🔍 Copilot ADO Search

Supercharge your GitHub Copilot with Azure DevOps code search capabilities!

Search across all your Azure DevOps repositories instantly from within VS Code. Find classes, methods, interfaces, and any code symbol across your entire organization with intelligent GitHub Copilot integration.

✨ Key Features

• 🤖 GitHub Copilot Integration - Use natural language to search your ADO codebase
• 🔍 Organization-wide Search - Search across all projects and repositories
• 💬 Chat Participant - Dedicated ADO chat participant with slash commands
• 🌳 Multiple Views - Tree view and rich HTML presentation modes
• ⚡ Context Menu - Right-click any symbol to search instantly
• 🎯 Smart Symbol Detection - Automatically detects classes, methods, interfaces, and more
• 🔍 Hover Provider - Hover over symbols to see ADO search results instantly
• ⚡ Intelligent Caching - Fast performance with smart caching system
• 🎨 AST-Powered Analysis - Advanced TypeScript/C# symbol analysis
• 📊 Explorer Integration - Dedicated search results panel in VS Code Explorer

🚀 Quick Setup

1. Install the extension from the VS Code Marketplace
2. Configure your organization: Set copilotAdoSearch.organization in VS Code settings (e.g., contoso)
3. Set your PAT: Run command ADO Search: Set Azure DevOps PAT
   • Requires Code (read) permission
   • Stored securely in VS Code Secret Storage

That's it! You're ready to search your Azure DevOps codebase with GitHub Copilot.

🔑 Getting Your Personal Access Token

1. Go to your Azure DevOps organization
2. Click your profile → Personal access tokens
3. Create a new token with Code (read) scope
4. Copy the token and paste it when prompted by the extension

💬 How to Use

GitHub Copilot Chat Integration

Use the ADO chat participant in GitHub Copilot Chat:

@ADO /find OrderService
@ADO /find UserRepository and show in html
@ADO search PaymentService in C#

Available Commands

• /find <symbol> - Search for any code symbol across your organization
• /context - Get detailed context for a specific file and symbol
• /help - Show all available commands

Natural Language Support

Just type naturally in Copilot Chat:

• "Find OrderService class"
• "Search for PaymentProcessor"
• "Show me UserRepository and present results"

Right-Click Context Menu

Right-click any symbol in C#, TypeScript, or JavaScript files and select "ADO Search: Find All Occurrences" for instant search.

Hover Provider

Hover over any symbol in supported files to see:

• Instant ADO search results - No need to manually search
• File locations - See where symbols are defined across your organization
• Quick actions - Open files, refresh cache, view full results
• Smart caching - Fast performance with intelligent cache management

Explorer Panel

The ADO Search Results panel in VS Code Explorer shows:

• Organized results - Grouped by project and repository
• Expandable tree - Drill down to specific files and occurrences
• Quick navigation - Click to open files directly

Copilot Tools Integration

Reference these tools directly in Copilot prompts:

• #adoSearch - Search across all repositories
• #adoSymbolContext - Get specific file context
• #adoAggregate - Present results in tree or HTML view

📊 Result Presentation

Tree View

• Fast loading - Quick overview of all matches
• Organized by project/repository - Easy navigation
• Expandable hierarchy - Drill down to specific files

HTML View

• Rich syntax highlighting - Powered by Prism.js
• Interactive navigation - Click to jump between results
• Direct ADO links - Open files in Azure DevOps
• Print-friendly - Perfect for documentation and sharing
• Offline-friendly - Single HTML file with all content

Smart Auto-Aggregation

Results are automatically presented when you use keywords like:

• "show", "present", "display", "view"
• Or specify: presentation=tree or presentation=html

⚡ Auto-Aggregation Details

The /find command automatically aggregates and presents results when your prompt includes presentation keywords or when you specify a presentation mode explicitly.

Natural Language Triggers

Use these phrases to automatically trigger result aggregation:

@ADO /find RetrieveCertificates and show in html view
@ADO /find UserService and present results  
@ADO /find PaymentProcessor and display in tree
@ADO search OrderService and visualize results

Explicit Presentation Modes

For precise control, specify the presentation mode directly:

@ADO /find OrderService presentation=tree
@ADO /find UserRepository presentation=html maxFiles=30
@ADO /find PaymentService presentation=html window=15

Advanced Parameters

Fine-tune your search and presentation:

@ADO /find OrderService language=cs presentation=html maxFiles=50 window=11
@ADO /find UserService max_results=100 presentation=tree
@ADO /context project=MyProject repo=WebApp path=/src/Services/OrderService.cs symbol=ProcessOrder occurrence=2 window=15

When to Use Each Mode

Feature Comparison

HTML View Structure

When using presentation=html, you get:

