| name | show-call-chain |
| description | Use this skill when the user asks "who calls this function", "what does this function call", "show me the call chain", "trace the call graph", "find callers of", "find callees of", or wants to understand the blast radius of changing a function. Also use when investigating how a function is used across the codebase. |
Show Call Chain
Trace the call graph for a function to understand its callers (upstream) and callees (downstream). Uses the get_call_chain MCP tool which runs recursive CTEs against the indexed call graph.
Usage
Call the get_call_chain MCP tool with the function name:
Find who calls a function (callers)
get_call_chain(function_name="handleRequest", direction="callers", depth=2)
Find what a function calls (callees)
get_call_chain(function_name="handleRequest", direction="callees", depth=2)
Both directions (default)
get_call_chain(function_name="handleRequest")
Parameters
| Parameter | Type | Default | Description |
|---|
function_name | string | (required) | Name of the function to trace |
direction | string | "both" | "callers", "callees", or "both" |
depth | integer | 2 | Recursion depth (1-5). Higher = wider graph |
Reading Results
Results are grouped by depth level:
- Depth 1: Direct callers/callees
- Depth 2: Callers of callers / callees of callees
(external): Calls to library functions not in the index
Each node includes name, file_path, and line — enough to navigate directly to the code.
Common Workflows
-
Blast radius analysis: Before changing a function, trace its callers to depth 3 to see all affected code paths.
-
Dead code detection: If get_call_chain with direction="callers" returns empty, the function may be unused.
-
Dependency understanding: Trace callees to see what a function depends on before refactoring.
Prerequisite
The codebase must be indexed first. If get_call_chain fails, run /index-codebase.
