tldr-code
Token-efficient code analysis via 5-layer stack (AST, Call Graph, CFG, DFG, PDG). 95% token savings.
By parcadei · 494 installs
npx skills add parcadei/continuous-claude-v3 --skill tldr-code
Source repository · Upstream listing
TLDR Code: Complete Reference
Token efficient code analysis. 95% savings vs raw file reads.
Quick Reference
Task Command
File tree tldr tree src/
Code structure tldr structure . lang python
Search code tldr search "pattern" .
Call graph tldr calls src/
Who calls X? tldr impact func name .
Control flow tldr cfg file.py func
Data flow tldr dfg file.py func
Program slice tldr slice file.py func 42
Dead code tldr dead src/
Architecture tldr arch src/
Imports tldr imports file.py
Who imports X? tldr importers module name .
Affected tests tldr change impact git
Type check tldr diagnostics file.py
Semantic search tldr semantic search "auth flow"
The 5 Layer Stack
CLI Commands
Navigation
Search
File Analysis
Flow Analysis
Codebase Analysis
Import Analysis
Quality & Testing
Caching
Daemon (Faster Queries)
The daemon holds indexes in memory for instant repeated queries.
Daemon Commands
Daemon Features
Feature Description
Auto shutdown 30 minutes idle
Query caching SalsaDB memoization
Content hashing Skip unchanged files
Dirty tracking Incremental re indexing
Cross platform Unix sockets / Windows TCP
Daemon Socket Protocol
Send JSON to socket, receive JSON response:
All 22 daemon commands:
Semantic Search (P6)
Natural language code search using embeddings.
Setup
Search
Configuration
In .claude/settings.json :
Languages Supported
Language AST Call Graph CFG DFG PDG
Python Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
TypeScript Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
JavaScript Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Go Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Rust Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Java Yes Yes
C/C++ Yes Yes
Ruby Yes
PHP Yes
Kotlin Yes
Swift Yes
C Yes
Scala Yes
Lua Yes
Elixir Yes
Ignore Patterns
TLDR respects .tldrignore (gitignore syntax):
First run creates .tldrignore with sensible defaults.
Use no ignore to bypass.
When to Use TLDR vs Other Tools
Task Use TLDR Use Grep
Find function definition tldr extract file function X
Search code patterns tldr search "pattern"
String literal search grep "literal"
Config values grep "KEY="
Cross file calls tldr calls
Reverse deps tldr impact func
Complexity analysis tldr cfg file func
Variable tracking tldr dfg file func
Natural language query tldr semantic search
Python API
Bug Fixing Workflow (Navigation + Read)
Key insight: TLDR navigates, then you read. Don't try to fix bugs from summaries alone.
The Pattern
Why This Works
For cross file bugs (e.g., wrong field name, type mismatch), you need to see:
The file with the bug (handler accessing task.user id )
The file with the contract (model defining owner id )
TLDR finds which files matter. Then you read them.
Getting More Context
If TLDR output isn't enough:
tldr search "pattern" . C 20 Get actual code with 20 lines context
tldr imports file.py See what a file depends on
Read the file directly if you need the full implementation
Token Savings Evidence
The insight: Call graph navigates to relevant code, then layers give structured summaries. You don't read irrelevant code.