1. Header & Statistics - Search summary and result counts
2. Project/Repository Tree - Organized navigation structure
3. File Detail Panel - Code snippets with occurrence highlighting
4. Direct ADO Links - One-click access to source files
5. Syntax Highlighting - Language-aware code presentation
6. Search Term Emphasis - Highlighted matches within code

Performance Tips

• Start with tree view for large result sets (100+ files)
• Use HTML view for focused analysis (< 50 files)
• Adjust maxFiles parameter to control result size
• Use window parameter to control snippet size (default: 11 lines)
• Enable caching for frequently searched symbols

⚡ Performance & Caching

Intelligent Caching System

• Hot Cache - In-memory cache for frequently accessed symbols
• Cold Cache - Persistent disk cache for long-term storage
• Smart Expiration - Configurable cache aging and cleanup
• Performance Monitoring - Built-in cache statistics and health monitoring

Cache Management

• Automatic cleanup - Removes stale entries based on age and size limits
• Manual control - Clear cache, view statistics, refresh specific symbols
• Configuration migration - Seamless updates when settings change
• Error recovery - Graceful fallback when cache is unavailable

Performance Optimizations

• Concurrent requests - Configurable parallel search execution
• Request throttling - Prevents API rate limiting
• Symbol deduplication - Avoids redundant searches
• AST-powered analysis - Fast local symbol detection

⚙️ Configuration

Customize the extension behavior in VS Code settings:

Basic Settings

• copilotAdoSearch.organization - Your Azure DevOps organization name
• copilotAdoSearch.maxConcurrentRequests - Concurrent search requests (1-10, default: 4)
• copilotAdoSearch.maxProjects - Limit projects to search (0 for all)

Advanced Caching Settings

• copilotAdoSearch.cache.enabled - Enable result caching for better performance (default: true)
• copilotAdoSearch.cache.maxAge - Cache expiration in hours (default: 720 hours = 30 days)
• copilotAdoSearch.cache.maxSize - Maximum cache size in MB (default: 100MB)
• copilotAdoSearch.cache.location - Custom cache directory (optional)

Available Commands

Access these commands via Command Palette (Ctrl+Shift+P):

• ADO Search: Set Azure DevOps PAT - Configure your Personal Access Token
• ADO Search: Clear Azure DevOps PAT - Remove stored PAT
• ADO Search: Show Results Tree - Open the search results panel
• ADO Search: Find and Present - Search and display results
• ADO Search: Show Cache Statistics - View cache performance metrics
• ADO Search: Clear Symbol Cache - Reset the symbol cache

🔐 Privacy & Security

• Secure storage: Your Personal Access Token is stored securely using VS Code Secret Storage
• No data collection: The extension only communicates with your Azure DevOps organization
• Local processing: All search results are processed locally in VS Code

🔧 Troubleshooting

Common Issues

Hover not working?

• Ensure you're hovering over symbols in supported languages (C#, TypeScript, JavaScript)
• Check that your ADO organization and PAT are configured correctly
• Try refreshing the symbol cache: Command Palette → "ADO Search: Clear Symbol Cache"

Search results empty?

• Verify your PAT has "Code (read)" permissions
• Check that Code Search is enabled in your Azure DevOps organization
• Ensure the symbol exists in your organization's repositories

Performance issues?

• View cache statistics: Command Palette → "ADO Search: Show Cache Statistics"
• Adjust copilotAdoSearch.maxConcurrentRequests (lower for slower connections)
• Clear cache if it becomes too large: "ADO Search: Clear Symbol Cache"

Configuration problems?

• Use "ADO Search: Show Configuration Help" for guided setup
• Check VS Code settings for copilotAdoSearch.* configuration
• Verify organization name matches your ADO URL (e.g., contoso for dev.azure.com/contoso)

🛠️ Supported Languages

Full Feature Support (Hover + Context Menu + AST Analysis)

• C# (.cs) - Complete symbol analysis and hover support
• TypeScript (.ts, .tsx) - Advanced AST-powered symbol detection
• JavaScript (.js, .jsx) - Full hover and context menu integration

Search Support (via Chat and Tools)

• Python (.py)
• Java (.java)
• C++ (.cpp, .h)
• Go (.go)
• Visual Basic (.vb)
• And more...

Advanced Features by Language

• C# & TypeScript: AST-powered symbol type detection
• All languages: Intelligent symbol kind inference (class, method, interface, etc.)
• Context-aware search: Language-specific search optimizations

🤝 Contributing

Found a bug or have a feature request?

• GitHub: ashishjain85/copilot-ado-search
• Issues: Report bugs and request features
• Pull Requests: Contributions welcome!

📄 License

MIT License - see LICENSE for details.

Made with ❤️ for developers who love efficient code search