🔮 CodeGraph

Supercharge Claude Code with Semantic Code Intelligence

94% fewer tool calls • 77% faster exploration • 100% local

Get Started

npx @colbymchenry/codegraph

_{Interactive installer configures Claude Code automatically}

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🚀 Why CodeGraph?

When you ask Claude Code to work on a complex task, it spawns Explore agents that scan your codebase using grep, glob, and file reads. These agents consume tokens with every tool call.

CodeGraph gives those agents a semantic knowledge graph — pre-indexed symbol relationships, call graphs, and code structure. Instead of scanning files, agents query the graph instantly.

📊 Benchmark Results

We tested exploration queries across 6 real-world codebases in different languages, comparing Claude Code's Explore agent with and without CodeGraph:

Average: 92% fewer tool calls · 71% faster

Codebase	With CG	Without CG	Improvement
VS Code · TypeScript	3 calls, 17s	52 calls, 1m 37s	94% fewer · 82% faster
Excalidraw · TypeScript	3 calls, 29s	47 calls, 1m 45s	94% fewer · 72% faster
Claude Code · Python + Rust	3 calls, 39s	40 calls, 1m 8s	93% fewer · 43% faster
Claude Code · Java	1 call, 19s	26 calls, 1m 22s	96% fewer · 77% faster
Alamofire · Swift	3 calls, 22s	32 calls, 1m 39s	91% fewer · 78% faster
Swift Compiler · Swift/C++	6 calls, 35s	37 calls, 2m 8s	84% fewer · 73% faster

Full benchmark details

All tests used Claude Opus 4.6 (1M context) with Claude Code v2.1.91. Each test spawned a single Explore agent with the same question.

Queries used:

Codebase	Query
VS Code	"How does the extension host communicate with the main process?"
Excalidraw	"How does collaborative editing and real-time sync work?"
Claude Code (Python+Rust)	"How does tool execution work end to end?"
Claude Code (Java)	"How does tool execution work end to end?"
Alamofire	"Trace how a request flows from Session.request() through to the URLSession layer"
Swift Compiler	"How does the Swift compiler handle error diagnostics?"

With CodeGraph — the agent uses codegraph_explore and stops:

Codebase	Files Indexed	Nodes	Tool Uses	Tokens	Time	File Reads
VS Code (TypeScript)	4,002	59,377	3	56.6k	17s	0
Excalidraw (TypeScript)	626	9,859	3	57.1k	29s	0
Claude Code (Python+Rust)	115	3,080	3	67.1k	39s	0
Claude Code (Java)	—	—	1	40.8k	19s	0
Alamofire (Swift)	102	2,624	3	57.3k	22s	0
Swift Compiler (Swift/C++)	25,874	272,898	6	77.4k	35s	0

Without CodeGraph — the agent uses grep, find, ls, and Read extensively:

Codebase	Tool Uses	Tokens	Time	File Reads
VS Code (TypeScript)	52	89.4k	1m 37s	~15
Excalidraw (TypeScript)	47	77.9k	1m 45s	~20
Claude Code (Python+Rust)	40	69.3k	1m 8s	~15
Claude Code (Java)	26	73.3k	1m 22s	~15
Alamofire (Swift)	32	52.4k	1m 39s	~10
Swift Compiler (Swift/C++)	37	99.1k	2m 8s	~20

Key observations:

• With CodeGraph, the agent never fell back to reading files — it trusted the codegraph_explore results completely
• Without CodeGraph, agents spent most of their time on discovery (find, ls, grep) before they could even start reading relevant code
• The Java codebase needed only 1 codegraph_explore call to answer the entire question
• Cross-language queries (Python+Rust) worked seamlessly — CodeGraph's graph traversal found connections across language boundaries
• The Swift benchmark (Alamofire) traced a 9-step call chain from Session.request() to URLSession.dataTask() — CodeGraph's graph traversal at depth 3 captured the full chain in one explore call
• The Swift Compiler benchmark is the largest codebase tested (25,874 files, 272,898 nodes) — CodeGraph indexed it in under 4 minutes and the agent answered a complex cross-cutting question with 6 explore calls and zero file reads in 35 seconds

