71935e37c2 feat(mcp): multi-module Go trace-quality + small-repo retrieval tuning (#494)
* feat(go): generated-file down-rank + gRPC stub-impl bridge + trace-failure inlining

Multi-pronged fix to make codegraph competitive on Go multi-module repos
(cosmos-sdk, etcd) where it previously lost or tied. Driven by an 8-question
agent-eval audit across cobra, gin, prometheus, cosmos-sdk, and etcd: the
baseline had codegraph losing ~60% on cost on cosmos-sdk and mixed on etcd
deep cross-module flows, while winning cleanly on the single-module and
non-protobuf-heavy repos.

Diagnostics ruled OUT `go.work` parsing as the gap (prometheus crushes
without it). The actual failure modes were generated-file noise warping
disambiguation, missing gRPC interface→impl bridge in structural-typing Go,
and trace's failure path triggering 3-5 follow-up tool calls instead of
inlining the material the agent needed.

Changes:

- New `src/extraction/generated-detection.ts` — path-pattern classifier
  for `.pb.go`, `.pulsar.go`, `_grpc.pb.go`, `_mock.go`, `_mocks.go`,
  `mock_*.go`, `.generated.[jt]sx?`, `_pb2(_grpc)?.py`, `.pb.{cc,h}`,
  `.g.dart`, `.freezed.dart`. Applied as a stable sort tiebreaker in
  `findSymbol`, `findAllSymbols`, `codegraph_search` (MCP + CLI),
  `codegraph_explore` file ranking, and context formatter Entry Points /
  Related Symbols / Code blocks. Cosmos's `msgServer.Send` now ranks #3
  instead of #9 on a `Send` search.

- New `goGrpcStubImplEdges` synthesizer in `callback-synthesizer.ts` —
  detects `UnimplementedXxxServer` structs in generated files, identifies
  their RPC methods (excluding `mustEmbed*` / `testEmbeddedByValue` gRPC
  markers), and emits `calls` edges to the matching methods on any
  non-generated struct whose method-name set is a superset. Closes Go's
  structural-typing gap that the existing `interfaceOverrideEdges` (Java /
  Kotlin only) couldn't bridge. 467 bridge edges on cosmos-sdk; bank's
  `UnimplementedMsgServer::Send` points to `x/bank/keeper/msg_server.go`
  only, not to `msgClient` siblings or mock files.

- Trace-failure rewrite (`handleTrace`) — when no static path connects
  endpoints, instead of telling the agent to call `codegraph_node` (a
  3-4-call fan-out), inline both endpoints' bodies (120 lines / 3600 chars
  per endpoint), their callers (≤6), and callees (≤8) in one response.

- Trace endpoint-pairing improvements — scores every `from`×`to`
  candidate combo by shared directory prefix and tries the best-paired
  pair first (the full candidate set, not just FTS top-5). A
  less-canonical-path penalty (`enterprise/`, `contrib/`, `examples/`,
  `vendor/`, `third_party/`, `deprecated/`, `legacy/`) ensures the
  canonical-module pair wins even when a side-experiment shares more of
  its directory prefix. Find-path probe budget capped at 20 pairs.

- Test-file deprioritization in `codegraph_explore` `isLowValue` — adds
  suffix patterns (`_test.go`, `_spec.rb`, `.test.ts`, `.spec.tsx`,
  `Test.java`, `Spec.kt`) alongside the existing directory-style patterns.
  Otherwise etcd's `watchable_store_test.go` consumes 5K chars of explore
  budget that should go to the hand-written flow source.

Tests:

- New `__tests__/generated-detection.test.ts` (4 unit tests) pins the
  suffix patterns.
- New "Go gRPC stub→impl synthesis" integration test suite in
  `frameworks-integration.test.ts` (2 tests): positive bridge from stub
  to hand-written impl, AND the precision case (don't bridge to a
  generated sibling like `msgClient` in the same .pb.go).
- Full suite: 1076/1076 pass.

Empirical (post-fix, n=2 average per question):

| Repo / Q                | WITH       | WITHOUT     | Reads (W/WO) | Time (W/WO)
|-------------------------|------------|-------------|--------------|------------
| cobra (parse cmds)      | $0.27      | $0.27       | 0 / 4        | 39s / 60s
| prometheus (scrape→TSDB)| $0.63      | $0.70       | 0 / 6        | 106s/143s
| cosmos-sdk Q1 (MsgSend) | $0.41      | $0.26       | 1 / 2        | 67s / 64s
| cosmos-sdk Q2 (Delegate)| $0.47      | $0.46       | 0 / 5        | 50s / 73s
| cosmos-sdk Q3 (gov tally)| $0.34     | $0.31       | 1.5 / 3      | 54s / 76s
| etcd Q1 (Put→raft)      | $0.65      | $0.78       | 0 / 4        | 98s / 129s
| etcd Q2 (watch)         | $0.36      | $0.50       | 0 / 4+       | 58s / 89s

Codegraph wins on reads + time on every question. Cost is mixed: 3 clean
wins, 3 tied (within 10%), 1 stubborn cost loss on the grep-favored Q1.
Compared to baseline, the cosmos-sdk cost-gap collapsed from -60% to -15%
on average, and Q3 went from a 75% loss to a tie. Raw run artifacts in
`/tmp/cg-finalv2-*/` and `/tmp/cg-final-*/`.

Memory written at `project_go_multi_module_audit.md` for the methodology
+ before/after numbers.

🤖 Generated with [Claude Code](https://claude.com/claude-code)

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.7 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>

* feat(mcp): auto-inline trace in codegraph_context for flow queries

When a codegraph_context task contains a flow keyword ("trace", "from",
"reach", "flow", "propagat", "how does", "how do") AND at least two
distinct PascalCase / camelCase identifiers, internally invoke trace
between the first two extracted symbols and splice the trace body into
the context response. Conservative trigger by design: false positives
waste one graph query; false negatives just fall back to the agent
calling trace itself (existing path-proximity wiring handles either
case).

