rubicanjr/tldr-cli

TLDR CLI - Code Analysis Tool

You have tldr available on PATH for token-efficient code analysis.

Commands

# Core analysis
tldr tree [path]                    # File tree
tldr structure [path] --lang <lang> # Code structure (codemaps)
tldr search <pattern> [path]        # Search files
tldr extract <file>                 # Full file info
tldr context <entry> --project .    # LLM-ready context

# Flow analysis
tldr cfg <file> <function>          # Control flow graph
tldr dfg <file> <function>          # Data flow graph
tldr slice <file> <func> <line>     # Program slice
tldr calls [path]                   # Cross-file call graph

# Codebase analysis
tldr impact <func> [path]           # Who calls this function? (reverse call graph)
tldr dead [path]                    # Find unreachable/dead code
tldr arch [path]                    # Detect architectural layers

# Import analysis
tldr imports <file>                 # Parse imports from a file
tldr importers <module> [path]      # Find all files that import a module

# Quality & testing (NEW)
tldr diagnostics <file|path>        # Type check + lint (pyright/ruff)
tldr change-impact [files...]       # Find tests affected by changes

When to Use

• Before reading files: Run tldr structure . to see what exists
• Finding code: Use tldr search "pattern" instead of grep for structured results
• Understanding functions: Use tldr cfg for complexity, tldr dfg for data flow
• Debugging: Use tldr slice file.py func 42 to find what affects line 42
• Context for tasks: Use tldr context entry_point to get relevant code
• Impact analysis: Use tldr impact func_name before refactoring to see what would break
• Dead code: Use tldr dead src/ to find unused functions for cleanup
• Architecture: Use tldr arch src/ to understand layer structure
• Import tracking: Use tldr imports file.py to see what a file imports
• Reverse imports: Use tldr importers module_name src/ to find who imports a module
• Before tests: Use tldr diagnostics . to catch type errors before running tests
• Selective testing: Use tldr change-impact to run only affected tests

Languages

Supports: python, typescript, go, rust

Example Workflow

# 1. See project structure
tldr tree src/ --ext .py

# 2. Find relevant code
tldr search "process_data" src/

# 3. Get context for a function
tldr context process_data --project src/ --depth 2

# 4. Understand control flow
tldr cfg src/processor.py process_data

# 5. Before refactoring - check impact
tldr impact process_data src/ --depth 3

# 6. Find dead code to clean up
tldr dead src/ --entry main cli

Codebase Analysis Commands

Impact Analysis

tldr impact <function> [path] --depth N --file <filter>

Shows reverse call graph - all functions that call the target. Useful before refactoring.

Dead Code Detection

tldr dead [path] --entry <patterns>

Finds functions never called (excluding entry points like main, test_, etc.)

Architecture Detection

tldr arch [path]

Analyzes call patterns to detect:

• Entry layer (controllers/handlers)
• Middle layer (services)
• Leaf layer (utilities)
• Circular dependencies

Import Analysis

tldr imports <file> [--lang python]

Parses all import statements from a file. Returns JSON with module names, imported names, aliases.

Reverse Import Lookup

tldr importers <module> [path] [--lang python]

Finds all files that import a given module. Complements tldr impact which tracks function calls - this tracks imports.

Diagnostics (Type Check + Lint)

tldr diagnostics <file>              # Single file
tldr diagnostics . --project         # Whole project
tldr diagnostics src/ --format text  # Human-readable output
tldr diagnostics src/ --no-lint      # Type check only

Runs pyright (types) + ruff (lint) and returns structured errors. Use before tests to catch type errors early.

Change Impact (Selective Testing)

tldr change-impact                   # Auto-detect (session/git)
tldr change-impact src/foo.py        # Explicit files
tldr change-impact --session         # Session-modified files
tldr change-impact --git             # Git diff files
tldr change-impact --run             # Actually run affected tests

Finds which tests to run based on changed code. Uses call graph + import analysis.

Output

All commands output JSON (except context which outputs LLM-ready text, diagnostics --format text for human output).