Technique 09 / 14 · Noise reduction
Grep/glob compressor
Keep a broad search from returning every match in build output and node_modules.
Interactive model
See the context change.
grep -rn "useAuth" . in a web app with build output and dependencies.
grep -rn "useAuth" .
- 01
src/hooks/useAuth.ts (4)
- 02
src/pages/Account.tsx (2)
- 03
src/components/Nav.tsx (3)
- 04
⋮ 5 more files
- 05
+3 more files, 80 matches capped
Conceptual demonstration. Counts illustrate the flow, not measured production savings.
How it works
Less context. Same thread of work.
A broad grep or glob can return hundreds of matches, many from bundles, coverage reports and dependencies. DistilCode groups results by file with a match count and the first matching line, so the agent sees where a name lives before it sees every occurrence.
Long result lists are capped, and a note says how many files and matches were left out. viewraw lists them all when the agent needs the complete set.
In practice
The operating loop
- 01
Group by file
Each file appears once, with its match count and first match.
- 02
Cap the list
Runaway results stop at a fixed number of files.
- 03
Say what was cut
A note counts the omitted files and matches, and viewraw returns them.