graphicle-graph

Code-graph engine for Graphicle: extract, query, and export a repository graph

TLDR

Build a code-only graph of the current folder

$ graphicle-graph extract . --code-only

Refresh code nodes without calling a model

$ graphicle-graph update .

Show what depends on a symbol

$ graphicle-graph affected "[retry()]"

Ask a scoped graph question

$ graphicle-graph query "[where are failed requests retried?]"

Trace the shortest path between two symbols

$ graphicle-graph path "[parse_config]" "[retry()]"

Explain a symbol and its connections

$ graphicle-graph explain "[retry()]" --all

Rebuild when files change

$ graphicle-graph watch .

Serve the graph over MCP stdio

$ graphicle-graph serve

The same commands through the graphicle wrapper

$ graphicle graph extract . --code-only

SYNOPSIS

graphicle-graph command [options]graphicle-graph [path] [options]

graphicle-graph is Graphicle's native Rust graph engine, a port of Graphify 0.9.91. A Graphicle install places it beside graphicle; `graphicle graph` forwards remaining arguments unchanged, so `graphicle graph update .` is `graphicle-graph update .`. `graphicle graph` with no extra words prints this program's help.`extract` walks a folder with tree-sitter (and optional semantic backends), writes .graphicle/graph.json, and can cluster and label communities. `--code-only` skips documents and images. `update` refreshes code without an LLM. `watch` rebuilds when files change. Navigation commands (`query`, `path`, `explain`, `affected`, `god-nodes`) read the stored graph; they call no model. `query`, `path`, and `explain` exit 0 with an answer, 3 when a name is ambiguous (candidates are listed), and 4 when nothing matches.A first argument that is an existing path is treated as `extract`. Piped stdin with no `--jsonl` still uses the native JSON Lines API. Version 0.1.2. Apache-2.0.

CONFIGURATION

.graphicle/graph.json

Default graph file (`GRAPHICLEOUT` names the output directory; default **.graphicle**). Navigation commands accept **--graph** PATH_.

~/.graphicle-graph

Global engine folder: provider settings, cloned repositories, grammar packs. A project may also keep .graphicle-graph/providers.json.

.graphiclerc

Optional per-project map of file extensions to languages.

GRAPHICLE_FORCE

Same as --force when set to `1`, `true`, or `yes`.

GRAPHICLE_MIN_EVIDENCE

Drop call edges below this evidence level when loading a graph (same as --min-evidence).

GRAPHICLE_SOCKET

When set, read-only graph commands can be forwarded to a resident `serve --socket` server.

GRAPHICLE_NO_AUTO_REFRESH=1

Do not refresh installed assistant skills that an upgrade left behind.

COMMANDS

extract PATH [--code-only] [--force] [--no-cluster] [--no-dedup] [--allow-partial] [--allow-dedup-shrink] [--timing] [--out DIR] [--output DIR] [--backend NAME] [--model NAME] [--mode deep] [--max-workers N] [--token-budget N] [--exclude PATTERN] [--no-gitignore] [--global] [--as TAG]

Build a graph from code and semantic material. --code-only skips documents. --force (or GRAPHICLE_FORCE) re-extracts. A shrink of a deduplicated graph is refused without --allow-dedup-shrink.

update [PATH] [--force] [--no-cluster]

Refresh code without an LLM.

watch [PATH] [--debounce S]

Rebuild when files change.

check-update PATH

Report pending semantic updates without applying them.

query QUESTION [--graph PATH] [--dfs] [--context C] [--budget N] [--seed X]

Scoped graph context. --seed starts at a node id, label, or file path (repeatable) instead of keyword matches.

path A B [--graph PATH] [--directed] [--undirected]

Shortest dependency path in stored edge direction. --directed is the default; --undirected ignores direction. The two flags are mutually exclusive.

explain SYMBOL [--graph PATH] [--all]

Node, provenance, and connections. Default: the 20 most connected; --all lists every connection.

affected SYMBOL [--graph PATH] [--depth N] [--relation R]

Reverse impact: what a change to the symbol touches.

god-nodes [--top N] [--json]

Architecture hubs.

cluster-only [PATH] / label [PATH] [--missing-only] [--graph PATH] [--backend NAME] [--model NAME]

Cluster an existing graph, or name communities.

export FORMAT [--graph PATH] [--output PATH] [--labels]

Write html, callflow-html, obsidian, wiki, svg, graphml, neo4j, or falkordb.

serve [graph.json] [--transport NAME] [--host HOST] [--port N]

MCP over stdio (default) or streamable HTTP.

hook install|uninstall|status

post-commit, post-checkout, and post-merge hooks, plus a graph.json merge driver. `hook install` refuses a `core.hooksPath` outside the repository.

global add|remove|list|path [--as TAG]

Cross-repository graphs.

merge-graphs FILES [--out PATH] [--previous MERGED.json]

Merge repository graphs.

install [platform] / uninstall [platform] [--project] [--purge]

Assistant skill installation. Platforms include claude, codex, cursor, vscode, aider, gemini, and others listed in `--help`.

--jsonl

Native JSON Lines API (also the default when stdin is piped).

--version

Program name and package version.

CAVEATS

`extract` without --code-only may send documents and images to a configured LLM. `query`, `path`, and `explain` refuse an ambiguous name instead of guessing. `GRAPHICLE_OUT` of `.` or a parent of the project is rejected so `uninstall --purge` cannot delete the tree. `serve --socket` is Unix-only. Windows x86-64 is a preview build.

HISTORY

graphicle-graph is the Graphicle graph engine, a native Rust port of Graphify 0.9.91 (Apache-2.0). Graphicle 0.1.2 ships it next to the graphicle program. Memory, the loopback app, and session capture live in graphicle, not in this engine.

RESOURCES

Source code · Documentation