When a repository contains live chapters, research notes, and archived drafts, a broad Grep result is not automatically a better result. Anchor the search at the folder that owns the text you are allowed to change, then verify several returned paths before editing.
In the controlled example, chapters/ contained 11 matches, while the parent project contained 19. The additional eight came from five note matches and three archived matches. The correct working count was 11 because the assignment concerned current chapters only.
Decide what the selected folder means
A folder name is not proof of authority. Before searching, write a short scope sentence:
root=novel/chapters | live files=.md | outside=notes, archive | query=Harbor House
Choose chapters/ only after confirming that it contains the current manuscript. If an editor has moved accepted revisions into final/, the same folder selection would be wrong even though the search tool behaves correctly.
The test described here selected chapters/ as the search root. It did not demonstrate an extension filter or an automatic exclusion rule for neighboring folders.
A path-first Grep routine
Open the narrow root
Open novel/chapters/ as the working folder rather than novel/. Confirm the root shown by the app or inspect the shared prefix of the first few result paths.
Run one literal query
Search for Harbor House without enabling replacement. Read the total, but do not accept it yet. Open a result near the start, one in the middle, and one near the end. Every sampled path should begin with chapters/.
Compare the parent only as a diagnostic
If you need evidence that the boundary matters, run the same query once from novel/. In the observed specimen, the selected folder returned 11 matches and the parent returned 19. Five extra paths belonged to notes/; three belonged to archive/.
Do not merge the 19 simply because it looks comprehensive. Notes may quote the same sentence, and archived files may preserve text that should never be changed.
Keep a compact scope record
| Field | Example |
|---|---|
| selected root | novel/chapters/ |
| intended files | current .md chapters |
| outside scope | notes/, archive/ |
| selected count | 11 |
| parent count | 19 |
| sampled paths | first, middle, last result |
Before changing any occurrence, read its surrounding sentence. Scope selection prevents edits in the wrong folders; it does not decide whether every use of the words means the same thing.
What Rune Studio contributed
Rune Studio returned 11 matches from the selected chapters/ folder and 19 from its parent. The five note matches and three archived matches were absent from the selected result. Its published feature set describes file, selected-scope, and workspace search, followed by replacement after results are reviewed.
This does not automate the decision that chapters/ is the source of truth. It also does not establish every regular-expression behavior, binary replacement, or semantic approval of matches.
Accept the result by path, not count alone
A selected-folder Grep passes when the chosen root matches the editing assignment, sampled result paths stay under that root, and the count difference can be explained by folders deliberately left outside. In this example, 11 is useful and 19 is too broad.
Start with one query and three sampled paths. If folder-scoped search is central to your writing project, review Rune Studio’s current product details before applying changes.
