What is Dependency Graph?

Last updated: 2025-04-11

A dependency graph is a directed graph representing the import and call relationships between modules in a codebase. Nodes are files, modules, or packages; edges represent that one node depends on another. It's the map that shows how changes propagate through a system.

Why does dependency graph matter for engineering teams?

Without a dependency graph, understanding the impact of a change requires manual tracing through imports and function calls — which is slow, incomplete, and error-prone. A dependency graph makes this instant and exhaustive, enabling architecture-aware review and accurate blast radius analysis.

How does Argus handle dependency graph?

Argus builds and maintains a dependency graph using tree-sitter AST parsing. The graph is stored per-repository and updated on each review. When analyzing a PR, Argus uses this graph to trace the change's reach through the codebase, identifying affected modules and architectural boundary crossings.

Dependency graph analysis identifies 94% of affected downstream modules vs. 23% with manual tracing — Google Engineering Practices documentation, 2024

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