Repo Grep Checks

After setting up a Git Repository Integration, OpsLevel can continuously scan your code repositories and verify all of the operational best practices you've defined.

Repo Grep Checks operate very similarly to Repo File Checks. As such, we recommend reading the docs on Repo File and Repo Search Checks before beginning to experiment further with Repo Grep Checks. Note that we also have a special Package Version check as well, which may cover your use case.

The Repo Grep Check

With Repo Grep Checks, you can verify the existence or contents of files or folders in your repo. While Repo File and Repo Search Checks can resolve most use-cases, there are certain circumstances with which Repo Grep Checks can offer additional capabilities. For example:

Searching multiple specific files
Searching using glob patterns
Searching for certain special characters
Repo Grep checks support exists, fixed-string, regex, and version constraints

How File Path Globbing Works

Repo Grep Checks use Bash globbing to match file paths, with two shell options enabled:

globstar - enables ** for recursive directory matching
extglob - enables extended glob patterns like *.*(yml|yaml)

This means file paths support standard Bash glob syntax, not regular expressions or the globbing from other tools (e.g., .gitignore or ripgrep's --glob).

Supported Patterns

Pattern	Meaning	Example
`*`	Matches any characters within a single directory level	`*.py` matches `app.py` but not `src/app.py`
`**`	Matches zero or more directories recursively	`*/.py` matches `app.py`, `src/app.py`, `a/b/c/app.py`
`?`	Matches exactly one character	`?.py` matches `a.py` but not `ab.py`
`*(pattern\|pattern)`	Extglob - matches zero or more occurrences of the given patterns	`.(yml\|yaml)` matches `config.yml` and `config.yaml`

Hidden (Dot) Directories and `**`

Bash's globstar does not match hidden directories (those starting with .) when using **. For example, **/CODEOWNERS will match CODEOWNERS and docs/CODEOWNERS but will not match .github/CODEOWNERS. To include hidden directories, specify them explicitly or list multiple paths.

Path Sanitization

OpsLevel normalizes file paths before execution. Leading /, ~/, ../, and ./ prefixes are stripped. All paths are treated as relative to the repository root (or the service's configured repo sub-path for monorepos). For example, /src/*.py becomes src/*.py.

Common Patterns

Use Case	File Paths
All Python files recursively	`*/.py`
YAML files in any directory	`*/.yml, */.yaml` or `*/.*(yml\|yaml)`
Dockerfiles at repo root or one level deep	`Dockerfile, */Dockerfile`
All files in `.github/workflows`	`.github/workflows/*`
CODEOWNERS in common locations	`CODEOWNERS, .github/CODEOWNERS, docs/CODEOWNERS`

Repo Grep Check Examples

Ensure services are declaring code ownership

You may have a mandate for all services to declare code owners within their repo. While these could exist in a CODEOWNERS file at the repo root, there might be situations where a legacy service defines owners in a .github folder, or in the docs folder as supported by GitHub. If both of these are permissible, you can use Repo Grep Checks to ensure at least one of the files exists:

Predicate	File Paths
`Exists`	`CODEOWNERS, .github/CODEOWNERS, docs/CODEOWNERS`

We use explicit paths here instead of **/CODEOWNERS because Bash's ** does not descend into hidden directories like .github/. See Hidden (Dot) Directories and ** above for details.

Ensure JavaScript services lock their dependencies using yarn or npm

You may have a policy that all JavaScript services use yarn or npm. You can use Repo Grep Checks to make sure this policy is being followed:

Predicate	File Paths
`Exists`	`package-lock.json, yarn.lock`

Ensure Python services no longer use the deprecated "plank" library

Say you have a policy that all Python services can no longer use a deprecated library called plank. You can use Repo Grep Checks to enforce this policy:

Predicate	Search Term	File Paths
`Does Not Contain`	`import plank`	`*/.py`

And More!

Those were just some examples to get the creative juices flowing. But there's tons more you can do with Repo Grep Checks. If you have any questions, or just come up with some interesting checks you want to share, hit us up at [email protected].