🔄 How It Works

┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│                        Claude Code                               │
│                                                                  │
│  "Implement user authentication"                                 │
│           │                                                      │
│           ▼                                                      │
│  ┌─────────────────┐      ┌─────────────────┐                   │
│  │  Explore Agent  │ ──── │  Explore Agent  │                   │
│  └────────┬────────┘      └────────┬────────┘                   │
│           │                        │                             │
└───────────┼────────────────────────┼─────────────────────────────┘
            │                        │
            ▼                        ▼
┌───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│                     CodeGraph MCP Server                          │
│  ┌─────────────┐  ┌─────────────┐  ┌─────────────┐               │
│  │   Search    │  │   Callers   │  │   Context   │               │
│  │  "auth"     │  │  "login()"  │  │  for task   │               │
│  └──────┬──────┘  └──────┬──────┘  └──────┬──────┘               │
│         │                │                │                       │
│         └────────────────┼────────────────┘                       │
│                          ▼                                        │
│              ┌───────────────────────┐                            │
│              │   SQLite Graph DB     │                            │
│              │   • 387 symbols       │                            │
│              │   • 1,204 edges       │                            │
│              │   • Instant lookups   │                            │
│              └───────────────────────┘                            │
└───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘

Without CodeGraph: Explore agents use grep, glob, and Read to scan files → many API calls, high token usage

With CodeGraph: Explore agents query the graph via MCP tools → instant results, local processing, fewer tokens

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✨ Key Features

🧠 Smart Context Building One tool call returns everything Claude needs—entry points, related symbols, and code snippets. No more expensive exploration agents.	🔍 Semantic Search Find code by meaning, not just text. Search for "authentication" and find login, validateToken, AuthService—even with different naming conventions.	📈 Impact Analysis Know exactly what breaks before you change it. Trace callers, callees, and the full impact radius of any symbol.
🌍 19+ Languages TypeScript, JavaScript, Python, Go, Rust, Java, C#, PHP, Ruby, C, C++, Swift, Kotlin, Dart, Svelte, Liquid, Pascal/Delphi—all with the same API.	🔒 100% Local No data leaves your machine. No API keys. No external services. Everything runs on your local SQLite database.	⚡ Always Fresh Claude Code hooks automatically sync the index as you work. Your code intelligence is always up to date.

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🎯 Quick Start

1. Run the Installer

npx @colbymchenry/codegraph

The interactive installer will:

• Prompt to install codegraph globally (needed for hooks & MCP server to work)
• Configure the MCP server in ~/.claude.json
• Set up auto-allow permissions for CodeGraph tools
• Add global instructions to ~/.claude/CLAUDE.md (teaches Claude how to use CodeGraph)
• Install Claude Code hooks for automatic index syncing
• Optionally initialize your current project

2. Restart Claude Code

Restart Claude Code for the MCP server to load.

3. Initialize Projects

For each project you want to use CodeGraph with:

cd your-project
codegraph init -i

That's it! Claude Code will now use CodeGraph tools automatically when a .codegraph/ directory exists.

Manual Setup (Alternative)

If you prefer manual configuration:

Install globally:

npm install -g @colbymchenry/codegraph

Add to ~/.claude.json:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "codegraph": {
      "type": "stdio",
      "command": "codegraph",
      "args": ["serve", "--mcp"]
    }
  }
}

Add to ~/.claude/settings.json (optional, for auto-allow):

{
  "permissions": {
    "allow": [
      "mcp__codegraph__codegraph_search",
      "mcp__codegraph__codegraph_context",
      "mcp__codegraph__codegraph_callers",
      "mcp__codegraph__codegraph_callees",
      "mcp__codegraph__codegraph_impact",
      "mcp__codegraph__codegraph_node",
      "mcp__codegraph__codegraph_status",
      "mcp__codegraph__codegraph_files"
    ]
  }
}

Global Instructions Reference

The installer automatically adds these instructions to ~/.claude/CLAUDE.md. This is provided here for reference:

## CodeGraph

CodeGraph builds a semantic knowledge graph of codebases for faster, smarter code exploration.

### If `.codegraph/` exists in the project

**NEVER call `codegraph_explore` or `codegraph_context` directly in the main session.** These tools return large amounts of source code that fills up main session context. Instead, ALWAYS spawn an Explore agent for any exploration question (e.g., "how does X work?", "explain the Y system", "where is Z implemented?").

