dependencies

Traverse the call graph from a symbol in one call — callers, callees, or both. Replaces multiple rounds of grepping and reading to follow a chain of functions. There's no built-in equivalent.

Parameters

Name	Type	Required	Default	Description
symbol	string	✓	—	Symbol name to traverse from.
direction	string		"both"	"callers" (→ incoming), "callees" (→ outgoing), or "both".
depth	number		2	BFS depth. Range 1–5.
scope	enum		"impl"	"impl", "test", or "all".

The handler aliases callers → incoming and callees → outgoing internally so both forms are accepted.

Validation

• symbol is required.
• direction must be one of callers, callees, or both (or the internal equivalents). Any other value returns an MCP tool error.
• depth must be in [1, 5].
• scope must be one of the enum values.

Output

Returns a JSON array of dependency records. Each record includes the symbol name, the file and line where it's defined, the edge kind (e.g. calls, type_ref), and the BFS depth at which it was reached. Result count is carried in the MCP result-count annotation.

Picking a depth

• depth: 1 — direct neighbors only. Fast, low noise. Good for "who calls this?"
• depth: 2 (default) — two hops. Enough for most impact analyses.
• depth: 3+ — use when mapping a subsystem. Result sets grow quickly; combine with a more specific symbol to keep output manageable.

The traversal is breadth-first, so larger depths surface deeper callers/callees but also expand the result set combinatorially. Start shallow and increase only if needed.

Example invocations

// Who calls processOrder? (direct callers only)
{
  "name": "dependencies",
  "arguments": { "symbol": "processOrder", "direction": "callers", "depth": 1 }
}

// Full reachable neighborhood (callers + callees, 3 hops)
{
  "name": "dependencies",
  "arguments": { "symbol": "validateToken", "direction": "both", "depth": 3 }
}

// Just the test callers of a private helper
{
  "name": "dependencies",
  "arguments": { "symbol": "buildURL", "direction": "callers", "scope": "test" }
}

When dependencies isn't the right tool

• You want to find where a name is defined (not called) → use symbols.
• You want text references, including in comments or strings → use Grep.

Source of truth

• Tool registration: internal/mcp/tools.go — dependenciesToolDef / dependenciesHandler.
• Traversal: core.LookupDependencies.