Atlas locates where a behavior is implemented in a Go module by attacking the problem from three angles at once: codebase_search for meaning, grep for exact text, and the lsp tool for the symbol graph. You describe what the software does, for example that requests without a valid token get a 401, and the semantic index returns candidate Go declarations even when the words you used never appear in the source. grep confirms the literal identifier, read opens the file, and the lsp tool's findReferences operation shows every call site across your packages.
How do I find which Go file implements a behavior when I do not know the function name?
Describe the behavior to codebase_search. Atlas attacks retrieval from 3 angles, codebase_search for meaning, grep for exact text, and the lsp tool for the symbol graph, so asking how expired tokens are rejected surfaces the middleware in internal/auth even when the Go function is called guard.
Naming is the reason Go codebases are hard to search literally. A package named internal/authz may hold a func with a receiver method named check, and grep for the word expired returns nothing useful. Atlas searches code with hybrid semantic and keyword retrieval fused by reciprocal rank fusion, which means the meaning-based hit and the literal hit are ranked together rather than being two separate searches you run and reconcile by hand. Atlas indexes code by AST declarations using tree-sitter, not blind line windows, so a result lands on the func, the type, or the interface itself, which for Go usually means you land directly on the receiver method that implements the behavior.
Why does Atlas use grep as well as semantic search in a Go module?
Atlas confirms candidates with grep, which takes a real regex plus include and path filters and runs through ripgrep. In a Go module, grep is how a ranked guess becomes certainty: search the exact identifier and see every occurrence across the 3 usual roots, cmd/, internal/, and pkg/, before concluding anything.
Semantic search proposes and grep disposes. codebase_search says the token check probably lives in internal/auth/middleware.go, and grep for the interface name it implements, for example Authenticator, tells you whether three other types in the Go module satisfy the same interface. The include and path filters keep the noise down when a vendored dependency or a generated _test.go file would otherwise flood the results. Both angles are cheap, and running both is what turns a plausible answer into one you would act on, which matters because the next step is usually editing the file you just decided was responsible.
What happens when Atlas guesses the wrong Go file path?
Atlas fails loudly. Opening a wrong path with the read tool returns File not found plus a Did you mean list, so a mistyped internal/auth/middlware.go produces a correction, not 0 results and a false conclusion that the Go code does not exist. Pick the right path from the suggestions and read again.
Silent failure is the quiet enemy of agent-driven code search. An agent that reads a nonexistent path and gets an empty result will reason from that emptiness, and in a Go repository with cmd/, internal/, and pkg/ directories that all contain similarly named files, a one-character path mistake is easy to make. The Did you mean list turns that dead end into a correction. Combined with grep, which runs through ripgrep with include and path filters, and codebase_search, which ranks by meaning, the retrieval loop converges instead of drifting.
How do I see every call site of a Go function with Atlas?
Use the lsp tool's findReferences operation to see every call site, and workspaceSymbol to jump to a declaration by name. In a Go module where 1 interface is satisfied by 4 types across 3 packages, findReferences is what tells you the true blast radius before you change a signature.
The symbol graph is the third angle, and it is the one that answers questions the other two cannot. codebase_search finds meaning. grep finds text. The lsp tool finds structure: who calls this, where is it declared, what satisfies this interface. That is precisely the information a Go developer needs before touching a method that shows up in a hot path. Atlas ships all three rather than one fuzzy search box because they are complementary, and the answer Atlas gives you at the end is a summary of the call path with concrete file and line references you can open.
What do I do after Atlas locates the Go code responsible?
Once Atlas summarizes the call path with concrete file and line references, run go test on the 2 or 3 packages involved to confirm the current behavior, and let gofmt keep any change consistent. In a module with a go.mod, Atlas has already read your packages, interfaces, and go.sum dependencies.
Location is the beginning of the work, not the end. With the responsible receiver method identified in internal/auth/middleware.go and every call site enumerated by the lsp tool's findReferences operation, a change becomes tractable: add a table-driven test in the same package, run go test, and read the failure. go mod is the package manager, so a change that needs a new dependency is recorded in go.mod and go.sum rather than assumed. gofmt is the formatter, so the diff a reviewer reads is behavior. Atlas computes a unified diff for every file edit and surfaces it for approval before writing.
Step by step
- 01Run atlas in a module with a go.mod and let it read your packages, interfaces, and go.sum dependencies.
- 02Describe the behavior to codebase_search in plain language; the semantic index returns candidate Go declarations even when your words do not appear in the source.
- 03Confirm with grep, which takes a real regex plus include and path filters and runs through ripgrep, scoping the search to internal/ or pkg/ as needed.
- 04Open the best candidate with read; a wrong guess fails loudly with File not found plus a Did you mean list, so bad paths do not go unnoticed.
- 05Use the lsp tool's findReferences operation to see every call site of the Go function or interface method you found.
- 06Use the lsp tool's workspaceSymbol operation to jump straight to a declaration by name when you already know the identifier.
- 07Have Atlas summarize the call path back to you with concrete file and line references before any edit is proposed.
- 08Verify the current behavior with go test on the affected packages, and keep any subsequent change formatted with gofmt.
Frequently asked questions
- how to find where a feature is implemented in a large go codebase
- Describe the behavior to Atlas and codebase_search queries the semantic index, returning candidate Go declarations even when your words do not appear in the source. Confirm the identifier with grep through ripgrep, open it with read, then map call sites with the lsp tool's findReferences operation.
- semantic code search vs grep for go
- Both, together. Atlas searches code with hybrid semantic and keyword retrieval fused by reciprocal rank fusion, so codebase_search finds meaning while grep confirms exact text with include and path filters. The lsp tool adds the symbol graph, which neither of the other two provides.
- how do i find every caller of a go function
- Use the lsp tool's findReferences operation in Atlas. It returns every call site, which is what you need before changing a method signature in a Go module where an interface may be satisfied by several types across packages.
- what happens if an ai agent reads a file path that does not exist
- In Atlas the read tool fails loudly with File not found plus a Did you mean list, so a mistyped path in a Go repo full of similarly named files under cmd/, internal/, and pkg/ is corrected instead of being treated as an empty file.
- does atlas index go code by function or by line chunks
- Atlas indexes code by AST declarations using tree-sitter, not blind line windows, so a codebase_search hit in a Go module lands on the func, type, or interface declaration itself rather than on an arbitrary slice of lines.
- can atlas explain the call path after it finds the code
- Yes. Atlas summarizes the call path back to you with concrete file and line references, built from codebase_search results, grep confirmations, and the lsp tool's findReferences and workspaceSymbol operations.
- how do i keep my go code private while using code search
- Atlas can build its code index with local Ollama embeddings, keeping code off third-party servers. The semantic index over your go.mod module is then built on your machine, and every Atlas tool call remains permission-gated against allow, ask, and deny rules.
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Install AtlasRelated guides
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