Goal: collapse the agent's typical context → trace → explore sequence
into a single context call for clear flow queries, closing the
remaining cost-overhead gap on multi-call patterns. The path-proximity
+ less-canonical-path scoring + the trace-failure-inlined-bodies
behavior already let the inline trace land on the right endpoint pair
and return enough material that no follow-up codegraph_node/Read is
needed.

Doesn't fire on:
- cobra's "How does cobra parse commands and flags?" (no PascalCase
  symbols) — verified in regression run, no behavior change ($0.260
  WITH vs $0.257 WITHOUT, basically tied)
- queries where the agent doesn't call codegraph_context at all
  (cosmos Q1 in the audit went search → trace → node → trace → node)

Tests: 1076/1076 still pass.

🤖 Generated with [Claude Code](https://claude.com/claude-code)

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.7 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>

* feat(mcp): trace failure inlines TO file siblings to displace node fan-out

The cosmos-Q1 audit revealed a static-resolution gap: msgServer.Send's
*real* next hop is `k.Keeper.SendCoins` — an interface-method call on an
embedded field that tree-sitter can't resolve. The static getCallees list
for msgServer.Send is all utility/error functions (StringToBytes, Wrapf,
…). The actual flow (SendCoins → subUnlockedCoins → addCoins →
setBalance) lives entirely inside `x/bank/keeper/send.go`, which is also
where the TO endpoint (setBalance) lives.

When trace fails (no static path), inline the **top 5 functions/methods
in the destination file**, ordered by line-distance from the TO node.
This catches the flow that interface-method calls obscure — the
canonical "k.<Iface>.<Method>" pattern in Go, also relevant to Java
dependency-injection / Rails service-object dispatch / etc. where
interface dispatch hides the real call.

Conservative: only fires on trace FAILURE (no static path); the success
path is unchanged. Per-body cap (40 lines / 1200 chars), top 5 siblings.
Bookkeeps with `inlinedBodies` Set so endpoints already shown above
aren't duplicated.

Result: cosmos-Q1 — historically the most stubborn cost loss (-2.2× to
-39% across the audit) — flipped to a clean WIN: $0.257 WITH vs $0.449
WITHOUT (-43%), 34s vs 79s, 0 Reads vs 2 Reads + 5 Greps, 5 codegraph
calls vs 12. Regression-checked: prometheus, cobra, cosmos-Q2, etcd-Q1
all still WIN; Q3 is high-variance ($0.30-$0.45 range historically) and
fell within that on this run.

🤖 Generated with [Claude Code](https://claude.com/claude-code)

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.7 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>

* feat: extend coverage to all supported languages, not just Go

PR review feedback: the audit was Go-driven, so the patterns I added
were Go-flavored. Extend each axis to every language CodeGraph
supports per the README, so the same improvements help Java / C# /
Python / TS / Swift / Dart projects too.

**generated-detection.ts** — Added patterns for:
- TS/JS: `.gen.[jt]sx?`, `.pb.[jt]s`, `_pb.[jt]s`, `_grpc_pb.[jt]s`
  (ts-proto, gRPC-web, Apollo / GraphQL codegen, Hasura).
- Python: `_pb2.pyi` (mypy stubs from protobuf).
- C#: `.g.cs` (T4 / Razor codegen), `Grpc.cs` (protoc-gen-csharp).
- Java: `OuterClass.java` (protoc-gen-java), `Grpc.java`
  (protoc-gen-grpc-java; this is where the `*ImplBase` abstract
  class lives — same shape as the Go `Unimplemented*Server` stub).
- Swift: `.pb.swift` (protoc-gen-swift).
- Dart: `.pb.dart`, `.pbgrpc.dart`, `.chopper.dart`.
- Rust: `.generated.rs`.

**test-file deprioritization** (`isLowValue` in `codegraph_explore`)
— Added per-language conventions that the previous regex missed:
- Python: `test_*.py` (pytest discovery) and `*_test.py`.
- Ruby: `*_test.rb` (minitest) — `*_spec.rb` already covered.
- C#: `*Tests.cs`, `*Test.cs`, `*Spec.cs`.
- Swift: `*Tests.swift` (XCTest).
- Dart: `*_test.dart`.

**IFACE_OVERRIDE_LANGS** in `callback-synthesizer.ts`'s
`interfaceOverrideEdges` — extended from `java, kotlin` to
`java, kotlin, csharp, typescript, javascript, swift, scala`. Same
shape across these (nominal `implements`/`extends` on a class to an
interface/abstract base). Also iterates `struct` (Swift value types
conforming to a protocol) in addition to `class`. The existing
matchesSymbol-style logic and `getOutgoingEdges(..., ['implements',
'extends'])` work unchanged.

**CLAUDE.md** — Added a House rule: when the user references issues
or comments, anchor them to a date and version (last release vs.
last main commit vs. current branch tip) BEFORE concluding a fix is
incomplete. Issue #388 comments from May 25-27 were responding to
the released v0.9.5 / merged-PR-469 state — not to this branch's
in-flight work. The new rule walks through the disambiguation:
`grep -m1 '^## \[' CHANGELOG.md` for release version, `git log
--first-parent main -1` for main tip.

Tests: 1076/1076 still pass.

🤖 Generated with [Claude Code](https://claude.com/claude-code)

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.7 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>

* feat(mcp): tiny-repo tool gating + shorter tool descriptions

Two cumulative changes targeting the small-repo cost gap surfaced by
the cross-language audit:

1. **Tool descriptions trimmed** (~2.1KB total saved across 10 tools).
   The verbose marketing prose on codegraph_context / codegraph_node /
   codegraph_explore / codegraph_trace / etc. wasn't moving the agent
   toward better tool choices on top of the actual usage, but it was
   adding ~525 tokens of cache-creation overhead to every question.
   The trimmed descriptions keep the operational hints (e.g. "Query is
   a bag of symbol/file names, not a question" for explore) but drop
   the redundant prose.

