RP Explorer

flow-next-rp-explorer is a thin layer over rp-cli for exploring an unfamiliar codebase without burning context on full-file reads.

Trigger phrases: “use rp to explore how auth works”, “use repoprompt to find similar patterns”, “use rp to understand the data flow”.

When to use it

• New codebase, unclear structure.
• Looking for prior patterns before writing new code.
• Need a structural map of a subsystem without reading every file.
• Building a context bundle for an external review.

The workflow

Step	Command	Why
Overview	rp-cli -e 'tree' / structure .	Get the shape of the repo without reading any file body.
Find files	rp-cli -e 'search "auth" --context-lines 2'	Locate the right files by string match with minimal surrounding lines.
Builder	rp-cli -e 'builder "understand authentication"'	AI-powered discovery — rp selects relevant files for you.
Deep dive	rp-cli -e 'select set src/auth/ && structure --scope selected'	Read structure only inside the relevant subtree.
Read a file	rp-cli -e 'read src/auth/login.ts'	Targeted read when you actually need the body.
Export	rp-cli -e 'context --all > codebase-map.md'	Bundle selected files for paste into an external model.

Token efficiency

• structure returns headers, signatures, and outlines instead of full file bodies. Roughly 10× fewer tokens for the same comprehension gain.
• builder does the file selection so you do not need to chain search + read + judgment.
• Always narrow the selection before exporting; context --all on a large repo can blow past most context windows.

Tab isolation

builder creates an isolated compose tab automatically. Subsequent commands target it via -t:

rp-cli -w W -t "<tab-name>" -e 'select add extra.ts && context'

Or chain in one invocation:

rp-cli -w W -e 'builder "find auth" && select add extra.ts && context'

Requirements

• RepoPrompt v1.5.62+ with rp-cli available on the path.
• macOS (RepoPrompt is a Mac-native app). On Linux or Windows, use /flow-next:export-context instead.

What this is not

• Not a search engine. It does not index across many repos; it operates on the workspace rp knows about.
• Not a replacement for Read and Grep inside the agent. It is a different shape — structural-first instead of body-first.

Next step

After exploring, the typical handoff is into planning or capture:

/flow-next:capture
/flow-next:plan <feature-description>