> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://mintlify.com/abhigyanpatwari/GitNexus/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# gitnexus impact

> Blast radius analysis for code changes

## Syntax

```bash theme={null}
gitnexus impact <target>
```

## Description

Blast radius analysis: what breaks if you change a symbol. This is a direct CLI wrapper for the [`impact`](/api/tools/impact) MCP tool.

Analyzes the dependency graph to find:

* **Upstream** (dependants) — What calls this symbol and would break if it changes
* **Downstream** (dependencies) — What this symbol calls and might need updating

Results are grouped by depth (1, 2, 3 hops) with confidence scores.

## Arguments

<ParamField path="target" type="string" required>
  Symbol name to analyze (e.g., "validateUser", "AuthService").
</ParamField>

## Options

<ParamField path="--direction" type="string" optional>
  Analysis direction.

  **Values**: `upstream` (dependants) or `downstream` (dependencies)

  **Default**: `upstream`
</ParamField>

<ParamField path="--repo" type="string" optional>
  Target repository name. Omit if only one repository is indexed.
</ParamField>

<ParamField path="--depth" type="number" optional>
  Maximum relationship depth to analyze.

  **Default**: `3`
</ParamField>

<ParamField path="--include-tests" type="boolean" optional>
  Include test files in results.

  **Default**: `false`
</ParamField>

## Usage Examples

### Basic upstream analysis

```bash theme={null}
gitnexus impact validateUser
```

### Downstream dependencies

```bash theme={null}
gitnexus impact AuthService --direction downstream
```

### Include test files

```bash theme={null}
gitnexus impact validateUser --include-tests
```

### Limit depth

```bash theme={null}
gitnexus impact AuthService --depth 2
```

### Specific repository

```bash theme={null}
gitnexus impact validateUser --repo backend-api
```

## Output Format

Results are returned as JSON on **stderr**:

```json theme={null}
{
  "target": {
    "name": "validateUser",
    "type": "Function",
    "file": "src/auth/validator.ts",
    "line": 42
  },
  "direction": "upstream",
  "impact": {
    "depth_1": [
      {
        "name": "login",
        "file": "src/auth/login.ts",
        "line": 18,
        "type": "Function",
        "confidence": "high"
      }
    ],
    "depth_2": [
      {
        "name": "handleAuth",
        "file": "src/api/auth.ts",
        "line": 32,
        "type": "Function",
        "confidence": "medium"
      }
    ],
    "depth_3": []
  },
  "total_affected": 2,
  "risk_level": "medium"
}
```

## Direction Types

### Upstream (dependants)

**What calls this symbol** — use this before making breaking changes:

```bash theme={null}
gitnexus impact validateUser --direction upstream
```

Example:

```
validateUser (target)
  ↑ called by login
    ↑ called by handleAuth
      ↑ called by authMiddleware
```

### Downstream (dependencies)

**What this symbol calls** — use this to understand what might need updating:

```bash theme={null}
gitnexus impact AuthService --direction downstream
```

Example:

```
AuthService (target)
  ↓ calls validateUser
    ↓ calls hashPassword
      ↓ calls crypto.pbkdf2
```

## Confidence Scores

* **high** — Direct call relationship
* **medium** — Indirect call (depth 2)
* **low** — Distant relationship (depth 3+)

## Risk Levels

* **low** — 1-5 affected symbols
* **medium** — 6-20 affected symbols
* **high** — 21+ affected symbols

## When to Use

Use `gitnexus impact` before:

* **Refactoring** — Understand blast radius
* **Breaking changes** — Find all affected callers
* **Deleting code** — Check if anything depends on it
* **API changes** — See downstream impact

## Test Files

By default, test files are excluded from impact analysis to reduce noise. Include them with `--include-tests`:

```bash theme={null}
gitnexus impact validateUser --include-tests
```

## Multi-Repo Support

If you have multiple repositories indexed, specify which one:

```bash theme={null}
gitnexus impact AuthService --repo backend-api
```

## Output Destination

All output goes to **stderr** instead of stdout because KuzuDB's native module captures stdout at the OS level.

To redirect to a file:

```bash theme={null}
gitnexus impact validateUser 2> impact.json
```

## Related Commands

* [`gitnexus query`](/api/commands/query) — Search for execution flows
* [`gitnexus context`](/api/commands/context) — 360-degree symbol view
* [`gitnexus cypher`](/api/commands/cypher) — Raw graph queries