syms

Fast project-wide symbol search using tree-sitter. Like ripgrep, but for symbols.

$ syms
rs   fn         [pub] extract_symbols    src/parser.rs:12:34:8      pub fn extract_symbols(path: &Arc<Path>, source: &[u8], lang: Language) -> Result<Vec<Symbol>> {
rs   method     [pub] Language.from_path  src/language.rs:51:53:12   pub fn from_path(path: &Path) -> Option<Self> {
tsx  component  [pub] App                src/App.tsx:3:5:17          export function App({ name }: { name: string }) {
tsx  hook       [pub] useAuth            src/hooks.ts:7:9:17         export function useAuth() {
py   test       [pub] test_login_flow    tests/test_app.py:4:5:5    def test_login_flow():
go   method     [pub] Server.Start       main.go:7:9:18             func (s *Server) Start() error {

cargo install syms

• 14 languages built-in: Rust, TypeScript, TSX, JavaScript, Go, Python, C, C++, Java, Ruby, PHP, Bash, CSS, Lua
• Custom languages via ~/.config/syms/languages/*.toml (any tree-sitter grammar)
• Symbol signatures — full declaration, not just the name
• Parent context — Class.method, Impl.function, Receiver.Method
• Visibility — [pub]/[prv] tags, --exported filter
• Semantic kinds — React components, hooks, test functions
• fzf/skim integration — --fzf/--sk with tree-sitter-aware preview showing the exact symbol body
• JSON output — -o json or -o jsonl for tool integration
• Zero config — works instantly on any project

syms                              # all symbols in current directory
syms src/                         # search specific directory
syms --kind fn,method             # only functions and methods
syms --lang rs,go --exported      # public Rust and Go symbols
syms --kind test                  # all test functions
syms --kind component             # React components (TSX)
syms --kind hook                  # React hooks
syms -o json | jq '.[]'           # JSON output
syms -o jsonl                     # streaming JSON (one per line)
syms --fzf                        # interactive search with fzf
syms --sk                         # interactive search with skim

When --lang is not passed, syms walks up from the search path and picks a default language based on the first project sentinel it finds:

Explicit --lang always wins — pass --lang ts,tsx inside a Laravel project to override the PHP default, for example.

syms --fzf launches fzf with a tree-sitter-aware preview that shows the exact symbol body — not "10 lines around the match", but the complete function/struct/class from the AST.

Add any tree-sitter grammar via a TOML config:

# ~/.config/syms/languages/nix.toml
extensions = ["nix"]
parser = "/path/to/nix.so"

[[queries]]
kind = "constant"
query = '(binding (attrpath (identifier) @name)) @def'

Compatible with grammars from helix, neovim, or tree-sitter build.

Custom languages can declare a tree-sitter injection query to surface symbols inside nested language regions (e.g. kakscript blocks inside provide-module, define-command, or hook bodies). Point at an injections file, or inline the query:

# ~/.config/syms/languages/kak.toml
extensions = ["kak"]
parser = "/path/to/kak.so"
injections_path = "/path/to/tree-sitter-kak/queries/injections.scm"

Injection targets resolve by language name — the string in #set! injection.language "<name>" (or a @injection.language capture) is matched against built-in languages ("rust", "bash", "python", …) and the name / short of any loaded custom language. Recursion is capped at 8 levels.

MIT