# Are there any helpers for searching a complex code base in VS Code?

**URL:** <https://discourse.julialang.org/t/are-there-any-helpers-for-searching-a-complex-code-base-in-vs-code/123522>\
**Category:** General Usage\
**Created:** [December 6, 2024, 12:43am UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/are-there-any-helpers-for-searching-a-complex-code-base-in-vs-code/123522 "2024-12-06T00:43:03Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 6\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![PetrKryslUCSD](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/julialang/user_avatar/discourse.julialang.org/petrkryslucsd/32/215825_2.png) [@PetrKryslUCSD](https://discourse.julialang.org/u/PetrKryslUCSD)\
**Post date:** [December 6, 2024, 12:43am UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/are-there-any-helpers-for-searching-a-complex-code-base-in-vs-code/123522/1 "2024-12-06T00:43:03Z")

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LSP is no help. What do people use? Is there an extension for that sort of thing?

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**Author:** ![TI36XPro](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/julialang/user_avatar/discourse.julialang.org/ti36xpro/32/33658_2.png) [@TI36XPro](https://discourse.julialang.org/u/TI36XPro)\
**Post date:** [December 6, 2024, 1:04am UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/are-there-any-helpers-for-searching-a-complex-code-base-in-vs-code/123522/2 "2024-12-06T01:04:20Z")

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I use `methods` often and just control click to open the source for the code I’m interested in. Alternatively, I’ve cloned the repo of the package I’m interested in and the LSP seems to work well then. Lastly, I’ve occasionally used Cthulu.jl to track down a particular call but I do that in a standalone REPL in the terminal rather than in VSCode.

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**Author:** ![PetrKryslUCSD](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/julialang/user_avatar/discourse.julialang.org/petrkryslucsd/32/215825_2.png) [@PetrKryslUCSD](https://discourse.julialang.org/u/PetrKryslUCSD)\
**Post date:** [December 6, 2024, 1:12am UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/are-there-any-helpers-for-searching-a-complex-code-base-in-vs-code/123522/3 "2024-12-06T01:12:54Z")

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Exuberant ctags, anyone?

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**Author:** ![PetrKryslUCSD](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/julialang/user_avatar/discourse.julialang.org/petrkryslucsd/32/215825_2.png) [@PetrKryslUCSD](https://discourse.julialang.org/u/PetrKryslUCSD)\
**Post date:** [December 6, 2024, 7:14pm UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/are-there-any-helpers-for-searching-a-complex-code-base-in-vs-code/123522/4 "2024-12-06T19:14:15Z")

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Actually, I should mention that workspaces together with “go to symbol in workspace” (ctrl+t) work rather well. The disadvantage is that one has to manage the workspaces manually.

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**Author:** ![ufechner7](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/julialang/user_avatar/discourse.julialang.org/ufechner7/32/51363_2.png) [@ufechner7](https://discourse.julialang.org/u/ufechner7)\
**Post date:** [December 6, 2024, 7:30pm UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/are-there-any-helpers-for-searching-a-complex-code-base-in-vs-code/123522/5 "2024-12-06T19:30:08Z")

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What do you mean with “workspaces”? What do you mean with “managing work spaces”?

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**Author:** ![PetrKryslUCSD](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/julialang/user_avatar/discourse.julialang.org/petrkryslucsd/32/215825_2.png) [@PetrKryslUCSD](https://discourse.julialang.org/u/PetrKryslUCSD)\
**Post date:** [December 6, 2024, 7:38pm UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/are-there-any-helpers-for-searching-a-complex-code-base-in-vs-code/123522/6 "2024-12-06T19:38:27Z")

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> **[Workspaces in Visual Studio Code](https://code.visualstudio.com/docs/editor/workspaces)**
>
> Learn about Visual Studio Code workspaces

I simply mean that the folders need to be added manually (or removed), instead of this being based on the structure of the Julia packages.