**When spawning Explore agents**, include this instruction in the prompt:

> This project has CodeGraph initialized (.codegraph/ exists). Use `codegraph_explore` as your PRIMARY tool — it returns full source code sections from all relevant files in one call.
>
> **Rules:**
> 1. Follow the explore call budget in the `codegraph_explore` tool description — it scales automatically based on project size.
> 2. Do NOT re-read files that codegraph_explore already returned source code for. The source sections are complete and authoritative.
> 3. Only fall back to grep/glob/read for files listed under "Additional relevant files" if you need more detail, or if codegraph returned no results.

**The main session may only use these lightweight tools directly** (for targeted lookups before making edits, not for exploration):

| Tool | Use For |
|------|---------|
| `codegraph_search` | Find symbols by name |
| `codegraph_callers` / `codegraph_callees` | Trace call flow |
| `codegraph_impact` | Check what's affected before editing |
| `codegraph_node` | Get a single symbol's details |

### If `.codegraph/` does NOT exist

At the start of a session, ask the user if they'd like to initialize CodeGraph:

"I notice this project doesn't have CodeGraph initialized. Would you like me to run `codegraph init -i` to build a code knowledge graph?"

---

📋 Requirements

• Node.js >= 18.0.0

---

💻 CLI Usage

codegraph                   # Run interactive installer
codegraph install           # Run interactive installer (explicit)
codegraph init [path]       # Initialize in a project
codegraph uninit [path]     # Remove CodeGraph from a project
codegraph index [path]      # Full index
codegraph sync [path]       # Incremental update
codegraph status [path]     # Show statistics
codegraph query <search>    # Search symbols
codegraph files [path]      # Show project file structure
codegraph context <task>    # Build context for AI
codegraph affected [files]  # Find test files affected by changes
codegraph serve --mcp       # Start MCP server

📖 CLI Commands

codegraph / codegraph install

Run the interactive installer for Claude Code integration. Configures MCP server and permissions automatically.

codegraph                         # Run installer (when no args)
codegraph install                 # Run installer (explicit)
npx @colbymchenry/codegraph       # Run via npx (no global install needed)

The installer will:

1. Prompt to install codegraph globally (needed for hooks & MCP server)
2. Ask for installation location (global ~/.claude or local ./.claude)
3. Optionally set up auto-allow permissions
4. Configure the MCP server in claude.json
5. Add global instructions to ~/.claude/CLAUDE.md (teaches Claude how to use CodeGraph)
6. Install Claude Code hooks for automatic index syncing
7. For local installs: initialize and index the current project

codegraph init [path]

Initialize CodeGraph in a project directory. Creates a .codegraph/ directory with the database and configuration.

codegraph init                    # Initialize in current directory
codegraph init /path/to/project   # Initialize in specific directory
codegraph init --index            # Initialize and immediately index

codegraph uninit [path]

Remove CodeGraph from a project. Deletes the .codegraph/ directory and all indexed data.

codegraph uninit                  # Remove from current directory
codegraph uninit --force          # Skip confirmation prompt

codegraph index [path]

Index all files in the project. Extracts functions, classes, methods, and their relationships.

codegraph index                   # Index current directory
codegraph index --force           # Force full re-index
codegraph index --quiet           # Suppress progress output

codegraph sync [path]

Incrementally sync changes since the last index. Only processes added, modified, or removed files.

codegraph sync                    # Sync current directory
codegraph sync --quiet            # Suppress output

codegraph status [path]

Show index status and statistics.

codegraph status

Output includes:

• Files indexed, nodes, edges
• Nodes by kind (functions, classes, methods, etc.)
• Files by language
• Pending changes (if any)

codegraph query <search>

Search for symbols in the codebase by name.

codegraph query "authenticate"           # Search for symbols
codegraph query "User" --kind class      # Filter by kind
codegraph query "process" --limit 20     # Limit results
codegraph query "validate" --json        # Output as JSON

codegraph files [path]

Show the project file structure from the index. Faster than filesystem scanning since it reads from the indexed data.

codegraph files                           # Show file tree
codegraph files --format flat             # Simple list
codegraph files --format grouped          # Group by language
codegraph files --filter src/components   # Filter by directory
codegraph files --pattern "*.test.ts"     # Filter by glob pattern
codegraph files --max-depth 2             # Limit tree depth
codegraph files --no-metadata             # Hide language/symbol counts
codegraph files --json                    # Output as JSON

codegraph context <task>

Build relevant code context for a task. Uses semantic search to find entry points, then expands through the graph to find related code.

codegraph context "fix checkout bug"
codegraph context "add user authentication" --format json
codegraph context "refactor payment service" --max-nodes 30

codegraph affected [files...]

