callgraph

PHP call graph and impact analysis for AI agents

callgraph reads your .php files from the syntax tree and tells your agent what is in a class, which method lives on which lines, what each method calls — sorted by category — and who calls it, across the whole project. Laravel and Yii aware, without reading whole files.

Install Use it over MCP

What callgraph extracts from PHP

  • Classes, traits and enums, with extends and the namespace.
  • Methods with exact line ranges, properties, constants and docblocks.
  • Calls with type tracking, each labelled with a category.
  • String literals and if / match / switch branches (--format flow).
  • Framework detection: Laravel and Yii.

Call categories you will see in a PHP outline include native_php, orm_relation, model_use, global_helper, internal_helper, external_call and framework_use, so the agent sees intent, not just names. Filter by them with --category model_use,orm_relation.

Outline of a model

One command instead of reading the file:

bash ~/.claude/skills/callgraph/callgraph.sh --project shop app/Models/Order.php

Output

FILE  /srv/shop/app/Models/Order.php  NS:App\Models

class Order extends Illuminate\Database\Eloquent\Model  L7-23
  constants (1):
    STATUS_OPEN = 'open'
  properties (1):
    mixed $fillable
  saveTranslations()  L13-20
    external_call     create, info
    global_helper     logger
    internal_helper   translations
  translations()  L22-22
    orm_relation      hasMany

Then read only the method you need, line-numbered (the docblock above it and blank lines are left out, comments inside stay; --doc adds the docblock, --raw prints the exact source):

bash ~/.claude/skills/callgraph/callgraph.sh --project shop app/Models/Order.php::save --body

Who calls this PHP method?

Start with the name pattern — it catches every call, also where the receiver type is unknown, inherited or comes from a trait. Type::method finds only the calls resolved to that type, so use it to narrow a common name like save or find:

bash ~/.claude/skills/callgraph/callgraph.sh --project shop app --grep '(^|::|\.|->)cancel$'
bash ~/.claude/skills/callgraph/callgraph.sh --project shop app --grep 'Order::cancel'
bash ~/.claude/skills/callgraph/callgraph.sh --project shop app --grep 'Order::cancel' --depth 3

With --depth N callgraph walks callers of callers for impact analysis:

$ callgraph.sh --project shop app --grep saveTranslations --depth 2
== level 1 — directly calls: /saveTranslations/
  /srv/shop/app/Models/Order.php  Caller::run()  L25-25

== level 2 — calls the previous level
  (no more callers)
  • Every match shows the call's own source line, e.g. L25 │ $this->repo->find($id), so the agent sees the arguments without another read.
  • Searching Class::method also finds calls made through its interface, abstract parent or trait, marked via Resolver.
  • Calls from child classes that use the inherited method as $this->method() are found too, marked with the child class (L139 via EventeditController │ …). A child class with its own version of the method is not counted.
  • --guess adds name-only matches, marked ?.

Laravel and Yii views

Framework views run on a directory and give one focused list each: routes, middleware, validation, jobs, events, providers, magic, di and views.

bash ~/.claude/skills/callgraph/callgraph.sh --project shop routes --format routes
bash ~/.claude/skills/callgraph/callgraph.sh --project shop app --format validation

Over MCP the same views are the framework_view tool. In an unfamiliar Laravel or Yii project, profile shows the layered MVC structure first: which folder holds the controllers, services, repositories and models.

Limits

This is static analysis: dynamic calls ($this->$method()), magic methods and class names assembled at runtime cannot be resolved. By default --depth follows only resolved callers; --guess shows the name-only ones. For exact control logic, read the method with --body.