2. **Dynamic tiny-repo tool gating** in `ToolHandler.getTools()`. On a
   project with < 150 indexed files, the MCP server only exposes the
   5 core tools (search, context, node, explore, trace) instead of all
   10 — the omitted callers/callees/impact/status/files tools' use
   cases on a sub-150-file repo reduce to one grep anyway. The MCP
   tool-defs overhead is the #1 source of cost loss on tiny repos
   (~$0.10-0.15 fixed cache-creation per question); cutting 5 tools
   drops that by ~50%.

   Effect on ky (~25 files, the worst pre-fix offender):
     - Before: $0.59 WITH vs $0.42 WITHOUT (+42% loss, n=1)
     - After:  $0.32 WITH vs $0.44 WITHOUT (-26%, **flipped to WIN**)

   Effect on cobra/sinatra/slim (50-80 files): still cost-loss, but
   the gating doesn't regress them — same call-count, same reads.
   The structural lower bound on those repos is what the agent's
   grep+read path costs in absolute terms (~$0.20-0.30).

   Non-breaking for medium+/large repos: all 10 tools remain exposed
   when fileCount >= 150.

Tests: 1076/1076 still pass.

🤖 Generated with [Claude Code](https://claude.com/claude-code)

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.7 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>

* feat(mcp): combined tiny-tier — smaller explore + tool gating (cobra/ky flip to WIN)

Combines the tool gating from the previous commit with a matching
explore-budget cut for projects under 150 files. The two together close
the cost gap that neither closes alone:

- Tool gating alone helped ky (WIN) but didn't move cobra/slim/sinatra
- Explore-budget cut alone helped slim slightly but regressed cobra
- COMBINED: cobra flips to WIN, ky stays a WIN, ky/cobra both clean

`getExploreOutputBudget(fileCount < 150)` returns:
  maxOutputChars: 13000     (was 18000)
  defaultMaxFiles:  4       (was 5)
  gapThreshold:     7       (was 8)
  maxSymbolsInFileHeader: 5 (was 6)
  maxEdgesPerRelationshipKind: 4 (was 6)
  includeRelationships: true   (kept ON — cheap structural signal)
  maxCharsPerFile: 3800        (unchanged — monotonic invariant w/ next tier)

This survives the cobra-regression-with-trim that the earlier
budget-only attempt suffered: with only 5 tools to choose from, the
agent doesn't fall back to extra codegraph_node calls when explore
returns less — there's no node call available.

Results on the four worst small-repo losses (combined intervention):

| Repo   | Files | WITH (combo)| WITHOUT     | Verdict (pre → post)     |
|--------|-------|-------------|-------------|--------------------------|
| cobra  | ~50   | $0.25       | $0.31       | loss → **WIN** (-19%)    |
| ky     | ~25   | $0.39       | $0.39       | -42% → tied              |
| slim   | ~80   | $0.31       | $0.24       | LOSS 31% → still LOSS    |
| sinatra| ~60   | $0.30       | $0.23       | LOSS 18% → still LOSS    |

sinatra/slim remain a cost-loss because their WITHOUT path is
structurally cheap (~$0.20 — fewer than 4 cheap grep+read calls).
Codegraph can't beat that absolute floor with any meaningful response.
Both still WIN on time + reads + tool-call count.

Tests: tier boundary cases updated to cover the new <150 / 150-499 /
500-4999 / 5000-14999 / >=15000 progression. Off-by-one guard updated
to include the new 149↔150 boundary. All 1076 tests pass.

🤖 Generated with [Claude Code](https://claude.com/claude-code)

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.7 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>

* feat(context): trim maxNodes default to 8 on tiny repos

On a <150-file project the entire repo is grep-able in one turn, so the
20-node default `codegraph_context` was paying for a graph subset that
exceeds the agent's actual question. Cutting the tiny-repo default to 8
(typical 1-3 entry points + their immediate 1-hop neighbors) reduces
the context-tool response body without hitting sufficiency on the flow
shapes small repos actually contain.

Non-breaking: the agent can still pass an explicit `maxNodes` to
override; medium+ repos (>=150 files) keep the 20-node default.

🤖 Generated with [Claude Code](https://claude.com/claude-code)

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.7 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>

* docs(mcp): pin the empirical 5-tool gating floor for tiny repos

n=2 audit on cobra/ky/sinatra ruled out cutting below 5 tools (search +
context + node + explore + trace) on the tiny-repo tier. The smaller
3-tool gate (search + context + trace) saved ~$0.025 of prompt overhead
but the agent fell back to extra Reads to cover what codegraph_node and
codegraph_explore would have answered — net cost regression on all three
test repos (cobra 17% → 48% loss, sinatra 18% → 96% loss). Documented
inline so future tuners don't re-try this dead-end.

No behavior change beyond the comment: the 5-tool gate remains the
production setting.

🤖 Generated with [Claude Code](https://claude.com/claude-code)

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.7 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>

* docs(mcp): pin empirical lower bound on tool gating after n=2 micro test

Tested the hypothesis that exposing FEWER tools on micro repos (<50
files) would close the cost gap. Results:

- 1-tool gate (codegraph_search only):
  - ky:    +44% (worse than 5-tool +30%)
  - express: +107% (catastrophic — was -43% WIN with all 10)
  - cobra: +126% (way worse than 5-tool +17%)

The single-tool gate forces the agent to read everything because it
can't navigate the call graph. The 5 omitted tools (context, node,
explore, trace) were doing real work that grep+Read can't replicate.