Find test files affected by changed source files. Traces import dependencies transitively through the graph to discover which test files depend on the code you changed. Works with any test framework and any language CodeGraph supports.

codegraph affected src/utils.ts src/api.ts         # Pass files as arguments
git diff --name-only | codegraph affected --stdin   # Pipe from git diff
codegraph affected --stdin --json < changed.txt     # JSON output
codegraph affected src/auth.ts --filter "e2e/*"     # Custom test file pattern
codegraph affected src/lib.ts --depth 3 --quiet     # Shallow search, paths only

Options:

Option	Description	Default
--stdin	Read file list from stdin (one per line)	false
-d, --depth <n>	Max dependency traversal depth	5
-f, --filter <glob>	Custom glob to identify test files	auto-detect
-j, --json	Output as JSON	false
-q, --quiet	Output file paths only, no decoration	false
-p, --path <path>	Project path	auto-detect

How it works:

1. For each changed file, BFS-traverses its transitive dependents (files that import from it, directly or indirectly)
2. Filters results to test files using common conventions (*.spec.*, *.test.*, e2e/, tests/, __tests__/) or a custom --filter glob
3. Changed files that are themselves test files are always included

Example: CI/hook integration

#!/usr/bin/env bash
# In a pre-commit hook or CI step:
AFFECTED=$(git diff --name-only HEAD | codegraph affected --stdin --quiet)
if [ -n "$AFFECTED" ]; then
  echo "Running affected tests..."
  npx vitest run $AFFECTED
fi

codegraph serve

Start CodeGraph as an MCP server for AI assistants.

codegraph serve                          # Show MCP configuration help
codegraph serve --mcp                    # Start MCP server (stdio)
codegraph serve --mcp --path /project    # Specify project path

🔌 MCP Tools Reference

When running as an MCP server, CodeGraph exposes these tools to AI assistants. These tools are designed to be used by Claude's Explore agents for faster, more efficient codebase exploration.

codegraph_context

Build context for a specific task. Good for focused queries.

codegraph_context(task: "fix checkout validation bug", maxNodes: 20)

codegraph_search

Quick symbol search by name. Returns locations only.

codegraph_search(query: "UserService", kind: "class", limit: 10)

codegraph_callers / codegraph_callees

Find what calls a function, or what a function calls.

codegraph_callers(symbol: "validatePayment", limit: 20)
codegraph_callees(symbol: "processOrder", limit: 20)

codegraph_impact

Analyze what code would be affected by changing a symbol.

codegraph_impact(symbol: "UserService", depth: 2)

codegraph_node

Get details about a specific symbol. Use includeCode: true only when needed.

codegraph_node(symbol: "authenticate", includeCode: true)

codegraph_files

Get the project file structure from the index. Faster than filesystem scanning.

codegraph_files(path: "src/components", format: "tree", includeMetadata: true)

codegraph_status

Check index health and statistics.

How It Works With Claude Code

Claude's Explore agents use these tools instead of grep/glob/Read for faster exploration:

Without CodeGraph	With CodeGraph	Benefit
grep -r "auth"	codegraph_search("auth")	Instant symbol lookup
Multiple Read calls	codegraph_context(task)	Related code in one call
Manual file tracing	codegraph_callers/callees	Call graph traversal
Guessing impact	codegraph_impact(symbol)	Know what breaks
Glob/find scanning	codegraph_files(path)	Indexed file structure

This gives Explore agents ~94% fewer tool calls and ~77% faster exploration while producing equally thorough answers.

