find_callers
Find all code that references, calls, extends, or implements a specific entity, enabling impact analysis before refactoring and dead code detection via reverse dependency graph traversal.
Instructions
Read-only reverse dependency lookup. Use this to find all code that references, calls, extends, or implements a specific entity. Answers 'who uses this code?' by querying the graph database. Differs from search tools by providing exact dependency tracking.
Usage: Use for impact analysis before refactoring or to detect dead code. Do NOT use this for semantic feature discovery—use 'search_hybrid_context' instead. CRITICAL: For common method names (e.g., 'accept', 'process'), you MUST include a signature fragment (e.g., 'accept(List') to prevent thousands of irrelevant results.
Behaviour & Return: Read-only graph traversal with no side effects. Returns Markdown grouped by relationship type (Calls, Extends, Implements, References, Overridden by, Overrides) with exact file paths and line numbers. For JVM code (Java/Kotlin/Groovy), 'Overridden by' lists method implementations/overrides in subtypes and 'Overrides' lists the supertype methods a method implements/overrides. When multiple entities with the same name exist (e.g., 'find_nearest_entity_by_line' in orphans.rs vs rust.rs), results are grouped by target entity showing which specific target each caller references. Each caller entry includes: name, kind, file_path:line_number, and signature. When multiple targets exist, each group shows the target's location and signature.
Parameter guidance: 'entity_name' supports exact names or signature fragments (e.g., 'handleRequest' or 'handle(Request'). Include 'repo_name' to filter results to the specific codebase being analyzed.
Supports Java, Kotlin, Rust, and TypeScript codebases.
Input Schema
| Name | Required | Description | Default |
|---|---|---|---|
| repo_name | No | Optional but HIGHLY RECOMMENDED: repository name to filter results to a specific codebase (e.g., 'my-java-repo'). If you know the repository you are working on, include this in your FIRST query to avoid mixed results from other indexed projects. Omit only to search across all repositories. | |
| entity_name | Yes | The name of the function, method, or class to find callers for |