dev_inspect

Inspect a file for pattern analysis. Finds similar code and compares patterns like error handling, type coverage, imports, and testing.

Usage

dev_inspect(query, format?, limit?, threshold?)

Parameters

What It Does

dev_inspect performs comprehensive file analysis in two steps:

1. Finds similar files - Uses semantic search to find code with similar structure/purpose
2. Analyzes patterns - Compares error handling, type coverage, imports, testing, and file size

This helps you understand how your file compares to similar code in the repository.

Examples

Basic Inspection

“Use dev_inspect with query ‘src/auth/middleware.ts‘“

## File Inspection: src/auth/middleware.ts

### Similar Files (5 analyzed)
1. `src/auth/session.ts` (78%)
2. `src/middleware/logger.ts` (72%)
3. `src/api/auth-handler.ts` (68%)

### Pattern Analysis

**Import Style:** Your file uses `esm`, matching 100% of similar files.
**Error Handling:** Your file uses `throw`, but 60% of similar files use `result`.
**Type Coverage:** Your file has `full` type coverage, matching 80% of similar files.
**Testing:** No test file found. 40% of similar files have tests.
**Size:** 234 lines (smaller than average of 312 lines)

Verbose Output

“Use dev_inspect with query ‘packages/core/src/indexer/index.ts’, format ‘verbose’”

Returns detailed pattern distribution and statistics for each pattern category.

High Similarity Only

“Use dev_inspect with query ‘src/utils/date.ts’, threshold 0.9”

Only analyzes very similar files (90%+ match).

Pattern Categories

dev_inspect analyzes 5 key patterns:

Output Formats

Compact (Default)

Shows pattern summary with actionable insights:

**Error Handling:** Your file uses `throw`, but 60% of similar files use `result`.

Highlights differences from similar files to guide improvements.

Verbose

Shows full pattern distribution:

#### Error Handling
- **Your File:** `throw`
- **Common Style:** `result` (60% of similar files)
- **Distribution:**
  - result: 3 files (60%)
  - throw: 2 files (40%)

Use Cases

Workflow

Typical usage pattern:

1. Search for concepts: dev_search { query: "authentication middleware" }
2. Inspect what you found: dev_inspect { query: "src/auth/middleware.ts" }
3. Analyze dependencies: dev_refs { name: "authMiddleware" }

Tips

Always provide a file path. Unlike dev_search, dev_inspect requires a specific file to analyze.

Extension filtering. Only compares files with the same extension (e.g., .ts with .ts).

Use after search. dev_inspect is most valuable after finding relevant files with dev_search.

Pattern-driven insights. Focus on patterns where your file differs from similar code.

Performance

dev_inspect is optimized for speed:

• Batch scanning (5-10x faster than individual scans)
• Semantic similarity matching (not just path-based)
• Extension-based filtering for relevant comparisons

Typical analysis time: 500-1000ms for 5 similar files.

Migration from dev_explore

If you previously used dev_explore:

• dev_explore { action: "similar", query: "file.ts" } → dev_inspect { query: "file.ts" }
• dev_explore { action: "validate", query: "file.ts" } → dev_inspect { query: "file.ts" } (now does both!)
• dev_explore { action: "pattern" } → Use dev_search instead
• dev_explore { action: "relationships" } → Use dev_refs instead

Key change: dev_inspect no longer requires an action parameter. It automatically finds similar files AND performs pattern analysis in one call.