# By position (exact, pipeable from list)
tyf refs -f myfile.py --line 10 --column 5

# By name
tyf refs my_function MyClass

# Mixed and piped
tyf refs file.py:10:5 my_func
... | tyf refs --stdin

Document Outline

tyf list src/services/user.py

Daemon Management

The daemon starts automatically on first use. Manual control:

tyf daemon start    # Start manually
tyf daemon status   # Check status
tyf daemon stop     # Stop

Output Formats

All commands support --format (placed before the subcommand): human (default), json, csv, paths.

tyf --format json inspect MyClass
tyf --format csv find User --fuzzy

Architecture

CLI Command → Daemon Client (auto-connects) → Unix Socket
→ Daemon Server (5min idle timeout) → LSP Client Pool → ty LSP Server

The daemon keeps LSP connections warm: first command takes 1-2s, subsequent commands 50-100ms.

Development

cargo build --release
cargo test
cargo clippy
cargo fmt --check

# Verbose logging
RUST_LOG=ty_find=debug cargo run -- find hello_world

Troubleshooting

# Check ty is installed
ty --version

# Debug daemon issues
tyf daemon status
RUST_LOG=ty_find=debug tyf daemon start

# Restart daemon
tyf daemon stop && tyf daemon start

Contributing

Contributions welcome! Please open an issue to discuss major changes.

License

MIT License - see LICENSE file for details.

Credits

Built with ty - Astral's Python type checker.