ast-bro

name	ast-bro
description	Fast code-navigation toolkit for LLM agents. Use to explore codebases without reading whole files — get file shapes, public APIs, dependency graphs, call graphs, blast-radius analysis, and token-budgeted context. Use when this capability is needed.
metadata	{"author":"aeroxy"}

Use sb (the ast-bro toolkit) to explore the code

sb is the short alias for the ast-bro binary. The legacy ast-outline command still works as a thin proxy.

Each command accepts --json for a stable, versioned schema (e.g. ast-bro.map.v1) and --compact to emit single-line JSON instead of pretty-printed. Pass an unknown flag or no command and the help text prints automatically — there is no "default" command.

Read structure with sb before opening full contents. Pull method bodies only once you know which ones you need.

A typical task done two ways:

# Without ast-bro: 4 file reads + 2 greps to find what calls TakeDamage
Read Player.cs            # 1200 lines
Read DamageSystem.cs      # 400 lines
grep "TakeDamage" src/    # noisy, string-match false positives

# With ast-bro: one call, AST-accurate
sb callers Player.TakeDamage

Stop at the step that answers the question:

1. Unfamiliar directory — sb digest <dir>: one-page map of every file's types and public methods.

   sb digest src/
   

2. One file's shape — sb map <file>: signatures with line ranges, no bodies (5–10× smaller than a full read).

   sb map src/file_filter.rs
   

3. One symbol's source — sb show <file> <Symbol>: suffix matching, multiple at once. Explicitly-passed extensionless files fall back to shebang detection (#!/usr/bin/env python3 → Python, #!/usr/bin/env node → TypeScript, etc.) — useful for CLI scripts in bin/ or ~/.local/bin/. Directory walks skip extensionless files to keep the walk fast.

   sb show src/main_helpers.rs parse_file_for_hook
   sb show Player.cs TakeDamage Heal Die
   

4. Who implements a type — sb implements <Type> <dir>: AST-accurate (skip grep), transitive by default with [via Parent] tags. Add --direct for level-1 only.

   sb implements LanguageAdapter src/
   

5. You don't know the file or symbol name — sb search "<query>": bare identifiers lean BM25 (HandlerStack), full sentences lean semantic ("how does login work"). First call builds the index at .ast-bro/index/.

   sb search "token-budgeted context"
   

6. Code similar to a chunk you already have — sb find-related <file>:<line>: pastes directly from search output (path:start-end).

   sb find-related src/context.rs:144
   

7. The actual published API of a package — sb surface <dir>: resolves pub use (Rust), __all__ (Python), barrel files (TS/JS), export (Scala). --tree for hierarchy, --include-chain for re-export paths.

   sb surface .
   

8. File-level deps — sb deps <file>: forward BFS of what <file> imports. Footer lists unresolved imports tagged [external] so you see what the file tries to pull in from outside the project.

   sb deps src/impact.rs
   

9. Who imports a file — sb reverse-deps <file>: backward BFS, with --tests / --exclude-tests to filter by test-file heuristics. Blast radius before a refactor.

   sb reverse-deps src/impact.rs --exclude-tests
   

10. Import cycles — sb cycles [<dir>]: Tarjan SCC; exits non-zero when cycles exist (CI gate).

    sb cycles
    

11. The full dependency graph — sb graph [<dir>] [--hide-external]: external imports shown by default (tagged [external]); --json for ast-bro.graph.v1.

    sb graph . --json
    

12. Who calls X / what X calls / how A reaches B — symbol-level call graph (shares the dep-graph cache with steps 8–11).

    Edges are tagged Exact / Inferred / Ambiguous by a three-pass resolver (same-file → global symbol table → dep-graph disambiguation). Ambiguous callers and unresolved/external callees are shown by default (red/cyan) so you see the full set without re-running. Pass --hide-ambiguous (callers) or --hide-external (callees) to drop them when you want the cleaner bucket.

    • sb callers <Symbol>: in-edges. Kind-aware: a function gets call-sites; a type gets implementors / constructions / ancestors.

      sb callers run_impact
      sb callers --tests run_impact         # test-file callers only
      sb callers LanguageAdapter            # implementors + constructions
      

    • sb callees <Symbol>: out-edges.

      sb callees run_impact --hide-external
      

    • sb trace <FROM> <TO>: shortest static call path, each hop's body inlined. No-path fallback to both endpoints + target file siblings.

      sb trace run_impact build_context
      

13. Blast radius of touching a symbol — sb impact <Symbol>: combines callers + callees + file deps + reverse-deps + test detection; for types, includes implementors and file-level reverse-deps. Four modes: --mode all|deps|dependents|tests. Prefer impact over separate calls. Schema: ast-bro.impact.v1.

    sb impact LanguageAdapter --mode tests
    sb impact run_impact --exclude-tests --depth 3
    

14. Token-budgeted context — sb context <Symbol>: target body + direct callees (bodies→signatures) + callers + transitive at depth 2 (signatures only). Types walk: target → implementors → methods → method callers. Flags truncated / target_omitted when budget runs short. Prefer over chains of show + callers + callees. Default --budget 8000. Schema: ast-bro.context.v1.

    sb context LanguageAdapter --budget 2000
    

15. Find or rewrite by AST pattern — sb run -p '<pattern>' [-r '<rewrite>'] [--write] [--lang <lang>]: metavariable patterns ($VAR, $$$ for splats). --write mutates files — always dry-run first.

    sb run -p 'println!($$$)' --lang rust
    

16. Compress a repetitive log/text file — sb squeeze <file> [from:to]: for logs/text, not code. Replaces repeated timestamps/tags with short tags plus a reversible legend; falls back to raw when it wouldn't help. --raw skips compression. Schema: ast-bro.squeeze.v1.

    sb squeeze app.log
    

Path / argument expectations:

• deps, reverse-deps → expect a file path
• graph, cycles → expect a directory (repo root)
• callers, callees, impact, context → expect a symbol name (function or type), not a path
• trace → expects two symbol names (FROM then TO), optional repo root
• run → expects a -p <pattern> flag, optionally -r <rewrite> and --write
• squeeze → expects a file path, optionally a from:to line range

Maintenance commands (not usually called directly — use sb install once and rely on sb prompt / sb mcp for ongoing integration):

sb index          Build, refresh, or inspect the per-repo search index
sb prompt         Print the agent prompt snippet (for hand-copying into AGENTS.md)
sb install        Install ast-bro into a coding-agent CLI
sb uninstall      Remove ast-bro from a coding-agent CLI
sb status         Report what's installed where
sb mcp            Run as an MCP (Model Context Protocol) server over stdio
sb hook           Internal: read a tool-call event from stdin and respond

---

Source: aeroxy/ast-bro — distributed by TomeVault.