Smart Code Search

Find and replace code that ignores whitespace, indentation, and line breaks.

✨ Why?

Have you ever pasted code from ChatGPT, Claude, or a documentation snippet into a search, only to get zero results because the indentation, spacing, or line breaks don't match your codebase?

Smart Code Search solves this. Paste any code snippet — regardless of formatting — and find it anywhere in your file or workspace. Replace it with AI-generated code, and the replacement stays highlighted in green so you always know what changed.

🚀 Features

🔍 Whitespace-Tolerant Search

Paste code with different formatting than your file — it still matches. Spaces, tabs, newlines, indentation — all ignored.

⚡ In-Editor Highlighting

Matches highlight directly in the editor, exactly like VS Code's native Cmd+F. No sidebar results list — just visual highlights where the code lives.

↻ Replace with AI Code

• Replace current — swaps the active match
• Replace all — swaps every match at once
• Replaced code stays green until you explicitly clear it

🟢 Persistent Green Highlights

Unlike typical search tools that flash briefly, replaced code stays green so you can review every change before committing.

📁 Workspace Scan with Progress

• Real-time progress bars (per-file + overall)
• Shows which file is currently being scanned
• Auto-opens the first matching file when done

🧭 Navigate Matches

▲ and ▼ buttons cycle through matches. The editor auto-scrolls and selects each one.

⌨️ Native-Style Keybinding

Cmd+F (Mac) / Ctrl+F (Windows/Linux) opens Smart Code Search from anywhere — editor, sidebar, terminal. Just like native Find.

📦 Installation

From VS Code Marketplace

1. Open VS Code
2. Go to Extensions (Cmd+Shift+X / Ctrl+Shift+X)
3. Search for "Smart Code Search"
4. Click Install

From VSIX file

1. Download the .vsix from GitHub Releases
2. In VS Code: Cmd+Shift+P → "Extensions: Install from VSIX..."
3. Select the downloaded file

From source

git clone https://github.com/aalliiqbal/smart-code-search.git
cd smart-code-search
npm install
npm run compile
# Press F5 to launch Extension Development Host