Call Graph Analysis

grepai trace provides call graph analysis for your codebase, allowing you to understand how functions relate to each other by tracking callers and callees.

Features

Find callers: Discover which functions call a specific symbol
Find callees: See what functions a symbol calls
Build call graphs: Visualize call relationships with configurable depth
Multi-language support: Go, TypeScript/JavaScript, Python, PHP, Java, C/C++, Rust, Zig
Two extraction modes: Fast (regex) and Precise (tree-sitter AST)
JSON output: Perfect for AI agents and automation

Quick Start

# Ensure watch is running to index symbols
grepai watch

# Find all functions that call "Login"
grepai trace callers "Login"

# Find all functions called by "HandleRequest"
grepai trace callees "HandleRequest"

# Build a call graph with depth 3
grepai trace graph "ProcessOrder" --depth 3

Extraction Modes

Fast Mode (default)

Uses regex patterns for quick symbol extraction. Best for:

Large codebases where speed matters
Most common use cases
No additional dependencies

grepai trace callers "MyFunction" --mode fast

Precise Mode

Uses tree-sitter AST parsing for accurate extraction. Best for:

Complex code patterns
Edge cases not handled by regex
When accuracy is critical

grepai trace callers "MyFunction" --mode precise

Note: Precise mode requires building with the treesitter build tag and installs CGO dependencies.

Supported Languages

Language	Extensions	Extraction Quality
Go	`.go`	Excellent
TypeScript	`.ts`, `.tsx`	Excellent
JavaScript	`.js`, `.jsx`	Excellent
Python	`.py`	Good
PHP	`.php`	Good
Java	`.java`	Good
C	`.c`, `.h`	Good
C++	`.cpp`, `.hpp`, `.cc`, `.cxx`, `.hxx`	Good
Zig	`.zig`	Good
Rust	`.rs`	Good

JSON Output

For AI agents and scripts, use --json flag:

grepai trace callers "Login" --json

Output format:

{
  "query": "Login",
  "mode": "callers",
  "count": 3,
  "results": [
    {
      "file": "handlers/auth.go",
      "line": 42,
      "caller": "HandleAuth",
      "context": "user.Login(ctx, credentials)"
    }
  ]
}

Configuration

Configure trace behavior in .grepai/config.yaml:

trace:
  mode: fast                    # fast | precise
  enabled_languages:
    - .go
    - .js
    - .ts
    - .jsx
    - .tsx
    - .py
    - .php
    - .java
    - .c
    - .h
    - .cpp
    - .hpp
    - .cc
    - .cxx
    - .rs
    - .zig
  exclude_patterns:
    - "*_test.go"
    - "*.spec.ts"

How It Works

Symbol Indexing: During grepai watch, symbols (functions, methods, classes) are extracted from source files
Reference Tracking: Function calls are identified and linked to their callers
Call Graph: A graph is built mapping caller → callee relationships
Persistent Storage: Symbols are stored in .grepai/symbols.gob

Use Cases

Understanding Code Flow

# Where is this function used?
grepai trace callers "ValidateToken"

# What does this function depend on?
grepai trace callees "ProcessPayment"

Impact Analysis

# Full dependency chain for a critical function
grepai trace graph "DatabaseConnect" --depth 4

AI Agent Integration

Provide call graph context to AI agents:

# Get JSON for AI processing
grepai trace graph "AuthMiddleware" --depth 2 --json

Commands Reference

grepai trace callers - Find functions that call a symbol
grepai trace callees - Find functions called by a symbol
grepai trace graph - Build complete call graph