Godot Symbol Search

Quick search/gotos for all symbols in currently active scripts.

This is a plugin for the Godot Game Engine created with godot-cpp that provides quick searching/gotos for all symbols in the currently active script file using a currently hardcoded keyboard shortcut: Ctrl + Shift + O. This is a recreation of VSCode's Go To Symbol utility, improving workflow efficiency for developers who are familiar with this ... workflow. Mainly just a pain point for me working in Godot. Now solved.

Table of Contents

• Table of Contents
• Features
• Screenshots
  • Large Script Symbol List
  • Fuzzy Search Filtering
• Usage
• Installation
  • Godot Asset Library (recommended)
  • Releases (easy)
  • Manual (fun)
• Technical Details
  • Surface
  • Deeper
• Contributing
• License

Features

• Quick Symbol Search: Instant access to all symbols in the current script using Ctrl + Shift + O.
• Fuzzy Matching: Find symbols quickly by typing just a few characters. Embrace the lazy.
• Live Navigation: The script editor jumps to the symbol's location as you navigate the search list, providing an immediate preview.
• Reset Cursor Position: If you cancel the search (Esc), the cursor position resets to the starting line and column.
• Comprehensive Symbol Extraction: Currently parses and categorizes func, var, const, signal, and static symbols.
• Detached Script Editor Support: Works when script editor is popped out!
• Symbol Cursor Go-To: Places the caret at the exact line and column of the selected symbol.
• High Performance: Built with C++ (GDExtension) for near-instant indexing and filtering, even in massive script files.

Screenshots

Large Script Symbol List

Fuzzy Search Filtering

Usage

Once the plugin is enabled, you can use the following keyboard shortcuts:

• Trigger the Popup:

  • Press Ctrl + Shift + O.
  • A popup will appear, displaying a list of symbols in your active script, sorted from top to bottom.

• Navigate the List:

  • Use the arrow keys to navigate symbols. The script editor will goto the selected symbol's line as you navigate about.

• Select a Symbol:

  • Press the Enter key.
  • The editor will goto the line your selected symbol is on in the Script Editor.

Installation

Godot Asset Library (recommended)

1. Open Godot → AssetLib tab
2. Search "GodotSymbolSearch" → Download
3. Project → Project Settings → Plugins → Enable Godot Symbol Search
4. Restart the Editor

Releases (easy)

Head to releases and download whatever version you want. I'll have files for Windows/Linux/Mac available there.

1. Download a release zip.
   • Latest release
   • All releases
2. Extract to your project's addons dir: ../addons/godot-symbol-search.
3. Enable the plugin:
   1. Project → Project Settings → Plugins
   2. Click to enable Godot Symbol Search

Manual (fun)

You'll have to compile it on your target platform and then enable it in your Godot project. This project requries CMake, GCC, and Ninja my preference recommended.

1. Clone the Repository.

   cd godot-symbol-search/
   git clone https://github.com/travlee/godot-symbol-search.git .
   

2. Compiling: This plugin is written in C++ using godot-cpp. You must compile the plugin for your specific OS and architecture using CMake. I use Ninja as the build system, if you use Visual Studio, the output dir will differ so you'll have to combine them into the addons/godot_symbol_search/ dir.

   • From the root of the project, configure the CMake build:

     cmake -G Ninja -S . -B build -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=Release
     

   • Build the plugin:

     cmake --build build --config Release
     

   • After building, simply copy the ./godot/addons/godot_symbol_search/ dir to your project's ./addons/ dir.

3. Enable the Plugin in Godot:

   • Project → Project Settings → Plugins
   • Click to enable Godot Symbol Search

Technical Details

Surface

You can write Godot plugins in GDScript fairly easily, but I choose to do this in C++ which comes with more hurdles but worthy (to me) benefits.

• Blazingly Fast: The main benefit of using C++, searching through thousands of lines of code happens instantly without slowing down your editor. I tested this on a 10k LoC file with zero issues.
• Full Script Parsing: The whole active file is read to extract out all important symbols (funcs, vars, signals).
• Deep Editor Integration: It hooks directly into the Godot Editor, allowing it to work even if you have your script editor popped out in a separate window.

Deeper

This plugin is implemented in C++ using Godot's GDExtension system and the godot-cpp bindings.

• Plugin Architecture: Inherits from EditorPlugin and registers custom logic at the EDITOR initialization level.
• Symbol Extraction: Uses regex to parse the active Script resource's source code on-demand.
• UI System: Built using native Godot Control nodes (PanelContainer, LineEdit, ItemList) for consistent styling and low overhead. Also allows for easy style customization by editing the godot_symbol_search_panel.tscn scene file.
• Input Handling: Intercepts input events to provide a responsive, modal-like experience without interfering with other editor shortcuts.

For the deepest dive into the implementation, see TECHNICAL_OVERVIEW.md.

Contributing

If you encounter any bugs, have suggestions for new features, or would like to improve the existing code, please feel free to:

• Open an Issue: Describe the bug or feature request in detail on the GitHub issue tracker.
• Submit a Pull Request: Fork the repo, make some changes, and submit a PR.

License

MIT