CodeGraph

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

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

Documentation & Website →

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.

Initialize Projects

cd your-project
codegraph init -i

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.

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 | | 19+ Languages | TypeScript, JavaScript, Python, Go, Rust, Java, C#, PHP, Ruby, C, 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 | | 100% Local | No data leaves your machine. No API keys. No external services. SQLite database only |

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 |

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
• 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)
• 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) 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.

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"
    ]
  }
}

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. Extraction — tree-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 directories — node_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

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 | 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

License

MIT

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

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