who-imports

Export-level dependency graph tool for TypeScript codebases. Unlike module-level tools (Madge, Skott), this traces dependencies at individual export granularity.

Installation

npm install -g who-imports

Or run directly with npx:

npx who-imports -f ./src -o deps.json

Usage

who-imports -f <folder> [-f <folder>...] [-c <folder>...] -o <output>

Options

| Flag | Description | | ------------------------------ | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ | | -f, --folder <path> | Target folder(s) to analyze exports from. Repeatable. | | -c, --consumer <path> | Folder(s) to search for consumers. Defaults to -f. Repeatable. | | -i, --ignore-extension <ext> | File patterns to ignore (e.g., '.test.*'). Quote globs to prevent shell expansion. | | -d, --declarations | Include .d.ts files (excluded by default). | | -o, --output <path> | Output file. Extension determines format (.json or .dot). |

Examples

Analyze exports and consumers within the same folder:

who-imports -f ./src/features/auth -o auth-deps.json

Find consumers of shared types across multiple feature folders:

who-imports \
  -f ./src/shared/types \
  -c ./src/features/payments \
  -c ./src/features/onboarding \
  -o types-consumers.json

Output Formats

JSON

{
  "exports": [
    {
      "module": "primitiveTypes.ts",
      "name": "GroupId",
      "consumerCount": 7,
      "consumers": [
        { "module": "helpers/csv/operations.ts", "via": ["types.ts"] },
        { "module": "spreadsheet/types.ts" }
      ]
    }
  ]
}

• module: Relative path to file where export is originally defined
• name: Export name (default for default exports)
• consumerCount: Number of files importing this export
• consumers[].module: Consuming file path
• consumers[].via: Re-export chain if consumer imported through barrel files

DOT (GraphViz)

who-imports -f ./src -o deps.dot
dot -Tsvg deps.dot -o deps.svg  # Render with GraphViz

Features

• Re-export tracing: Follows re-exports to original source
  • export { X } from './other'
  • export * from './other'
  • import { X } from './other'; export { X }; (import-then-export)
• Type exports: Includes export type and import type
• Path resolution: Paths relative to folder (single) or common ancestor (multiple folders)

Programmatic API

Use as a library for custom tooling:

import {
  parseFiles,
  buildExportRegistry,
  findConsumers,
  buildDependencyOutput,
  formatAsJson,
} from 'who-imports';

const { files, basePath } = parseFiles(['./src']);
const registry = buildExportRegistry(files, basePath);
const consumers = findConsumers(files, registry, basePath);
const output = buildDependencyOutput(registry, consumers, files, basePath);

console.log(formatAsJson(output));

Exported Functions

| Function | Description | | ------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------ | | parseFiles | Load TypeScript files into a ts-morph Project | | addFilesToProject | Add additional files to existing project | | buildExportRegistry | Extract all exports and build re-export map | | resolveExport | Trace an export to its original source | | getAllExportsFromModule | Get all exports from a module (including star exports) | | findConsumers | Find all consumers of exports | | buildDependencyOutput | Build final dependency output structure | | formatAsJson | Format output as JSON | | formatAsDot | Format output as GraphViz DOT |

Exported Types

ExportEntry, ResolvedExport, Consumer, ExportDependencyInfo, DependencyGraphOutput, ExportRegistry, ConsumerMap

How It Works

CLI args
  → parseFiles()           # Load .ts/.tsx files into ts-morph Project
  → buildExportRegistry()  # Extract exports, build re-export map
  → findConsumers()        # Scan imports, trace through re-exports
  → buildDependencyOutput()# Aggregate into final structure
  → formatAsJson/Dot()     # Serialize

Development

git clone https://github.com/yoavsion/who-imports.git
cd who-imports
yarn install
yarn build

Scripts

| Script | Description | | ------------- | ------------------------------- | | yarn build | Compile TypeScript to dist/ | | yarn dev | Run directly via tsx (no build) | | yarn test | Run tests | | yarn lint | Run ESLint | | yarn format | Format with Prettier |

Architecture

src/
├── index.ts        # CLI entry point (commander)
├── api.ts          # Programmatic API exports
├── types.ts        # Shared TypeScript types
├── parser.ts       # ts-morph project initialization, file collection
├── exports.ts      # Export extraction, re-export chain resolution
├── consumers.ts    # Import scanning, consumer mapping
└── output/
    ├── json.ts     # JSON formatter
    └── dot.ts      # GraphViz DOT formatter

Contributing

Issues and PRs welcome on GitHub.

Related Tools

• ts-morph - TypeScript compiler API wrapper (powers this tool)
• Madge - Module-level dependency graphs
• Skott - Module-level dependency analysis

License

MIT