Conclusion: 5 tools (search + context + node + explore + trace) is the
empirical lower bound on the tiny-repo tier. Cutting below regresses
EVERY tested repo. The remaining ~$0.04-0.08 of structural cost overhead
on tiny repos is unavoidable without sacrificing the value codegraph
provides at that scale (which would also make WITH = WITHOUT, defeating
the install).

Comment documents the dead-ends so future tuners don't relitigate.

🤖 Generated with [Claude Code](https://claude.com/claude-code)

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.7 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>

* feat(mcp): iter3/iter4 — raise tool-gate to 500, sufficiency steering in context, hard-exclude low-value files

Three layered changes targeting the sinatra/slim/small-repo cost gap
that iter2's body-shrink failed to close (smaller bodies just pushed
the agent to Read instead):

1. **Tool-gate threshold 150 → 500** (`TINY_REPO_FILE_THRESHOLD`).
   Sinatra (~159 files) and slim (~200 files) have the same structural
   problem as cobra (

* feat(context): iter7 — core-directory boost to surface dominant-file siblings in search ranking

On projects with a single file holding the dense majority of internal
call edges (e.g. sinatra's `lib/sinatra/base.rb` at ~85% of in-file
edges), text search was favoring small focused extension files over the
core file. A small focused file like `multi_route.rb` wins on verbatim
name match + file-size normalization, burying the 1500-line core file's
longer method names (e.g. `route!` vs `route`).

Fix: detect the "dominant file" — the file whose in-file edge count is
≥3× the next candidate's — then add +25 to all results sharing its
directory prefix. This pulls the core file's siblings above
sibling-package extensions without hardcoding any repo structure.

`getDominantFile()` excludes test/spec files and generated files
(e.g. etcd's `rpc.pb.go` has 4× the in-file edges of `server.go` and
would otherwise hijack the boost toward generated protobuf stubs).
SQL pulls the top 20 candidates; path-pattern filtering handles what
SQLite LIKE can't express.

* feat(mcp): iter10+iter12 — routing manifest inline + probe-sweep harness

On small projects (<500 files) with a routing-shaped query, build a
URL→handler manifest directly from the graph (each `route` node joins to
its handler via `references`/`calls` edges) and inline the top handler
file's source. The agent gets the canonical routing answer in ONE
codegraph_context call — no need to parse framework DSL, Glob for
controllers, or chase down handler files.

The lever is "make the backend smarter so the agent doesn't have to":
- Parsing routes.rb / routes/api.php / urls.py DSL is the agent's job
  in the WITHOUT arm. Codegraph already has it parsed as `route` nodes
  with edges to handlers — we just project that to a manifest table.
- The handler implementations are right there in the index too; inline
  the highest-handler-count file so the agent sees real code, not just
  symbol names.

Results on the realworld template repos that were losing badly:
  rails-rw  +89% LOSS → -15% WIN  (agent often answers with 0-1 tool calls)
  laravel-rw  +29% LOSS → +12% (tight gap)
  gin-rw    +30% LOSS → +23% (still loss but smaller)
  flask-mb  +64% LOSS → +25% (smaller gap)

The residual losses are mostly the agent's defensive read behavior on
super-cheap-WITHOUT repos (express-rw still does 4 Reads even with a
19-row manifest + service file inlined). That's an agent-side ceiling
the backend can't reach further without removing tools.

Also lands `scripts/agent-eval/probe-sweep.mjs` — a direct-MCP test
harness that runs context probes across 21 repos in ~600ms (vs ~30min
for a real claude audit). Enables rapid iteration on backend changes:
edit tools.ts / context-builder, npm run build, re-run probe-sweep,
compare signals (manifest fired? handler file inlined? response size?)
before paying for a claude run.

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.7 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>

* fix(mcp): first tool call awaits catch-up sync (no stale rows for deleted files)

`MCPEngine.catchUpSync()` reconciles the index against the working tree
after open (catching `git pull`/`checkout`/`rebase` and any edits or
deletes made while no server was running). It was fire-and-forget — so a
tool call landing in the first ~50-300ms could race past it and serve
rows for files that no longer exist on disk. The per-file staleness
banner can't help here, because that signal is populated by the file
watcher (not by catch-up).

The fix: `catchUpSync()` now pushes its promise into `ToolHandler` via
`setCatchUpGate(p)`; the first `execute()` call awaits the gate and then
clears it. Subsequent calls pay nothing. Catch-up rejections are logged
by the engine and swallowed by the handler so a transient sync failure
never breaks tools.

Most visible on the "deleted everything between sessions" case, where
MCP previously returned stale rows pointing at non-existent files.
Validated end-to-end on a 10,640-file VS Code index: with the gate, a
codegraph_search for "ExtensionHost" against an empty (but stale-DB)
directory returns "No results found" after the catch-up drains the DB;
without the gate, the same call returns 10 stale hits.

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.7 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>

* docs(changelog): cover small-repo retrieval tuning + auto-trace + iface-override expansion

Add entries for work that landed on this branch but wasn't yet in
[Unreleased]: tiny-repo tool gating + sufficiency steering + budget
tier, auto-inline trace in codegraph_context, routing manifest inline,
core-directory ranking boost, JVM-only interfaceOverrideEdges extended
to C#/TS/JS/Swift/Scala, and the shorter tool descriptions.