📚 Library Usage

CodeGraph can also be used as a library in your Node.js applications:

import CodeGraph from '@colbymchenry/codegraph';

// Initialize a new project
const cg = await CodeGraph.init('/path/to/project');

// Or open an existing one
const cg = await CodeGraph.open('/path/to/project');

// Index with progress callback
await cg.indexAll({
  onProgress: (progress) => {
    console.log(`${progress.phase}: ${progress.current}/${progress.total}`);
  }
});

// Search for symbols
const results = cg.searchNodes('UserService');

// Get callers of a function
const node = results[0].node;
const callers = cg.getCallers(node.id);

// Build context for a task
const context = await cg.buildContext('fix login bug', {
  maxNodes: 20,
  includeCode: true,
  format: 'markdown'
});

// Get impact radius
const impact = cg.getImpactRadius(node.id, 2);

// Sync changes
const syncResult = await cg.sync();

// Clean up
cg.close();

⚙️ How It Works

1. Extraction

CodeGraph uses tree-sitter to parse source code into ASTs. Language-specific queries (.scm files) extract:

• Nodes: Functions, methods, classes, interfaces, types, variables
• Edges: Calls, imports, extends, implements, returns_type

Each node gets a unique ID based on its kind, file path, name, and line number.

2. Storage

All data is stored in a local SQLite database (.codegraph/codegraph.db):

• nodes table: All code entities with metadata
• edges table: Relationships between nodes
• files table: File tracking for incremental updates
• unresolved_refs table: References pending resolution
• vectors table: Embeddings stored as BLOBs for semantic search
• nodes_fts: FTS5 virtual table for full-text search
• schema_versions table: Schema version tracking
• project_metadata table: Project-level key-value metadata

3. Reference Resolution

After extraction, CodeGraph resolves references:

1. Match function calls to function definitions
2. Resolve imports to their source files
3. Link class inheritance and interface implementations
4. Apply framework-specific patterns (Express routes, etc.)

4. Semantic Search

CodeGraph uses local embeddings (via @xenova/transformers) to enable semantic search:

1. Code symbols are embedded using a transformer model
2. Queries are embedded and compared using cosine similarity
3. Results are ranked by relevance

5. Graph Queries

The graph structure enables powerful queries:

• Callers/Callees: Direct call relationships
• Impact Radius: BFS traversal to find all potentially affected code
• Dependencies: What a symbol depends on
• Dependents: What depends on a symbol

6. Context Building

When you request context for a task:

1. Semantic search finds relevant entry points
2. Graph traversal expands to related code
3. Code snippets are extracted
4. Results are formatted for AI consumption

⚙️ Configuration

The .codegraph/config.json file controls indexing behavior:

{
  "version": 1,
  "languages": ["typescript", "javascript"],
  "exclude": [
    "node_modules/**",
    "dist/**",
    "build/**",
    "*.min.js"
  ],
  "frameworks": [],
  "maxFileSize": 1048576,
  "extractDocstrings": true,
  "trackCallSites": true
}

Options

Option	Description	Default
languages	Languages to index (auto-detected if empty)	[]
exclude	Glob patterns to ignore	["node_modules/**", ...]
frameworks	Framework hints for better resolution	[]
maxFileSize	Skip files larger than this (bytes)	1048576 (1MB)
extractDocstrings	Whether to extract docstrings from code	true
trackCallSites	Whether to track call site locations	true

🌐 Supported Languages

Language	Extension	Status
TypeScript	.ts, .tsx	Full support
JavaScript	.js, .jsx, .mjs	Full support
Python	.py	Full support
Go	.go	Full support
Rust	.rs	Full support
Java	.java	Full support
C#	.cs	Full support
PHP	.php	Full support
Ruby	.rb	Full support
C	.c, .h	Full support
C++	.cpp, .hpp, .cc	Full support
Swift	.swift	Basic support
Kotlin	.kt, .kts	Basic support
Dart	.dart	Full support
Svelte	.svelte	Full support (script extraction, Svelte 5 runes, SvelteKit routes)
Liquid	.liquid	Full support
Pascal / Delphi	.pas, .dpr, .dpk, .lpr	Full support (classes, records, interfaces, enums, DFM/FMX form files)

🔧 Troubleshooting

"CodeGraph not initialized"

Run codegraph init in your project directory first.

Indexing is slow

• Check if node_modules or other large directories are excluded
• Use --quiet flag to reduce console output overhead
• Consider increasing maxFileSize if you have large files to skip

MCP server not connecting

1. Ensure the project is initialized and indexed
2. Check the path in your MCP configuration is correct
3. Verify codegraph serve --mcp works from the command line
4. Check Claude Code logs for connection errors

Missing symbols in search

• Run codegraph sync to pick up recent changes
• Check if the file's language is supported
• Verify the file isn't excluded by config patterns

📄 License

MIT

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Made for the Claude Code community 🤖

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