iq

# iq — one search tool, intent-first Pick by what you already know: - **You know the file** (failing test names it, stack trace has a path) → Read it directly; `iq context path:line` / `iq who path:line` for surroundings. Searching is overhead here. - **You know the exact identifier** → `iq def X` / `iq refs X` — one call replaces a grep-then-filter chain. - **You don't know where it lives**, or your words may not match the code's vocabulary → bare `iq "…"`. Ask it as a question; there is no separate verb for natural language. This is where iq decisively beats grep. - **You have error-message text** → `iq find 'literal text'`, then `iq context` on the hit. - **You are already in the code, checking one thing** — did my edit land, does that string still appear, is this import gone → plain `grep`/`rg`. Verification is not discovery: measured over 18k real search calls, iq's advantage is concentrated in the opening half of a turn (it sends you into a file 27.7% of the time against grep's 16.8%) and has disappeared by the second half (9.2% against 8.3%), where it still costs about twice the output per call. Reach for it to find your way, not to confirm what you already know. ``` iq "where do we enforce the secrets floor?" ``` | I want… | Run | |---|---| | text/regex match | `iq find 'createServer\(' --lang ts` — rust regex: alternation is `a\|b` (never backslash-pipe); literal text: `--literal` | | a file by name | `iq files wkignore` (`--exact` for globs) | | where X is defin...