Glob Tool

The Glob tool finds files by name pattern. It is the fastest way to locate files by extension, naming convention, or directory structure. Results are sorted by modification time (most recently modified first), helping you quickly find recently changed files.

Parameters

Parameter	Type	Required	Description
`search_pattern`	string	Yes	Glob pattern to match file paths
`search_path`	string	No	Directory to search within (default: project root)

Pattern Syntax

Glob supports the full range of standard pattern syntax:

Syntax	Description	Example
`*`	Match any characters in a single path segment	`*.ts` matches `utils.ts`, `index.ts`
`**`	Match any characters across path segments (recursive)	`*/.test.ts` matches all test files anywhere
`?`	Match a single character	`page?.tsx` matches `page1.tsx`, `pageA.tsx`
`[abc]`	Match any character in brackets	`file[0-9].txt` matches `file1.txt`, `file2.txt`
`{a,b}`	Match either pattern (brace expansion)	`*.{ts,tsx}` matches all TypeScript files

Usage Examples

Find by Extension

> Find all TypeScript files in the project

Agent invokes Glob:
  search_pattern: **/*.ts

Result:
  src/index.ts
  src/lib/utils.ts
  src/components/Button.tsx
  src/__tests__/utils.test.ts
  ... (92 files)

Find in Specific Directory

> What's in the components directory?

Agent invokes Glob:
  search_pattern: *
  search_path: src/components

Result:
  src/components/Button.tsx
  src/components/Header.tsx
  src/components/Sidebar.tsx
  src/components/Footer.tsx

Find by Naming Convention

> Find all test files

Agent invokes Glob:
  search_pattern: **/*.test.{ts,tsx}

Result:
  src/__tests__/auth.test.ts
  src/__tests__/utils.test.ts
  src/__tests__/components/Button.test.tsx
  ... (15 files)

Find Configuration Files

> Find all config files at any depth

Agent invokes Glob:
  search_pattern: **/*config*.*

Result:
  next.config.ts
  tailwind.config.ts
  vitest.config.ts
  .eslintrc.config.js

Sorting

Results are sorted by modification time, with the most recently modified files appearing first. This is useful for:

Finding files that were recently changed
Identifying active areas of the codebase
Checking what was modified in the current work session

Limits

Maximum 100 files returned per call
If more files match, results are truncated — narrow your pattern or use search_path to scope the search
Common non-source directories are automatically excluded

Excluded Directories

The following directories are automatically excluded to keep results focused on source files:

node_modules
.git
dist
build
__pycache__
venv
.next
coverage
And other common build/output directories

When to Use Glob vs Grep

Use Glob when...	Use Grep when...
You know the file name pattern	You know the content you're looking for
Finding files by extension	Finding which files contain a function
Discovering project structure	Searching for a specific import
Locating config/test files	Finding all usages of a variable

Tip: Glob and Grep are often used together. First use Glob to find candidate files, then use Grep to find specific content within them, or Read to examine them.

Common Patterns

Find all source files in a language:

**/*.ts          # TypeScript
**/*.py          # Python
**/*.go          # Go
**/*.rs          # Rust

Find specific file types:

**/*.{ts,tsx}    # All TypeScript + TSX
**/*.{css,scss}  # All stylesheets
**/*.{json,yaml} # Config files

Find files at a specific depth:

src/*/index.ts   # index.ts one level deep in src
src/**/index.ts  # index.ts at any depth in src

Find recently modified Markdown:

**/*.md           # All markdown files (sorted by mtime)

Scoped search:

*.test.ts         # Files ending with .test.ts in root only
**/*.test.ts      # Files ending with .test.ts anywhere

Next Steps

Grep — Searching file contents with regex
Read — Reading files found by Glob
Tools Overview — All available tools