tracepack is a small Go CLI that quickly scans codebases for patterns and saves the results as Markdown, designed to stay simple, fast, and flexible through YAML profiles.

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Why I built it

When you inherit a large, old, or unfamiliar codebase, the first problem is usually not deep semantic analysis. It is getting a fast, reusable overview of what is there: size, structure, hotspots, and recurring patterns worth reviewing first.

Tradeoffs

The tool is intentionally lightweight and pattern-driven. That keeps it flexible and easy to adapt with YAML profiles, but it also means it is not a replacement for deeper static analysis, framework-aware tooling, or manual review.

Notes

The most useful output is often a compact footprint plus a saved Markdown bundle of searches and command output. That makes triage, migration planning, legacy reviews, and sharing findings with others much easier.

It supports two modes:

  • footprint prints a compact overview of a codebase, including size, file counts, and related metrics
  • summary runs a sequence of searches or shell commands and saves the results as a Markdown analysis bundle

This is useful when you want to:

  • get a rough overview of a codebase
  • run reusable searches and save findings as Markdown
  • build lightweight scan profiles for different stacks or migration tasks

The bundled default profile is php-legacy, but profiles are configurable and not limited to PHP.

Typical profile entries can look for things like:

  • session handling and direct superglobal usage
  • file operations and writable paths
  • database access patterns
  • include and require relationships
  • likely config or secret locations
  • framework- or stack-specific conventions

The goal is not to replace dedicated analyzers. It is to give you a simple, fast way to inspect a codebase, capture repeatable searches, and produce review-friendly artifacts you can share or revisit later.

READ THE LEGACY PHP PLAYBOOK →

Status

Released on GitHub as a practical, profile-driven codebase inspection tool with Markdown-first output.