Grepai Trace Callers

GrepAI Trace Callers

This skill covers using grepai trace callers to find all code locations that call a specific function or method.

When to Use This Skill

• Finding all usages of a function before refactoring
• Understanding function dependencies
• Impact analysis before changes
• Code navigation and exploration

What is Trace Callers?

grepai trace callers answers: "Who calls this function?"

func Login(user, pass) {...}        ↑        │┌───────┴───────────────────┐│   Who calls Login()?      │├───────────────────────────┤│ • HandleAuth (auth.go:42) ││ • TestLogin (test.go:15)  ││ • CLI (main.go:88)        │└───────────────────────────┘

Basic Usage

grepai trace callers "FunctionName"

Example

grepai trace callers "Login"

Output:

🔍 Callers of "Login"
Found 3 callers:
1. HandleAuth   File: handlers/auth.go:42   Context: user.Login(ctx, credentials)
2. TestLoginSuccess   File: handlers/auth_test.go:15   Context: result := Login(testUser, testPass)
3. RunCLI   File: cmd/main.go:88   Context: err := auth.Login(username, password)

JSON Output

For programmatic use:

grepai trace callers "Login" --json

Output:

{  "query": "Login",  "mode": "callers",  "count": 3,  "results": [    {      "file": "handlers/auth.go",      "line": 42,      "caller": "HandleAuth",      "context": "user.Login(ctx, credentials)"    },    {      "file": "handlers/auth_test.go",      "line": 15,      "caller": "TestLoginSuccess",      "context": "result := Login(testUser, testPass)"    },    {      "file": "cmd/main.go",      "line": 88,      "caller": "RunCLI",      "context": "err := auth.Login(username, password)"    }  ]}

Compact JSON (AI Optimized)

grepai trace callers "Login" --json --compact

Output:

{  "q": "Login",  "m": "callers",  "c": 3,  "r": [    {"f": "handlers/auth.go", "l": 42, "fn": "HandleAuth"},    {"f": "handlers/auth_test.go", "l": 15, "fn": "TestLoginSuccess"},    {"f": "cmd/main.go", "l": 88, "fn": "RunCLI"}  ]}

TOON Output (v0.26.0+)

TOON format offers ~50% fewer tokens than JSON:

grepai trace callers "Login" --toon

Output:

callers[3]:  - call_site:      context: "user.Login(ctx, credentials)"      file: handlers/auth.go      line: 42    symbol:      name: HandleAuth      ...

Note: --json and --toon are mutually exclusive.

Extraction Modes

GrepAI offers two extraction modes:

Fast Mode (Default)

Uses regex patterns. Fast and dependency-free.

grepai trace callers "Login" --mode fast

Precise Mode

Uses tree-sitter AST parsing. More accurate but requires tree-sitter.

grepai trace callers "Login" --mode precise

Comparison

Configuration

Configure trace in .grepai/config.yaml:

trace:  mode: fast  # fast or precise
  enabled_languages:    - .go    - .js    - .ts    - .py    - .php    - .rs
  exclude_patterns:    - "*_test.go"    - "*.spec.ts"

Supported Languages

Use Cases

Before Refactoring

# Find all usages before renaminggrepai trace callers "getUserById"
# Check impact of changing signaturegrepai trace callers "processPayment"

Understanding Codebase

# Who uses this core function?grepai trace callers "validateToken"
# Find entry points to a modulegrepai trace callers "initialize"

Debugging

# Where is this function called from?grepai trace callers "problematicFunction"

Code Review

# Verify function usage before approving changesgrepai trace callers "deprecatedMethod"

Handling Common Names

If your function name is common, results may include unrelated code:

Problem

grepai trace callers "get"  # Too common, many false positives

Solutions

1. Use more specific name:

grepai trace callers "getUserProfile"

2. Filter results by path:

grepai trace callers "get" --json | jq '.results[] | select(.file | contains("auth"))'

Combining with Semantic Search

Use together for comprehensive understanding:

# Find what Login does (semantic)grepai search "user login authentication"
# Find who uses Login (trace)grepai trace callers "Login"

Scripting Examples

Bash

# Count callersgrepai trace callers "MyFunction" --json | jq '.count'
# Get caller function namesgrepai trace callers "MyFunction" --json | jq -r '.results[].caller'
# Get file paths onlygrepai trace callers "MyFunction" --json | jq -r '.results[].file' | sort -u

Python

import subprocessimport json
result = subprocess.run(    ['grepai', 'trace', 'callers', 'Login', '--json'],    capture_output=True,    text=True)
data = json.loads(result.stdout)print(f"Found {data['count']} callers of Login:")for r in data['results']:    print(f"  - {r['caller']} in {r['file']}:{r['line']}")

Common Issues

❌ Problem: No callers found ✅ Solutions:

• Check function name spelling (case-sensitive)
• Ensure file type is in enabled_languages
• Run grepai watch to update symbol index

❌ Problem: Too many false positives ✅ Solutions:

• Use more specific function name
• Add exclude patterns in config
• Filter results with jq

❌ Problem: Missing some callers ✅ Solutions:

• Try --mode precise for better accuracy
• Check if files are in ignore patterns

Best Practices

1. Use exact function name: Case matters
2. Check symbol index: Run grepai watch first
3. Use JSON for scripts: Easier to parse
4. Combine with search: Semantic + trace = full picture
5. Filter large results: Use jq or grep

Output Format

Trace callers result:

🔍 Callers of "Login"
Mode: fastLanguage files scanned: 245
Found 3 callers:
1. HandleAuth   File: handlers/auth.go:42   Context: user.Login(ctx, credentials)
2. TestLoginSuccess   File: handlers/auth_test.go:15   Context: result := Login(testUser, testPass)
3. RunCLI   File: cmd/main.go:88   Context: err := auth.Login(username, password)
Tip: Use --json for machine-readable output     Use --mode precise for more accurate results