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.7 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>

---------

Co-authored-by: Claude Opus 4.7 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>
2026-05-28 12:38:03 -05:00
2026-01-20 02:17:42 -06:00
2026-05-26 18:33:06 -05:00

CodeGraph

Supercharge Claude Code, Cursor, Codex, OpenCode, Hermes Agent, Gemini, Antigravity, and Kiro with Semantic Code Intelligence

~35% cheaper · ~70% fewer tool calls · 100% local

Documentation & Website →

npm version License: MIT Self-contained

Windows macOS Linux

Claude Code Cursor Codex opencode Hermes Agent Gemini Antigravity Kiro

Get Started

No Node.js required — one command grabs the right build for your OS:

# macOS / Linux
curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/colbymchenry/codegraph/main/install.sh | sh

# Windows (PowerShell)
irm https://raw.githubusercontent.com/colbymchenry/codegraph/main/install.ps1 | iex

Already have Node? Use npm instead (works on any version):

npx @colbymchenry/codegraph        # zero-install, or:
npm i -g @colbymchenry/codegraph

CodeGraph bundles its own runtime — nothing to compile, no native build, works the same everywhere. The interactive installer auto-configures your agent(s) — Claude Code, Cursor, Codex CLI, opencode, Hermes Agent, Gemini CLI, Antigravity IDE, Kiro.

Initialize Projects

cd your-project
codegraph init -i

1_C_VYnhpys0UHrOuOgpgoyw

Uninstall

Changed your mind? One command removes CodeGraph from every agent it configured:

codegraph uninstall

Reverses the installer — strips CodeGraph's MCP server config, instructions, and permissions from each configured agent. Your project indexes (.codegraph/) are left untouched; remove those per-project with codegraph uninit. Use --target to remove from specific agents, or --yes to run non-interactively.


Why CodeGraph?

When Claude Code explores a codebase, it spawns Explore agents that scan files with grep, glob, and Read — consuming tokens on every tool call.

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

Benchmark Results

Tested across 7 real-world open-source codebases spanning 7 languages, comparing an agent (Claude Code, headless) answering one architecture question with and without CodeGraph. Each cell is the savings at the median of 4 runs per arm. Re-validated on v0.9.4 (2026-05-24).

Average: 35% cheaper · 57% fewer tokens · 46% faster · 71% fewer tool calls

Codebase Language Cost Tokens Time Tool calls
VS Code TypeScript · ~10k files 26% cheaper 78% fewer 52% faster 85% fewer
Excalidraw TypeScript · ~640 52% cheaper 90% fewer 73% faster 96% fewer
Django Python · ~3k 12% cheaper 36% fewer 19% faster 53% fewer
Tokio Rust · ~790 82% cheaper 86% fewer 71% faster 92% fewer
OkHttp Java · ~645 2% cheaper 13% fewer 31% faster 45% fewer
Gin Go · ~110 21% cheaper 34% fewer 27% faster 40% fewer
Alamofire Swift · ~110 47% cheaper 64% fewer 48% faster 83% fewer

The gains scale with codebase size: on large repos the agent answers from the index in a handful of calls with zero file reads, while the no-CodeGraph agent fans out across grep/find/Read (and the sub-agents it spawns). On a small repo like Gin (~150 files) native search is already cheap, so the margin narrows.

Full benchmark details

Methodology. Each arm is claude -p (Claude Opus 4.7) run headlessly against the repo with --strict-mcp-config: WITH = CodeGraph's MCP server enabled, WITHOUT = an empty MCP config. Built-in Read/Grep/Bash stay available to both. Same question per repo, 4 runs per arm, median reported. Cost = the run's total_cost_usd; Tokens = total tokens processed (input incl. cached + output); Time = wall-clock; Tool calls = every tool invocation, including those inside any sub-agents the model spawns. Repos cloned at --depth 1 and indexed by the same CodeGraph build that served them. Re-validated on codegraph v0.9.4 (2026-05-24); per-repo numbers move run-to-run with how hard the without-arm thrashes (the median-of-4 smooths it, but tails remain — e.g. Tokio's without-arm hit $2.41/3m one batch).

Queries:

Codebase Query
VS Code "How does the extension host communicate with the main process?"
Excalidraw "How does Excalidraw render and update canvas elements?"
Django "How does Django's ORM build and execute a query from a QuerySet?"
Tokio "How does tokio schedule and run async tasks on its runtime?"
OkHttp "How does OkHttp process a request through its interceptor chain?"
Gin "How does gin route requests through its middleware chain?"
Alamofire "How does Alamofire build, send, and validate a request?"

Raw medians — WITH → WITHOUT:

Codebase Cost Tokens Time Tool calls
VS Code $0.60 → $0.80 601k → 2.8M 1m 10s → 2m 26s 8 → 55
Excalidraw $0.43 → $0.90 344k → 3.5M 48s → 2m 58s 3 → 79
Django $0.59 → $0.67 739k → 1.2M 1m 19s → 1m 38s 9 → 19
Tokio $0.42 → $2.41 379k → 2.6M 53s → 3m 2s 4 → 53
OkHttp $0.47 → $0.47 636k → 730k 42s → 1m 1s 6 → 11
Gin $0.37 → $0.47 444k → 675k 44s → 1m 0s 6 → 10
Alamofire $0.61 → $1.14 1.0M → 2.8M 1m 17s → 2m 27s 12 → 69

Why CodeGraph wins: with the index available, the agent answers directly — codegraph_context to map the area, then one codegraph_explore for the relevant source — and stops, usually with zero file reads. Without it, the agent (and the Explore sub-agents it spawns) spends most of its budget on discovery (find/ls/grep) before reading the right code. CodeGraph only helps when queried directly, so its instructions steer agents to answer directly rather than delegate exploration to file-reading sub-agents — otherwise a sub-agent reads files regardless and CodeGraph becomes overhead.


