Impact Analysis with GitNexus

When to Use

• "Is it safe to change this function?"
• "What will break if I modify X?"
• "Show me the blast radius"
• "Who uses this code?"
• Before making non-trivial code changes
• Before committing — to understand what your changes affect

Bind the repository first

Impact analysis is the gate that authorizes an edit, so it must answer for the repository you are about to edit.

Call list_repos {} before the first tool call. With one indexed repository, use the examples below as written. With more than one, pass repo on every call: an omitted repo normally errors, but under an MCP policy with a configured default it resolves to that default silently. If you cannot tell which repository is meant, stop and ask — every result below an ambiguous identity inherits the ambiguity. list_repos is paginated, so page with offset: pagination.nextOffset until hasMore is false before concluding a repository is absent.

detect_changes takes worktree when your changes are in a linked worktree the MCP server was not launched from. The server auto-detects a worktree only when it was launched from inside one; otherwise git diff runs in the wrong checkout and reports zero changed symbols — a false clean check that carries none of the degradation flags described below. In the CLI fallbacks, --repo . means the current checkout; pass the intended repository path instead when you are not standing in it.

State the bound identity with your risk report:

Repository: <name> (<path>)   Worktree: <path>   Index: <commit>, <n> behind HEAD

Workflow

0. list_repos {}                                           → Bind repo (and worktree)
1. impact({target: "X", direction: "upstream"}) or `node .gitnexus/run.cjs impact "X" --direction upstream --repo .`
2. READ gitnexus://repo/{name}/processes                   → Check affected execution flows
3. detect_changes({scope: "all"}) or `node .gitnexus/run.cjs detect-changes --scope all --repo .`
4. Assess risk and report to user, echoing repo/worktree/index identity

If "Index is stale" → run node .gitnexus/run.cjs analyze in terminal. Hot-tool staleness names which index answered (branch/lastCommit) and how fresh it is (status). Re-analyze only for behind or diverged — current is identity, unknown is unmeasurable. If .gitnexus/run.cjs is missing, replace node .gitnexus/run.cjs with npx gitnexus in the fallback commands.

Checklist

- [ ] list_repos {} — bind repo; explicit repo when >1 indexed, ask if ambiguous
- [ ] impact({target, direction: "upstream"}) or CLI fallback to find dependents
- [ ] Review d=1 items first (these WILL BREAK)
- [ ] Check high-confidence (>0.8) dependencies
- [ ] READ processes to check affected execution flows
- [ ] detect_changes({scope: "all"}) or CLI fallback for pre-commit check
- [ ] Confirm the checkout you edited is the checkout that was diffed
- [ ] Assess risk level and report, stating repo/worktree/index identity

Understanding Output

Depth	Risk Level	Meaning
d=1	WILL BREAK	Direct callers/importers
d=2	LIKELY AFFECTED	Indirect dependencies
d=3	MAY NEED TESTING	Transitive effects

Risk Assessment

Affected	Risk
<5 symbols, few processes	LOW
5-15 symbols, 2-5 processes	MEDIUM
>15 symbols or many processes	HIGH
Critical path (auth, payments)	CRITICAL
Zero callers found	UNKNOWN

UNKNOWN is not a low rung on this scale — it means the walk could not answer. An empty caller set is equally consistent with "genuinely unused" and "the callers are not resolvable by the index" (plain-object property access, dynamic dispatch, cross-language calls), so few-callers ⇒ LOW does not apply. The result carries a riskNote saying so. Confirm with a text search before treating the symbol as safe to change or delete.

risk is the edit gate: warn on HIGH/CRITICAL and stop on UNKNOWN until the uncertainty is resolved. Within single-repo mode, compare File and symbol targets with local riskSharedAxes (direct/total only). Within group mode, compare only group results: their riskSharedAxes overlays resolved cross-repo crossings on that local value. Never use either field to waive the edit gate. Check riskScale.unusedAxes before comparing kinds: MCP File walks omit process/module axes, while web Graph-RAG expands File targets to in-file symbols before enrichment.

Tools

impact — the primary tool for symbol blast radius. If MCP is unavailable, use node .gitnexus/run.cjs impact <symbol> --direction upstream --repo . instead:

impact({
  target: "validateUser",
  repo: "my-app",          // required once >1 repository is indexed
  direction: "upstream",
  minConfidence: 0.8,
  maxDepth: 3
})

→ d=1 (WILL BREAK):
  - loginHandler (src/auth/login.ts:42) [CALLS, 100%]
  - apiMiddleware (src/api/middleware.ts:15) [CALLS, 100%]

→ d=2 (LIKELY AFFECTED):
  - authRouter (src/routes/auth.ts:22) [CALLS, 95%]

detect_changes — git-diff based impact analysis. If MCP is unavailable, use node .gitnexus/run.cjs detect-changes --scope all --repo . instead:

detect_changes({scope: "all"})

→ Changed: 5 symbols in 3 files
→ Affected: LoginFlow, TokenRefresh, APIMiddlewarePipeline
→ Risk: MEDIUM

Add repo once more than one repository is indexed, and worktree: "<abs path>" when your changes are in a linked worktree the server was not launched from.

partial: true (a graph query failed) or truncated: true (the changed-symbol listing was capped) means the result is short of the truth, and reads like UNKNOWN above: a zero there means unseen, not unaffected. Re-run it rather than tick the pre-commit check.

A wrong-worktree zero carries neither flag and is shape-identical to a genuine clean result, so confirm the checkout you edited is the one that was diffed before treating an empty change set as a passed check.

Example: "What breaks if I change validateUser?"

0. list_repos {}
   → total: 2 (my-app, billing-api) — both define validateUser, so bind explicitly

1. impact({target: "validateUser", repo: "my-app", direction: "upstream"}) or `node .gitnexus/run.cjs impact "validateUser" --direction upstream --repo .`
   → d=1: loginHandler, apiMiddleware (WILL BREAK)
   → d=2: authRouter, sessionManager (LIKELY AFFECTED)

2. READ gitnexus://repo/my-app/processes
   → LoginFlow and TokenRefresh touch validateUser

3. Risk: 2 direct callers, 2 processes = MEDIUM
   Repository: my-app (/abs/path/my-app)  Worktree: same  Index: current

With a single indexed repository, step 0 returns total: 1 and the repo argument drops out of every call above.