# Project repositories

> The model in Buff Code searches and reads the project’s code in Buff without a clone on the machine: file search, content search and reading on any branch.

A development project in Buff is a [pool of repositories](/en/docs/repositories). The model in Buff Code sees
all of them, even if the developer’s machine holds only one of them or entirely different code:
the tools of the **repos** server search and read the project’s copy in Buff.

Why it matters: a neighbouring microservice, a shared library, configuration in an adjacent repository —
the model looks there itself instead of guessing about the “neighbouring” code.

## Tools

| Tool | What it does |
| --- | --- |
| `repos_glob` | find files by a pattern in the project’s code: directory, hidden files, number of results |
| `repos_grep` | find lines by a regular expression or exact text, with a file pattern |
| `repos_read` | read a file or a directory: lines are numbered, a large file comes in parts |

Each has a **branch** parameter: empty — the repository’s main branch, otherwise any
existing one. This way the model can check its edit against what already sits in a colleague’s branch.

Word, Excel, PowerPoint and PDF documents from the repository are read as text — as in
[“Ask”](/en/docs/ask).

_Illustration: A developer asked what the project’s repositories contain. The model read them in Buff — this code is not on the developer’s machine — and answered with a table._

## Your files and the project’s files

The model tells two places apart:

- **your working folder** — Buff Code’s usual tools: read, edit, run;
- **the project in Buff** — the `repos_*` tools: read-only, paths from the repository root.

Edits go only to the working folder. Nothing in Buff’s repositories changes from Buff Code —
for changes in the project there are [tasks](/en/docs/tasks) and your usual git.

## What you need

- **A chosen project** in the [working context](/en/docs/buff-code/sign-in). Without a project the model
  gets “First choose a project in the Buff Code working context (/project)”.
- A [connector](/en/docs/connector) **v0.15.0** or newer.
- The developer’s access to this project in Buff.

## How it is counted

`repos_*` calls are reads: they cost no tokens and do not go into the audit log, just like reading
code in the workspace. Call results are recorded in [development sessions](/en/docs/buff-code/sessions)
together with the model’s answer.

The first call in a project may answer “Buff is still preparing the answer: the project repository is loading
for the first time or the search is very broad” — the model repeats the same call half a minute later and gets the whole
answer. A long answer comes in parts, with a hint where to continue.