CodeGraph (codegraph-ai)

Context engine for AI coding agents. Parses your codebase with tree-sitter, builds a dependency graph, and serves structured context via MCP.

npm package: codegraph-ai — install with npx codegraph-ai

Works with: Claude Code, Cursor, Windsurf, Cline, and any MCP-compatible client.

Result: Your AI agent gets pre-analyzed context instead of reading raw files. 96% fewer tokens on average.

Token savings (real benchmark)

Tested on a production Next.js project (82 files, 384 symbols):

| Scenario | Without | With CodeGraph | Reduction | |----------|---------|---------------|-----------| | Understand getAllServers + relationships | 19,220 tk | 637 tk | 97% | | Understand MCPServer (40 dependents) | 40,742 tk | 1,736 tk | 96% | | Search for "server" | 4,716 tk | 475 tk | 90% | | Understand project structure | 15,145 tk | 1,047 tk | 93% | | Total (8 operations) | 126,488 tk | 5,558 tk | 96% |

At 100 operations/day: ~$136/month saved on API costs.

Run the benchmark yourself: npx tsx src/benchmark.ts /path/to/project

How it works

Your codebase
    │
    ▼
[1. INDEX]    tree-sitter parses every file
    │          extracts: functions, classes, imports, exports, types
    ▼
[2. GRAPH]    resolves imports between files
    │          builds graph: node = symbol, edge = "uses/imports"
    ▼
[3. STORE]    SQLite + FTS5 full-text search (.codegraph.db)
    ▼
[4. SERVE]    MCP server (stdio) or web dashboard
    │
    ▼
Claude Code / Cursor / Windsurf / Cline
    receives only the relevant context, not entire files

Quick start

# Index your project
npx codegraph-ai index .

# Start MCP server (for AI agents)
npx codegraph-ai serve .

# Start web dashboard (for humans)
npx codegraph-ai dashboard .

# Query a symbol
npx codegraph-ai query getAllServers

# Run token savings benchmark
npx codegraph-ai benchmark .

MCP Tools

| Tool | Description | |------|-------------| | search | Full-text search for symbols (functions, classes, types) | | get_context | Get a symbol with its dependencies and dependents | | get_file_deps | Get all imports and exports for a file | | project_overview | High-level stats: hub nodes, entry points, connections |

Setup with your AI agent

Claude Code

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "codegraph": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["codegraph-ai", "serve", "/path/to/your/project"]
    }
  }
}

Cursor

Add to .cursor/mcp.json:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "codegraph": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["codegraph-ai", "serve", "/path/to/your/project"]
    }
  }
}

Windsurf

Add to MCP settings:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "codegraph": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["codegraph-ai", "serve", "/path/to/your/project"]
    }
  }
}

Recommended CLAUDE.md instructions

Add this to your project's CLAUDE.md so your AI agent uses codegraph effectively:

## CodeGraph (read before exploring code)

This project has codegraph configured as MCP server. ALWAYS follow this flow:

1. **Before any task**: call `project_overview` to understand the structure
2. **Before searching code**: call `search` instead of grep/glob
3. **Before reading a file**: call `get_context` of the symbol you need — gives you code + dependencies + dependents without reading full files
4. **To understand a file**: call `get_file_deps` first — shows imports and exports
5. **Only read full files** when you need to edit code or codegraph context isn't enough

When NOT to use CodeGraph

CodeGraph is not always the right choice. Be aware of these limitations:

• Stale index: If you don't use --watch and change code, the agent gets outdated info and may make wrong decisions. Always use serve --watch or re-index after changes.
• Small projects: For projects with <20 files, it's faster to read files directly than making MCP calls. The overhead isn't worth it.
• Editing code: When the agent needs to modify a file, it must read the full file anyway. CodeGraph helps with exploration, not editing.
• Internal logic: CodeGraph only indexes exported symbols (functions, classes, types). Comments, configuration files, internal helper functions, and business logic details may not appear. Don't rely solely on codegraph for a full audit.

Rule of thumb: Use codegraph for understanding and navigating the codebase. Use file reads for editing and deep inspection.

Dashboard

Run codegraph dashboard to open an interactive visualization at http://localhost:3000:

• Force-directed graph of your codebase
• Click nodes to see dependencies and dependents
• Search symbols with full-text search
• Filter by type (functions, types, files)
• Dark theme

Indexing performance

| Step | Time | |------|------| | Walk files | 12ms | | Parse all (82 files) | 97ms | | Store + build graph | 54ms | | Total | 163ms |

DB size: ~560 KB for 82 files / 384 symbols / 300 edges.

Supported languages

• TypeScript (.ts, .tsx)
• JavaScript (.js, .jsx)

Stack

• tree-sitter (WASM) — parsing
• better-sqlite3 — storage + FTS5
• @modelcontextprotocol/sdk — MCP server
• d3-force — graph visualization

License

MIT