← Back to tools
View AGENTS.md for ack
ack
A grep-like tool optimized for programmers, written in Perl
Description
ack is a tool like grep optimized for programmers. Written in Perl, it speeds up searches by skipping non-interesting directories such as .git, and provides smart defaults for searching source code. It is designed to be a better grep for developers.
AI Summary
Programmer-optimized grep alternative that skips VCS directories and binary files
Capabilities
- + Search source code files with smart defaults
- + Skip version control directories automatically
- + Filter by file type
- + Perl-compatible regular expressions
Use When
- → You need to search through source code quickly
- → You want grep-like functionality with smarter defaults for codebases
Avoid When
- x You need maximum search speed (use ripgrep instead)