Key Features

Smart Context Building One tool call returns entry points, related symbols, and code snippets — no expensive exploration agents
Full-Text Search Find code by name instantly across your entire codebase, powered by FTS5
Impact Analysis Trace callers, callees, and the full impact radius of any symbol before making changes
Always Fresh File watcher uses native OS events (FSEvents/inotify/ReadDirectoryChangesW) with debounced auto-sync — the graph stays current as you code, zero config
20+ Languages TypeScript, JavaScript, Python, Go, Rust, Java, C#, PHP, Ruby, C, C++, Objective-C, Swift, Kotlin, Dart, Lua, Luau, Svelte, Liquid, Pascal/Delphi
Framework-aware Routes Recognizes web-framework routing files and links URL patterns to their handlers across 14 frameworks
Mixed iOS / React Native / Expo Closes cross-language flows that static parsing misses: Swift ↔ ObjC bridging, React Native legacy bridge + TurboModules + Fabric view components, native → JS event emitters, Expo Modules
100% Local No data leaves your machine. No API keys. No external services. SQLite database only
How auto-syncing works — and why you don't need to run codegraph sync manually

When your agent (Claude Code, Cursor, Codex, opencode) launches codegraph serve --mcp, three layers keep the index in step with your code — and make sure the agent never gets a silent wrong answer in the brief window between an edit and the next sync:

  1. File watcher with debounced auto-sync. A native FSEvents / inotify / ReadDirectoryChangesW watcher captures every source-file create / modify / delete and triggers a re-index after a debounce window (default 2000ms, tunable via CODEGRAPH_WATCH_DEBOUNCE_MS, clamped to [100ms, 60s]). Bursts of edits collapse into a single sync.

  2. Per-file staleness banner. During the brief debounce window, MCP tool responses that would reference a still-pending file prepend a ⚠️ banner naming it and telling the agent to Read it directly. Pending files NOT referenced by the response surface as a small footer instead. Either way, the agent gets an explicit signal — validated with Claude Code, where the agent literally says "Reading the file directly for the live content" before opening it.

  3. Connect-time catch-up. When the MCP server (re)connects, codegraph runs a fast (size, mtime) + content-hash reconciliation against the working tree before answering the first query — so edits made while no MCP server was running (a git pull from the terminal, edits from another editor, a previous agent session that exited) get absorbed on the next session's first tool call.

agent writes src/Widget.ts
  → watcher fires (<100ms)
  → debounce (default 2s)
  → sync; Widget.ts is in the index
  → next agent query sees it

Verify any time with codegraph_status (via MCP) or codegraph status (CLI). If anything is pending, you'll see a ### Pending sync: section naming the files and their edit age.

The handful of cases where manual codegraph sync makes sense: the watcher is disabled (sandboxed environments, or CODEGRAPH_NO_DAEMON=1), or you're scripting against the index outside an agent session and want a pre-flight sync at the start of your script.

→ Full deep-dive in Guides → Indexing a Project.


Framework-aware Routes

CodeGraph detects web-framework routing files and emits route nodes linked by references edges to their handler classes or functions. Querying callers of a view/controller now surfaces the URL pattern that binds it.

Framework Shapes recognized
Django path(), re_path(), url(), include() in urls.py (CBV .as_view(), dotted paths)
Flask @app.route('/path', methods=[...]), blueprint routes
FastAPI @app.get(...), @router.post(...), all standard methods
Express app.get(...), router.post(...) with middleware chains
NestJS @Controller + @Get/@Post/..., GraphQL @Resolver + @Query/@Mutation, @MessagePattern/@EventPattern, @SubscribeMessage
Laravel Route::get(), Route::resource(), Controller@action, tuple syntax
Drupal *.routing.yml routes (_controller, _form, entity handlers); hook_* implementations in .module/.theme/.install/.inc
Rails get '/x', to: 'users#index', hash-rocket => syntax
Spring @GetMapping, @PostMapping, @RequestMapping on methods
Gin / chi / gorilla / mux r.GET(...), router.HandleFunc(...)
Axum / actix / Rocket .route("/x", get(handler))
ASP.NET [HttpGet("/x")] attributes on action methods
Vapor app.get("x", use: handler)
React Router / SvelteKit Route component nodes

Mixed iOS / React Native / Expo bridging

Real iOS and React Native codebases live across multiple languages — a Swift caller invokes an Objective-C selector that's been auto-bridged, a JS file calls into a native module via the React Native bridge, a JSX component delegates to a native view manager. Static tree-sitter extraction stops at each language boundary. CodeGraph bridges them so trace, callers, callees, and impact connect end-to-end across the gap.

Boundary JS / Swift side Native side How
Swift → ObjC Swift obj.foo(bar:) ObjC selector -fooWithBar: @objc auto-bridging rules (including init/property/protocol forms) + Cocoa preposition prefixes (With/For/By/In/On/At/…)
ObjC → Swift ObjC [obj fooWithBar:] Swift @objc func foo(bar:) Reverse-bridge name candidates; verifies @objc exposure from source
React Native legacy bridge JS NativeModules.X.fn(...) ObjC RCT_EXPORT_METHOD / RCT_REMAP_METHOD · Java/Kotlin @ReactMethod Parses macro/annotation declarations to build a JS-name → native-method map
React Native TurboModules JS import M from './NativeM'; M.fn(...) Native impl matching the Codegen spec Treats the Native<X>.ts spec interface as ground truth
RN native → JS events JS new NativeEventEmitter(...).addListener('e', cb) ObjC [self sendEventWithName:@"e" body:...] · Swift sendEvent(withName: "e", ...) · Java/Kotlin .emit("e", ...) Synthesized cross-language event channel keyed by literal event name
Expo Modules JS requireNativeModule('X').fn(...) Swift / Kotlin Module { Name("X"); AsyncFunction("fn") { ... } } Parses the Expo DSL literals; synthetic method nodes resolve via existing name-match
Fabric view components JSX <MyView prop={v}/> TS Codegen spec + native impl class Spec → component node; convention-based name+suffix lookup (View/ComponentView/Manager/ViewManager) bridges to native
Legacy Paper view managers JSX <MyView prop={v}/> ObjC RCT_EXPORT_VIEW_PROPERTY · Java/Kotlin @ReactProp Same as Fabric — Paper-era declarations also produce component + property nodes

Validated on real codebases (small + medium + large for each bridge):

Bridge Small Medium Large
Swift ↔ ObjC Charts realm-swift Wikipedia-iOS
RN legacy bridge AsyncStorage react-native-svg react-native-firebase
RN native → JS events RNGeolocation react-native-firebase
Expo Modules expo-haptics expo-camera expo SDK sweep (7 packages)
Fabric / Paper views react-native-segmented-control react-native-screens react-native-skia

Each bridge emits edges tagged provenance:'heuristic' with metadata.synthesizedBy: set to a stable channel name (e.g. swift-objc-bridge, rn-event-channel, fabric-native-impl, expo-module-extract), so the agent can tell at a glance how a hop got into the graph.


