Use SIFS from the shell when you need codebase context. The CLI is the reliable path; MCP tools are optional and should only be used when they are visible in the current agent session.
When to Use
- Use for local code search, symbol discovery, behavior tracing, related-code lookup, and indexed file/chunk inspection.
- Use before reading many files by hand when the task starts with "where is...", "how is...", "find the implementation...", or "what code handles...".
- Do not use for general web research, package documentation lookup, or non-code document search unless the user explicitly points SIFS at a source tree.
Start by discovering the local contract:
sifs agent-context --json
Search by intent, behavior, symbol, or exact text:
sifs search "authentication flow" --source <project>
sifs search "save_pretrained" --source <project> --mode bm25
sifs search "save model to disk" --source <project> --limit 10
Inspect indexed files and chunks before reading broad files:
sifs list-files --source <project> --limit 200 --json
sifs get src/auth.rs 42 --source <project>
sifs find-related src/auth.rs 42 --source <project>
Use --source <project> when the agent may not be running from the target checkout. Use --filter-path <repo-relative-path> for path narrowing and --limit for bounded results.
If MCP tools named search, get_chunk, or list_files are visible, they may be used for the same workflow. If they are missing, configured-but-invisible, or failing, fall back to the CLI immediately.
Bundled support files:
references/commands.mdcontains command recipes.references/mcp.mdexplains MCP fallback rules.references/troubleshooting.mdcovers setup and stale-instruction checks.scripts/check-setup.shverifies thatsifsis onPATHand can print the agent contract.