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Library Navigation

These two tools let you register, inspect, and semantically search third-party library source code — directly from within your agent workflow, without leaving the project.

All library access is read-only. Editing tools operate only on project code.

See also: Library Navigation — how auto-discovery works, the scope parameter, and when to navigate library source.

Auto-discovery

The most common way libraries enter the registry is automatically: when an LSP symbol_at request returns a path outside the project root (e.g. a Rust crate in ~/.cargo/registry/, a Python package in .venv/), codescout walks the parent directories looking for a package manifest (Cargo.toml, package.json, pyproject.toml, go.mod) and registers the library.

After auto-discovery, symbol navigation tools can follow references into library code without any manual setup. Use the scope parameter to explicitly target libraries in searches (see below).

scope parameter

Once libraries are registered, pass the optional scope string to any symbol or search tool:

ValueWhat it searches
"project" (default)Only project source code
"lib:<name>"A specific registered library, e.g. "lib:serde"
"libraries"All registered libraries
"all"Project source + all libraries

Tools that accept scope: symbols, symbols, references, semantic_search

All results include a "source" field ("project" or "lib:<name>") to distinguish origin.

library(action: list / register)

Purpose: Show all registered libraries, their root paths, and whether a semantic index has been built for each. Use library(action: list). You can also register a new library manually with library(action: register).

Parameters:

NameTypeRequiredDefaultDescription
actionstringyes—"list" or "register"
pathstringfor register—Root path of the library to register
namestringno—Friendly name for the library (inferred from manifest if omitted)

Example (list):

{ "action": "list" }

Output:

{
  "libraries": [
    {
      "name": "serde",
      "root": "/home/user/.cargo/registry/src/index.crates.io-6f17d22bba15001f/serde-1.0.195/",
      "indexed": false
    },
    {
      "name": "tokio",
      "root": "/home/user/.cargo/registry/src/index.crates.io-6f17d22bba15001f/tokio-1.35.1/",
      "indexed": true
    }
  ],
  "total": 2
}

Tips:

  • Libraries with "indexed": false support symbol navigation (LSP + tree-sitter) but not semantic_search. Run index(action: build) with the library’s root path to add semantic search.
  • The registry is stored in .codescout/libraries.json. You can inspect it directly if you need to edit or remove an entry.

Once a library is registered (via library(action: list) or auto-discovery), build its semantic index by pointing index(action: build) at its root:

{
  "tool": "index",
  "arguments": { "action": "build", "scope": "lib:serde" }
}

After indexing, semantic_search with scope: "lib:<name>" searches within that library:

{
  "tool": "semantic_search",
  "arguments": { "query": "channel with backpressure", "scope": "lib:tokio" }
}

Tips:

  • Only index libraries you actively need to search semantically. LSP symbol navigation (symbols, symbols) works without indexing.
  • Indexing a large library (e.g. tokio) may take a few minutes on the first run. The library path is shown in library(action: list) output.