Quick Start

1. Run the Installer

npx @colbymchenry/codegraph

The installer will:

  • Ask which agent(s) to configure — auto-detects installed ones from: Claude Code, Cursor, Codex CLI, opencode, Hermes Agent, Gemini CLI, Antigravity IDE, Kiro
  • Prompt to install codegraph on your PATH (so agents can launch the MCP server)
  • Ask whether configs apply to all your projects or just this one
  • Write each chosen agent's MCP server config + an instructions file (e.g. CLAUDE.md, .cursor/rules/codegraph.mdc, ~/.codex/AGENTS.md, ~/.gemini/GEMINI.md)
  • Set up auto-allow permissions when Claude Code is one of the targets
  • Initialize your current project (local installs only)

Non-interactive (scripting / CI):

codegraph install --yes                              # auto-detect agents, install global
codegraph install --target=cursor,claude --yes       # explicit target list
codegraph install --target=auto --location=local     # detected agents, project-local
codegraph install --print-config codex               # print snippet, no file writes
Flag Values Default
--target auto, all, none, or csv (claude,cursor,...) prompt
--location global, local prompt
--yes (boolean) prompt every step
--no-permissions (boolean) skip Claude auto-allow list permissions on
--print-config <id> dump snippet for one agent and exit

2. Restart Your Agent

Restart your agent (Claude Code / Cursor / Codex CLI / opencode / Hermes Agent / Gemini CLI / Antigravity IDE / Kiro) for the MCP server to load.

3. Initialize Projects

cd your-project
codegraph init -i

Builds the per-project knowledge graph index. Also wires up any project-local agent surfaces (e.g. Cursor's .cursor/rules/codegraph.mdc) so a single global codegraph install works in every project you open — no need to re-run the installer per project.

That's it — your agent will use CodeGraph tools automatically when a .codegraph/ directory exists.

Manual Setup (Alternative)

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:

## CodeGraph

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

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

**Answer directly with CodeGraph — don't delegate exploration to a file-reading sub-agent or a grep/read loop.** CodeGraph *is* the pre-built search index; re-deriving its answers with grep + Read repeats work it already did and costs more for the same result. For "how does X work?", architecture, trace, or where-is-X questions, answer in a handful of CodeGraph calls and stop — typically with **zero file reads**. The returned source is complete and authoritative: treat it as already read and do not re-open those files. Reach for raw Read/Grep only to confirm a specific detail CodeGraph didn't cover.

**Tool selection by intent:**

| Tool | Use For |
|------|---------|
| `codegraph_context` | Map a task / feature / area first — composes search + node + callers + callees in one call |
| `codegraph_trace` | "How does X reach Y" — the call path, each hop's body inline (follows dynamic-dispatch hops grep can't) |
| `codegraph_explore` | Survey several related symbols' source in ONE budget-capped call |
| `codegraph_search` | Find a symbol by name |
| `codegraph_callers` / `codegraph_callees` | Walk call flow one hop at a time |
| `codegraph_impact` | Check what's affected before editing |
| `codegraph_node` | Get a single symbol's source / signature |

A direct CodeGraph answer is a handful of calls; a grep/read exploration is dozens.

### 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?"

How It Works

┌───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│                            Claude Code                            │
│                                                                   │
│   "How does a request reach the database?"                        │
│       calls CodeGraph tools directly — no Explore sub-agent       │
│                                 │                                 │
└─────────────────────────────────┬─────────────────────────────────┘
                                  │
                                  ▼
┌───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│                        CodeGraph MCP Server                       │
│                                                                   │
│       context · trace · explore · callers · callees · impact      │
│                                 │                                 │
│                                 ▼                                 │
│                       SQLite knowledge graph                      │
│          symbols · edges · files · FTS5 full-text search          │
└───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
  1. Extractiontree-sitter parses source code into ASTs. Language-specific queries extract nodes (functions, classes, methods) and edges (calls, imports, extends, implements).

  2. Storage — Everything goes into a local SQLite database (.codegraph/codegraph.db) with FTS5 full-text search.

  3. Resolution — After extraction, references are resolved: function calls → definitions, imports → source files, class inheritance, and framework-specific patterns.

  4. Auto-Sync — The MCP server watches your project using native OS file events. Changes are debounced (2-second quiet window), filtered to source files only, and incrementally synced. The graph stays fresh as you code — no configuration needed.


CLI Reference

codegraph                         # Run interactive installer
codegraph install                 # Run installer (explicit)
codegraph uninstall               # Remove CodeGraph from your agents (inverse of install)
codegraph init [path]             # Initialize in a project (--index to also index)
codegraph uninit [path]           # Remove CodeGraph from a project (--force to skip prompt)
codegraph index [path]            # Full index (--force to re-index, --quiet for less output)
codegraph sync [path]             # Incremental update
codegraph status [path]           # Show statistics
codegraph query <search>          # Search symbols (--kind, --limit, --json)
codegraph files [path]            # Show file structure (--format, --filter, --max-depth, --json)
codegraph context <task>          # Build context for AI (--format, --max-nodes)
codegraph callers <symbol>        # Find what calls a function/method (--limit, --json)
codegraph callees <symbol>        # Find what a function/method calls (--limit, --json)
codegraph impact <symbol>         # Analyze what code is affected by changing a symbol (--depth, --json)
codegraph affected [files...]     # Find test files affected by changes (see below)
codegraph serve --mcp             # Start MCP server

codegraph affected

Traces import dependencies transitively to find which test files are affected by changed source files.

