GrepAI Trace Callees

This skill covers using grepai trace callees to find all functions called by a specific function.

When to Use This Skill

• Understanding function dependencies

• Mapping function behavior

• Finding deeply nested dependencies

• Code comprehension and documentation

What is Trace Callees?

grepai trace callees answers: "What does this function call?"

func ProcessOrder(order) { validateOrder(order) calculateTotal(order) sendConfirmation(order.email) } │ ↓ ┌───────┴───────────────────┐ │ What does ProcessOrder │ │ call? │ ├───────────────────────────┤ │ • validateOrder │ │ • calculateTotal │ │ • sendConfirmation │ └───────────────────────────┘

Basic Usage

grepai trace callees "FunctionName"

Example

grepai trace callees "ProcessOrder"

Output:

🔍 Callees of "ProcessOrder"

Found 4 callees:

1. validateOrder File: services/order.go:45 Context: validateOrder(order)

2. calculateTotal File: services/order.go:48 Context: total := calculateTotal(order.Items)

3. applyDiscount File: services/order.go:51 Context: total = applyDiscount(total, order.Coupon)

4. sendConfirmation File: services/order.go:55 Context: sendConfirmation(order.Email, total)

JSON Output

grepai trace callees "ProcessOrder" --json

Output:

{ "query": "ProcessOrder", "mode": "callees", "count": 4, "results": [ { "file": "services/order.go", "line": 45, "callee": "validateOrder", "context": "validateOrder(order)" }, { "file": "services/order.go", "line": 48, "callee": "calculateTotal", "context": "total := calculateTotal(order.Items)" }, { "file": "services/order.go", "line": 51, "callee": "applyDiscount", "context": "total = applyDiscount(total, order.Coupon)" }, { "file": "services/order.go", "line": 55, "callee": "sendConfirmation", "context": "sendConfirmation(order.Email, total)" } ] }

Compact JSON (AI Optimized)

grepai trace callees "ProcessOrder" --json --compact

Output:

{ "q": "ProcessOrder", "m": "callees", "c": 4, "r": [ {"f": "services/order.go", "l": 45, "fn": "validateOrder"}, {"f": "services/order.go", "l": 48, "fn": "calculateTotal"}, {"f": "services/order.go", "l": 51, "fn": "applyDiscount"}, {"f": "services/order.go", "l": 55, "fn": "sendConfirmation"} ] }

TOON Output (v0.26.0+)

TOON format offers ~50% fewer tokens than JSON:

grepai trace callees "ProcessOrder" --toon

Note: --json and --toon are mutually exclusive.

Extraction Modes

Fast Mode (Default)

grepai trace callees "ProcessOrder" --mode fast

Precise Mode

grepai trace callees "ProcessOrder" --mode precise

Mode Speed Accuracy Dependencies

fast

⚡⚡⚡ Good None

precise

⚡⚡ Excellent tree-sitter

Use Cases

Understanding Function Behavior

What does this complex function do?

grepai trace callees "handleRequest"

Map the data flow

grepai trace callees "processPayment"

Finding Dependencies

What external services does this call?

grepai trace callees "syncData"

What database operations happen?

grepai trace callees "saveUser"

Code Review

What side effects does this function have?

grepai trace callees "updateProfile"

Is this function doing too much?

grepai trace callees "doEverything" # Lots of callees = code smell

Documentation

Generate dependency list for docs

grepai trace callees "initialize" --json | jq '.results[].callee'

Callers vs Callees

Command Question Use Case

trace callers

Who calls me? Impact analysis

trace callees

What do I call? Behavior analysis

Combined analysis

grepai trace callers "processOrder" # Who uses this? grepai trace callees "processOrder" # What does it do?

Filtering Results

By File Type

Get callees and filter to only .go files

grepai trace callees "main" --json | jq '.results[] | select(.file | endswith(".go"))'

Exclude Test Functions

grepai trace callees "Login" --json | jq '.results[] | select(.callee | startswith("Test") | not)'

Count by Category

Count how many database vs. API calls

grepai trace callees "processOrder" --json | jq '.results[].callee' | grep -c "db"

What Callees Includes

The trace finds:

• Direct function calls

• Method calls

• Built-in function calls (depending on mode)

Example

func ProcessOrder(order Order) error { // Direct call validateOrder(order)

// Method call
order.Validate()

// Package function
utils.Log("processing")

// Built-in (may or may not be captured)
fmt.Println("done")

return nil

}

Callees found:

• validateOrder

• Validate (method)

• Log (from utils)

• Println (depending on mode)

Limitations

What Callees Might Miss

• Dynamic/runtime calls

• Callbacks and closures

• Interface method calls (may show interface, not implementation)

• Reflection-based calls

Example of Undetected Call

func process(fn func()) { fn() // Callee is unknown at static analysis time }

Combining with Trace Graph

For recursive dependency analysis, use trace graph:

Direct callees only

grepai trace callees "main"

Full dependency tree (recursive)

grepai trace graph "main" --depth 3

Scripting Examples

List All Callees

grepai trace callees "main" --json | jq -r '.results[].callee' | sort -u

Check for Specific Callee

Does processOrder call sendEmail?

grepai trace callees "processOrder" --json | jq -e '.results[] | select(.callee == "sendEmail")' && echo "Yes" || echo "No"

Generate Dependency Report

#!/bin/bash echo "# Function Dependencies Report" echo "" for fn in main initialize processOrder; do echo "## $fn" grepai trace callees "$fn" --json | jq -r '.results[].callee' | sed 's/^/- /' echo "" done

Common Issues

❌ Problem: Function not found ✅ Solution: Check spelling and ensure function exists in indexed files

❌ Problem: No callees found (but function has calls) ✅ Solutions:

• Try --mode precise

• Check language is in enabled_languages

• Ensure symbols.gob is up to date (grepai watch )

❌ Problem: Missing some callees ✅ Solution: Use --mode precise for better accuracy

Best Practices

• Use for understanding: Great for learning new codebases

• Combine with callers: Full dependency picture

• Use graph for deep analysis: When you need recursion

• Filter results: Focus on relevant callees

• Document findings: Export to markdown for docs

Output Format

Trace callees result:

🔍 Callees of "ProcessOrder"

Mode: fast Function found in: services/order.go:40

Found 4 callees:

1. validateOrder File: services/order.go:45 Context: validateOrder(order)

2. calculateTotal File: services/order.go:48 Context: total := calculateTotal(order.Items)

3. applyDiscount File: services/order.go:51 Context: total = applyDiscount(total, order.Coupon)

4. sendConfirmation File: services/order.go:55 Context: sendConfirmation(order.Email, total)

Tip: Use 'grepai trace graph ProcessOrder' for recursive analysis