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Quick Setup

1. Install

Homebrew (macOS):

brew install ScriptedAlchemy/tap/tracedecay

Cargo (any platform):

cargo install tracedecay

Verify it works:

tracedecay --help

2. Configure Claude Code

tracedecay claude-install

This single command configures everything — MCP server, tool permissions, PreToolUse hook, and CLAUDE.md rules. No scripts, no jq, works on macOS/Linux/Windows. Safe to re-run after upgrading.

3. Index your project

cd /path/to/your/project
tracedecay init

This creates a .tracedecay/ directory and indexes all supported files (15 languages). After the initial index, tracedecay sync picks up only changed files. To force a full re-index, use tracedecay sync --force.

Check what was indexed:

tracedecay status

4. Use it with Claude

Once configured, Claude has access to these tools:

Tool What it does
tracedecay_search Find symbols by name or keyword
tracedecay_context Build AI-ready context for a task description
tracedecay_callers Find all callers of a function
tracedecay_callees Find all callees of a function
tracedecay_impact Compute the impact radius of a symbol
tracedecay_node Get detailed info about a specific symbol
tracedecay_files List indexed project files with filtering
tracedecay_affected Find test files affected by source changes
tracedecay_status Show graph statistics and global tokens saved
tracedecay_rank Rank nodes by relationship count (most implemented interface, etc.)
tracedecay_largest Rank nodes by size — largest classes, longest methods
tracedecay_complexity Rank functions by composite complexity score
tracedecay_recursion Detect recursive call cycles
tracedecay_doc_coverage Find public symbols missing documentation
tracedecay_god_class Find classes with the most members
tracedecay_coupling Rank files by fan-in/fan-out coupling

Plus dozens more — see README.md for the full list of 70+ tools.

Claude will use these tools automatically when you ask questions about your codebase. Examples:

  • "How does the authentication module work?" — uses tracedecay_context
  • "What calls the processPayment function?" — uses tracedecay_callers
  • "If I change UserService, what else is affected?" — uses tracedecay_impact
  • "Which tests need to run after I changed db/connection.rs?" — uses tracedecay_affected
  • "What's the most implemented interface?" — uses tracedecay_rank
  • "Are there any god classes?" — uses tracedecay_god_class
  • "Any recursive calls in the codebase?" — uses tracedecay_recursion

Claude Desktop (manual)

For Claude Desktop, add the MCP server to ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "tracedecay": {
      "command": "tracedecay",
      "args": ["serve", "--path", "/path/to/your/project"]
    }
  }
}

Replace /path/to/your/project with the absolute path to your indexed project.

Keeping the index fresh

After making code changes, sync the graph:

tracedecay sync

The MCP server reads from the database on each request, so it picks up synced changes without restarting.

Multi-branch (optional)

If you work on multiple branches, TraceDecay can keep a separate graph per branch so switching never causes stale results:

tracedecay branch add          # track the current branch

This copies the nearest ancestor's database and syncs only the changed files. See docs/BRANCHING-USER-GUIDE.md for the full guide.