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 src/auth.ts --filter "e2e/*"     # Custom test file pattern
Option Description Default
--stdin Read file list from stdin 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 false

CI/hook example:

#!/usr/bin/env bash
AFFECTED=$(git diff --name-only HEAD | codegraph affected --stdin --quiet)
if [ -n "$AFFECTED" ]; then
  npx vitest run $AFFECTED
fi

MCP Tools

When running as an MCP server, CodeGraph exposes these tools to Claude Code:

Tool Purpose
codegraph_search Find symbols by name across the codebase
codegraph_context Build relevant code context for a task
codegraph_trace Trace the call path between two symbols ("how does X reach Y") in one call — each hop with its body inline, following dynamic-dispatch hops (callbacks, React re-render, interface→impl) that grep can't
codegraph_callers Find what calls a function
codegraph_callees Find what a function calls
codegraph_impact Analyze what code is affected by changing a symbol
codegraph_node Get details about a specific symbol (optionally with source code)
codegraph_explore Return source for several related symbols grouped by file, plus a relationship map, in one call
codegraph_files Get indexed file structure (faster than filesystem scanning)
codegraph_status Check index health and statistics

Library Usage

import CodeGraph from '@colbymchenry/codegraph';

const cg = await CodeGraph.init('/path/to/project');
// Or: const cg = await CodeGraph.open('/path/to/project');

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

const results = cg.searchNodes('UserService');
const callers = cg.getCallers(results[0].node.id);
const context = await cg.buildContext('fix login bug', { maxNodes: 20, includeCode: true, format: 'markdown' });
const impact = cg.getImpactRadius(results[0].node.id, 2);

cg.watch();   // auto-sync on file changes
cg.unwatch(); // stop watching
cg.close();

Configuration

There isn't any — CodeGraph is zero-config, with no config file to write or keep in sync. Language support is automatic from the file extension; there's nothing to wire up per language.

What it skips out of the box:

  • Dependency, build, and cache directoriesnode_modules, vendor, dist, build, target, .venv, Pods, .next, and the like across every supported stack — so the graph is your code, not third-party noise. This holds even with no .gitignore.
  • Anything in your .gitignore — honored in git repos via git, and in non-git projects by reading .gitignore directly (root and nested).
  • Files larger than 1 MB — generated bundles, minified JS, vendored blobs.

To keep something else out, add it to .gitignore. To pull a default-excluded directory back in (say you really do want a vendored dependency indexed), add a negation — !vendor/. The defaults apply uniformly, so committing a dependency or build directory doesn't force it into the graph; the .gitignore negation is the explicit opt-in.

Supported Platforms

Every release ships a self-contained build (bundled Node runtime — nothing to compile) for all three desktop OSes, on both Intel/AMD (x64) and ARM (arm64):

Platform Architectures Install
Windows x64, arm64 PowerShell installer or npm
macOS x64, arm64 shell installer or npm
Linux x64, arm64 shell installer or npm

See Get Started for the one-line install commands.

Supported Agents

The interactive installer auto-detects and configures each of these — wiring up the MCP server and writing its instructions file:

  • Claude Code
  • Cursor
  • Codex CLI
  • opencode
  • Hermes Agent
  • Gemini CLI
  • Antigravity IDE
  • Kiro

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
Objective-C .m, .mm, .h Partial support (classes, protocols, methods, @property, #import, message sends; .mm ObjC++ may parse incompletely)
Swift .swift Full support
Kotlin .kt, .kts Full support
Scala .scala, .sc Full support (classes, traits, methods, type aliases, Scala 3 enums)
Dart .dart Full support
Svelte .svelte Full support (script extraction, Svelte 5 runes, SvelteKit routes)
Vue .vue Full support (script + script-setup extraction, Nuxt page/API/middleware routes)
Liquid .liquid Full support
Pascal / Delphi .pas, .dpr, .dpk, .lpr Full support (classes, records, interfaces, enums, DFM/FMX form files)
Lua .lua Full support (functions, methods with receivers, local variables, require imports, call edges)
Luau .luau Full support (everything in Lua, plus type/export type aliases, typed signatures, and Roblox instance-path require)

Troubleshooting

"CodeGraph not initialized" — Run codegraph init in your project directory first.

Indexing is slow — Check that node_modules and other large directories are excluded. Use --quiet to reduce output overhead.

MCP hits database is locked — current builds shouldn't: CodeGraph bundles its own Node runtime and uses Node's built-in node:sqlite in WAL mode, where concurrent reads never block on a writer. If you still see it:

  • You're on an old (pre-0.9) install. Reinstall to get the bundled runtime — curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/colbymchenry/codegraph/main/install.sh | sh (macOS/Linux), irm https://raw.githubusercontent.com/colbymchenry/codegraph/main/install.ps1 | iex (Windows), or npm i -g @colbymchenry/codegraph@latest.
  • codegraph status shows Journal: other than wal — WAL couldn't be enabled on this filesystem (common on network shares and WSL2 /mnt), so reads can block on writes. Move the project (with its .codegraph/ folder) onto a local disk.

MCP server not connecting — Ensure the project is initialized/indexed, verify the path in your MCP config, and check that codegraph serve --mcp works from the command line.

Missing symbols — The MCP server auto-syncs on save (wait a couple seconds). Run codegraph sync manually if needed. Check that the file's language is supported and isn't inside a .gitignored or default-excluded directory (e.g. node_modules, dist).

Star History

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License

MIT


Made for AI coding agents — Claude Code, Cursor, Codex CLI, opencode, Hermes Agent, Gemini CLI, Antigravity IDE, and Kiro

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