LateOn-Code & ColGrep: LightOn unveils state-of-the-art code retrieval models and code search tooling

LightOn has introduced two advanced models for code retrieval, LateOn-Code and LateOn-Code-edge, which offer high-performing, locally-run solutions for semantic code search, surpassing larger models in efficacy. Accompanying these models is ColGrep, a Rust-based command-line tool designed to enhance coding agents' search capabilities by integrating semantic ranking with traditional regex-based filtering, allowing for efficient and secure local searches without remote storage. The LateOn-Code models, built on the CoRNStack methodology, are pre-trained across multiple programming languages and fine-tuned for specific tasks, demonstrating superior performance in various benchmarks. ColGrep facilitates improved code retrieval by leveraging these models to outperform traditional grep in 70% of direct comparisons, significantly reducing token usage and enhancing search efficiency. The tool's hybrid approach, combining regex constraints with semantic ranking, provides coding agents with a robust method for navigating complex codebases and handling intricate queries, marking a significant advancement in local code search technology.