analyze_impact

The analyze_impact tool helps you understand the risk and scope of modifying a file. Before making changes, use it to see what other files would be affected and get a risk score that reflects the potential impact.

How It Works

Stellarion uses BFS (Breadth-First Search) graph traversal on the dependency graph to find all files that depend on the target file, both directly and transitively. It then calculates a risk score based on file importance, criticality, and the number of affected files.

When to Use

• Before refactoring: Understand what might break before you start
• Assessing risk of changes: Get a quantified risk score for modifications
• Understanding blast radius: See how far changes might propagate
• Planning safe modifications: Identify high-risk vs low-risk changes
• Impact analysis for reviews: Understand the scope of a proposed change

Parameters

MCP Command Syntax

mcp__stellarion__analyze_impact path:src/core/engine.ts includeCategories:true detectCircular:true

Examples

Basic Impact Analysis

Natural Language:

What would be affected if I change src/services/auth.ts?

Direct MCP Call:

mcp__stellarion__analyze_impact path:src/services/auth.ts

Returns: All files that depend on auth.ts, directly and indirectly, with risk score

Categorized Impact

Natural Language:

Analyze the impact of changing src/db/connection.ts and group the affected files by type

Direct MCP Call:

mcp__stellarion__analyze_impact path:src/db/connection.ts includeCategories:true

Returns: Affected files grouped into components, services, utilities, and tests

Production-Only Impact

Natural Language:

What production files would be affected if I change this utility?

Direct MCP Call:

mcp__stellarion__analyze_impact path:src/utils/helpers.ts excludeTests:true

Returns: Only production file impact, excluding test files

Risk Assessment

Natural Language:

What's the risk of modifying src/core/engine.ts?

Direct MCP Call:

mcp__stellarion__analyze_impact path:src/core/engine.ts includeCategories:true detectCircular:true

Returns: Risk score with detailed breakdown of factors

Limited Depth Analysis

Natural Language:

Show me the immediate impact of changing this file (just direct dependencies)

Direct MCP Call:

mcp__stellarion__analyze_impact path:src/api/routes.ts maxDepth:1

Returns: Only directly dependent files, not transitive dependencies

Circular Dependency Check

Natural Language:

If I change this file, would it trigger any circular dependency issues?

Direct MCP Call:

mcp__stellarion__analyze_impact path:src/services/user.ts detectCircular:true

Returns: Impact analysis plus any circular dependencies in the impact chain

Output Format

Affected Files

Risk Score

A score from 0.0 to 1.0 calculated from multiple factors:

Risk Levels

Categories (when requested)

Files are grouped into:

Understanding Risk Scores

High Risk Indicators

• Entry points (index.ts, main.ts, app.ts): Changes affect the entire application
• Critical files (config, database, auth): Changes have security or stability implications
• Many dependents: More files affected means more things can break

Low Risk Indicators

• Test files: Changes don't affect production
• Leaf nodes: Files that nothing else depends on
• Isolated utilities: Self-contained helper functions

Tips for Impact Analysis

1. Always check impact before major refactoring: Save yourself from unexpected breakages
2. Use excludeTests: true for production impact: Focus on what matters for users
3. High-risk files need more testing: Plan extra test coverage for high-score files
4. Consider breaking up high-impact files: Files with 0.7+ risk might be doing too much
5. Use categories to prioritize: Services and core components need more attention than utilities

Combining with Other Tools

1. Impact + Quality: High-risk files with high complexity are priority targets for improvement
2. Impact + Structure: Understand why a file has high impact by examining its dependencies
3. Impact + Refactoring: Use impact scores to prioritize which refactoring opportunities to tackle first

Example Workflow

Before making changes:

# 1. Check impact
mcp__stellarion__analyze_impact path:src/core/auth.ts includeCategories:true

# 2. If high risk, check complexity
mcp__stellarion__analyze_quality type:complexity path:src/core/auth.ts

# 3. Understand dependencies
mcp__stellarion__analyze_structure type:dependencies path:src/core/auth.ts

# 4. Plan changes with full context