pr-agent/docs/docs/tools/similar_code.md

## Overview

The similar code tool retrieves the most similar code components from inside the organization's codebase, or from open-source code.

For example:

`Global Search` for a method called `chat_completion`:

![similar code global](https://codium.ai/images/pr_agent/similar_code_global2.png){width=768}

Qodo Merge will examine the code component and will extract the most relevant keywords to search for similar code:

- `extracted keywords`: the keywords that were extracted from the code by Qodo Merge. the link will open a search page with the extracted keywords, to allow the user to modify the search if needed.
- `search context`: the context in which the search will be performed, organization's codebase or open-source code (Global).
- `similar code`: the most similar code components found. the link will open the code component in the relevant file.
- `relevant repositories`: the open-source repositories in which that are relevant to the searched code component and it's keywords.

Search result link example:

![code search result single](https://codium.ai/images/pr_agent/code_search_result_single.png){width=768}

`Organization Search`:

![similar code org](https://codium.ai/images/pr_agent/similar_code_org.png){width=768}

## How to use

### Manually

To invoke the `similar code` tool manually, comment on the PR:

```
/find_similar_component COMPONENT_NAME
```

Where `COMPONENT_NAME` should be the name of a code component in the PR (class, method, function).

If there is a name ambiguity, there are two configurations that will help the tool to find the correct component:

- `--pr_find_similar_component.file`: in case there are several components with the same name, you can specify the relevant file.
- `--pr_find_similar_component.class_name`: in case there are several methods with the same name in the same file, you can specify the relevant class name.

example:

```
/find_similar_component COMPONENT_NAME --pr_find_similar_component.file=FILE_NAME
```

### Automatically (via Analyze table)

It can be invoked automatically from the analyze table, can be accessed by:

```
/analyze
```

Choose the components you want to find similar code for, and click on the `similar` checkbox.

![analyze similar](https://codium.ai/images/pr_agent/analyze_similar.png){width=768}

You can search for similar code either within the organization's codebase or globally, which includes open-source repositories. Each result will include the relevant code components along with their associated license details.

![similar code global](https://codium.ai/images/pr_agent/similar_code_global.png){width=768}

## Configuration options

- `search_from_org`: if set to true, the tool will search for similar code in the organization's codebase. Default is false.
- `number_of_keywords`: number of keywords to use for the search. Default is 5.
- `number_of_results`: the maximum number of results to present. Default is 5.