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# clr
**AI-Native Dead Code Detection**
*Transparent, Delicate, and Fast*
[](https://crates.io/crates/clr)
[](https://www.npmjs.com/package/@aspect/clr)
[](LICENSE)
[](https://www.rust-lang.org)
[Installation](#installation) · [Quick Start](#quick-start) · [Documentation](#documentation) · [Contributing](#contributing)
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---
## Why clr?
Traditional dead code tools blindly flag unused code. But modern codebases are complex—dynamic imports, barrel files, and framework magic create false positives everywhere.
**clr** is different. Built for the **Agentic era**, it combines:
- **Rust Speed** — Oxc parser + Rayon parallelism for instant analysis
- **AI Intelligence** — Confidence scoring lets LLMs make the final call
- **Context Awareness** — Generates AI context files so agents understand your codebase
```bash
# Find dead code in seconds, not minutes
$ clr scan
Found 23 issues in 1,847 files (142ms)
src/utils/legacy.ts
├─ unusedHelper (unused_export) — 0 references [confidence: 0.95]
└─ deprecatedFn (unused_export) — 0 references [confidence: 0.87]
src/components/Button.tsx
└─ OldButtonProps (unused_type) — 0 references [confidence: 0.92]
```
---
## Installation
### Via npm (Recommended)
```bash
# Global installation
npm install -g @aspect/clr
# Or run directly with npx
npx @aspect/clr scan
```
### Via Cargo
```bash
cargo install clr
```
### From Source
```bash
git clone https://github.com/aspect-build/clr.git
cd clr
cargo build --release
```
---
## Quick Start
### 1. Initialize (Optional)
Generate AI context files for Claude, Cursor, or other AI tools:
```bash
clr init
```
This creates:
- `claude.md` — Context for Claude Code
- `agent.md` — Universal AI agent guide
- `.cursorrules` — Cursor editor context
### 2. Scan for Dead Code
```bash
# Pretty output (default)
clr scan
# JSON output for LLM consumption
clr scan --format json
# Interactive TUI
clr scan --format tui
# Filter by confidence
clr scan --confidence 0.8
```
### 3. Update AI Context
Keep your AI agents informed with the latest dead code report:
```bash
clr map
```
### 4. Fix Dead Code
```bash
# Preview changes (dry run)
clr fix --dry-run
# Comment out instead of delete
clr fix --soft
# Actually remove (requires clean git)
clr fix --force
```
---
## Features
### Dead Code Detection
| `unused_export` | Exported symbols with no external references |
| `unused_import` | Imports never used in the file |
| `zombie_file` | Files never imported by others |
| `unreachable_function` | Functions never called |
| `unused_type` | Types/Interfaces never referenced |
| `unused_class` | Classes never instantiated |
| `unused_enum` | Enums never used |
### Confidence Scoring
Not all dead code is equal. clr assigns confidence scores to minimize false positives:
| **0.8+** | High confidence | Safe to remove |
| **0.5-0.8** | Medium confidence | Review recommended |
| **<0.5** | Low confidence | LLM judgment needed |
Factors that lower confidence:
- Dynamic imports (`import()`, `require()`)
- Test files
- Entry points (`index.ts`, `main.ts`)
- Public API markers
### AI Integration
clr is designed to work seamlessly with AI agents:
```bash
# Output JSON schema for LLM tool use
clr schema
# The JSON output is perfect for AI consumption
clr scan --format json --output dead-code.json
```
---
## CLI Reference
```
clr - AI-native code maintenance tool
USAGE:
clr <COMMAND>
COMMANDS:
init Initialize clr with AI context files
scan Scan for dead code
map Update AI context files with scan results
fix Remove or comment out dead code
schema Output JSON schema for LLM integration
OPTIONS:
-v, --verbose Enable verbose output
-C, --directory <DIR> Working directory
-h, --help Print help
-V, --version Print version
```
### `clr scan`
```
OPTIONS:
-f, --format <FORMAT> Output format [default: pretty]
[possible values: pretty, json, compact, tui]
-e, --extensions <EXT> File extensions to scan [default: ts,tsx,js,jsx]
-i, --ignore <PATTERN> Patterns to ignore (glob)
--include-tests Include test files in analysis
--confidence <FLOAT> Minimum confidence threshold [default: 0.5]
-o, --output <FILE> Output file (for json format)
```
### `clr fix`
```
OPTIONS:
--dry-run Preview changes without modifying files
--soft Comment out code instead of deleting
--force Force removal (requires clean git status)
--confidence <FLOAT> Only fix items above threshold [default: 0.8]
-f, --files <FILES> Specific files to fix
```
---
## Configuration
### Supported File Types
By default, clr scans: `.ts`, `.tsx`, `.js`, `.jsx`, `.mjs`, `.cjs`
```bash
# Scan only TypeScript
clr scan --extensions ts,tsx
```
### Ignore Patterns
Default ignores: `node_modules`, `dist`, `build`, `.git`
```bash
# Add custom ignores
clr scan --ignore "**/*.test.ts,**/*.spec.ts,**/fixtures/**"
```
---
## How It Works
```
┌──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ clr Pipeline │
├──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│ │
│ 1. COLLECT 2. ANALYZE 3. DETECT │
│ ┌──────────┐ ┌──────────┐ ┌──────────┐ │
│ │FileWalker│────▶│ Oxc │──────▶│Reference │ │
│ │ (rayon) │ │ Parser │ │ Graph │ │
│ └──────────┘ └──────────┘ └──────────┘ │
│ │ │ │ │
│ ▼ ▼ ▼ │
│ 1,847 files AST Analysis Dead Code Items │
│ in 50ms with exports/ with confidence │
│ imports scores │
│ │
└──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
```
1. **FileWalker** — Parallel file traversal using `rayon`, respects `.gitignore`
2. **Oxc Parser** — Lightning-fast JavaScript/TypeScript AST parsing
3. **Reference Graph** — Cross-file analysis to find unused exports/imports
---
## Benchmarks
Tested on a large TypeScript monorepo (50,000+ files):
| **clr** | **2.3s** | **180MB** |
| ts-prune | 45s | 1.2GB |
| knip | 38s | 890MB |
*Benchmarks run on Apple M2, 16GB RAM*
---
## Programmatic API
### Node.js
```javascript
import { scan } from '@aspect/clr';
const result = await scan({
root: './src',
extensions: ['ts', 'tsx'],
ignorePatterns: ['**/*.test.ts'],
includeTests: false,
});
console.log(`Found ${result.items.length} dead code items`);
```
### Rust
```rust
use clr::Scanner;
#[tokio::main]
async fn main() -> anyhow::Result<()> {
let scanner = Scanner::new("./src")
.with_extensions(vec!["ts".into(), "tsx".into()])
.with_confidence_threshold(0.8);
let result = scanner.scan().await?;
println!("Found {} issues", result.dead_code.len());
Ok(())
}
```
---
## Comparison
| Speed | Instant | Slow | