Concepts

Core concepts behind Graphite’s design.

Optimization targets

Three targets, in priority order. Every design decision is measured against them.

Agent execution speed. Total wall-clock time the agent takes to finish a task. Not query latency. Every file read eliminated, every turn skipped, every exploration phase removed.
Assertiveness. The agent acts with confidence because it has the right context upfront. No “let me check a few more files,” no hesitation, no backtracking. Edge confidence tells the agent when to trust the graph and when to verify.
Correctness. The agent makes fewer mistakes because blast radius is visible, dynamic dispatch flows are mapped, framework routes are connected, and nothing is silently missed.

Edge confidence

Every edge in the graph carries a confidence tier and provenance.

Tier	Meaning	Example
EXTRACTED	Parsed directly from source AST	Static call, explicit import, type annotation
INFERRED	Derived by rule from context	Duck-typed call resolved to likely target
AMBIGUOUS	Multiple possible targets	Dynamic dispatch, reflection, generated code

Responses disclose when a result is a lower bound and why. The agent knows when to trust the graph and when to verify with a file read.

Blast radius

Everything that transitively depends on a symbol. Change function_a and the blast radius tells you every function, class, and test that could break.

Default depth: 3 (configurable)
Source code returned inline with line numbers
Covering tests identified automatically
Prod/test partition in results

Symbols and edges

Graphite extracts:

Symbols: functions, classes, structs, traits, interfaces, types, constants, enums
Edges: calls, imports, implements, references, contains

Each symbol gets a deterministic ID (BLAKE3 hash of file + name + kind + line). Each edge links two symbols with a kind and confidence tier.

Source inline

Every query response returns verbatim source code with line numbers alongside graph context. The agent gets the answer AND the code in one call; no follow-up Read needed.

Transparent interception

PreToolUse hooks rewrite the agent’s habitual read-only commands (grep, find, cat, head, tail) into enriched graph-aware answers. The agent doesn’t need to know Graphite exists; it gets structural context transparently.

The enriched response includes:

Standard path:line: format the agent expects
Graph annotations (callers, confidence, blast radius markers)
Verdict header summarizing what the graph knows
Footer with graph revision and staleness indicator