ng-explorer

A CLI tool to efficiently search and explore Angular components, services, directives, and other constructs in Angular projects.

Installation

npm install -g ng-explorer

Claude Code Integration

For Claude Code users, install the plugin to enable the /ng-explorer skill:

# Add the marketplace
/plugin marketplace add willmartian/claude-plugins

# Install the plugin
/plugin install ng-explorer@willmartian

Once installed, you can use /ng-explorer directly in your Claude Code sessions to search Angular constructs.

Prerequisites

ng-explorer uses Compodoc under the hood. You need to generate the documentation first:

# From repository root
npx compodoc -p tsconfig.json -e json -d . --disablePrivate --disableProtected

This creates a documentation.json file in the repository root.

Usage

Basic Search

Search for Angular constructs by name, or omit the query to list all:

# Fuzzy search for anything matching "foo"
ng-explorer foo

# List all components
ng-explorer --type component

# Search only components matching "foo"
ng-explorer foo --type component

# Search directives
ng-explorer tooltip --type directive

# Search in specific subdirectory
ng-explorer form --path "libs/common/src/components/**"

# Exact name match (no fuzzy search)
ng-explorer FooComponent --exact

# Exact match with type filter
ng-explorer BarService --exact --type injectable

Verbose API Details

Show full API details using the --verbose flag:

# View component API (exact match + verbose)
ng-explorer FooComponent --exact --verbose

The verbose view shows:

• For Components: selector, standalone status, inputs, outputs, properties, methods, constructor dependencies
• For Services: properties, methods, constructor dependencies
• For Directives: selector, inputs, outputs, methods
• For Pipes: pipe name, pure status

Custom Documentation Path

If your documentation.json is in a different location:

ng-explorer --doc-path /path/to/documentation.json foo
ng-explorer -d ./docs/documentation.json FooService --exact --verbose

Command Reference

ng-explorer [query] [options]

Search for Angular constructs by name or list all constructs.

Arguments:

• [query] - Search query string (optional - omit to list all)

Options:

• -d, --doc-path <path> - Path to documentation.json file (default: ./documentation.json)
• -t, --type <type> - Filter by type: component, injectable, directive, pipe, module, class, all (default: all)
• -p, --path <pattern> - Filter by file path pattern (supports wildcards like apps/web/** or libs/common/**)
• -l, --limit <number> - Limit number of results (default: 50)
• -v, --verbose - Show full API details for each result
• -e, --exact - Use exact name matching instead of fuzzy search

Examples:

# Fuzzy search
ng-explorer foo
ng-explorer bar --type injectable

# Exact match
ng-explorer FooComponent --exact

# Show verbose API details
ng-explorer FooComponent --exact --verbose
ng-explorer foo --verbose

# Combine filters
ng-explorer foo --path "apps/web/**" --type component

# Custom documentation path
ng-explorer -d ./docs/documentation.json foo

Troubleshooting

Error: Failed to parse documentation.json

The documentation file may be corrupted. Try regenerating it:

rm documentation.json
npx compodoc -p tsconfig.json -e json -d . --disablePrivate --disableProtected

License

GPL-3.0