Grepai Trace Callees

GrepAI Trace Callees

This skill covers using grepai trace callees to find all functions called by a specific function.

When to Use This Skill

• Understanding function dependencies
• Mapping function behavior
• Finding deeply nested dependencies
• Code comprehension and documentation

What is Trace Callees?

grepai trace callees answers: "What does this function call?"

func ProcessOrder(order) {    validateOrder(order)    calculateTotal(order)    sendConfirmation(order.email)}        │        ↓┌───────┴───────────────────┐│  What does ProcessOrder   ││  call?                    │├───────────────────────────┤│ • validateOrder           ││ • calculateTotal          ││ • sendConfirmation        │└───────────────────────────┘

Basic Usage

grepai trace callees "FunctionName"

Example

grepai trace callees "ProcessOrder"

Output:

🔍 Callees of "ProcessOrder"
Found 4 callees:
1. validateOrder   File: services/order.go:45   Context: validateOrder(order)
2. calculateTotal   File: services/order.go:48   Context: total := calculateTotal(order.Items)
3. applyDiscount   File: services/order.go:51   Context: total = applyDiscount(total, order.Coupon)
4. sendConfirmation   File: services/order.go:55   Context: sendConfirmation(order.Email, total)

JSON Output

grepai trace callees "ProcessOrder" --json

Output:

{  "query": "ProcessOrder",  "mode": "callees",  "count": 4,  "results": [    {      "file": "services/order.go",      "line": 45,      "callee": "validateOrder",      "context": "validateOrder(order)"    },    {      "file": "services/order.go",      "line": 48,      "callee": "calculateTotal",      "context": "total := calculateTotal(order.Items)"    },    {      "file": "services/order.go",      "line": 51,      "callee": "applyDiscount",      "context": "total = applyDiscount(total, order.Coupon)"    },    {      "file": "services/order.go",      "line": 55,      "callee": "sendConfirmation",      "context": "sendConfirmation(order.Email, total)"    }  ]}

Compact JSON (AI Optimized)

grepai trace callees "ProcessOrder" --json --compact

Output:

{  "q": "ProcessOrder",  "m": "callees",  "c": 4,  "r": [    {"f": "services/order.go", "l": 45, "fn": "validateOrder"},    {"f": "services/order.go", "l": 48, "fn": "calculateTotal"},    {"f": "services/order.go", "l": 51, "fn": "applyDiscount"},    {"f": "services/order.go", "l": 55, "fn": "sendConfirmation"}  ]}

TOON Output (v0.26.0+)

TOON format offers ~50% fewer tokens than JSON:

grepai trace callees "ProcessOrder" --toon

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

Extraction Modes

Fast Mode (Default)

grepai trace callees "ProcessOrder" --mode fast

Precise Mode

grepai trace callees "ProcessOrder" --mode precise

Use Cases

Understanding Function Behavior

# What does this complex function do?grepai trace callees "handleRequest"
# Map the data flowgrepai trace callees "processPayment"

Finding Dependencies

# What external services does this call?grepai trace callees "syncData"
# What database operations happen?grepai trace callees "saveUser"

Code Review

# What side effects does this function have?grepai trace callees "updateProfile"
# Is this function doing too much?grepai trace callees "doEverything"  # Lots of callees = code smell

Documentation

# Generate dependency list for docsgrepai trace callees "initialize" --json | jq '.results[].callee'

Callers vs Callees

# Combined analysisgrepai trace callers "processOrder"   # Who uses this?grepai trace callees "processOrder"   # What does it do?

Filtering Results

By File Type

# Get callees and filter to only .go filesgrepai trace callees "main" --json | jq '.results[] | select(.file | endswith(".go"))'

Exclude Test Functions

grepai trace callees "Login" --json | jq '.results[] | select(.callee | startswith("Test") | not)'

Count by Category

# Count how many database vs. API callsgrepai trace callees "processOrder" --json | jq '.results[].callee' | grep -c "db"

What Callees Includes

The trace finds:

• Direct function calls
• Method calls
• Built-in function calls (depending on mode)

Example

func ProcessOrder(order Order) error {    // Direct call    validateOrder(order)
    // Method call    order.Validate()
    // Package function    utils.Log("processing")
    // Built-in (may or may not be captured)    fmt.Println("done")
    return nil}

Callees found:

• validateOrder
• Validate (method)
• Log (from utils)
• Println (depending on mode)

Limitations

What Callees Might Miss

• Dynamic/runtime calls
• Callbacks and closures
• Interface method calls (may show interface, not implementation)
• Reflection-based calls

Example of Undetected Call

func process(fn func()) {    fn()  // Callee is unknown at static analysis time}

Combining with Trace Graph

For recursive dependency analysis, use trace graph:

# Direct callees onlygrepai trace callees "main"
# Full dependency tree (recursive)grepai trace graph "main" --depth 3

Scripting Examples

List All Callees

grepai trace callees "main" --json | jq -r '.results[].callee' | sort -u

Check for Specific Callee

# Does processOrder call sendEmail?grepai trace callees "processOrder" --json | jq -e '.results[] | select(.callee == "sendEmail")' && echo "Yes" || echo "No"

Generate Dependency Report

#!/bin/bashecho "# Function Dependencies Report"echo ""for fn in main initialize processOrder; do    echo "## $fn"    grepai trace callees "$fn" --json | jq -r '.results[].callee' | sed 's/^/- /'    echo ""done

Common Issues

❌ Problem: Function not found ✅ Solution: Check spelling and ensure function exists in indexed files

❌ Problem: No callees found (but function has calls) ✅ Solutions:

• Try --mode precise
• Check language is in enabled_languages
• Ensure symbols.gob is up to date (grepai watch)

❌ Problem: Missing some callees ✅ Solution: Use --mode precise for better accuracy

Best Practices

1. Use for understanding: Great for learning new codebases
2. Combine with callers: Full dependency picture
3. Use graph for deep analysis: When you need recursion
4. Filter results: Focus on relevant callees
5. Document findings: Export to markdown for docs

Output Format

Trace callees result:

🔍 Callees of "ProcessOrder"
Mode: fastFunction found in: services/order.go:40
Found 4 callees:
1. validateOrder   File: services/order.go:45   Context: validateOrder(order)
2. calculateTotal   File: services/order.go:48   Context: total := calculateTotal(order.Items)
3. applyDiscount   File: services/order.go:51   Context: total = applyDiscount(total, order.Coupon)
4. sendConfirmation   File: services/order.go:55   Context: sendConfirmation(order.Email, total)
Tip: Use 'grepai trace graph ProcessOrder' for recursive analysis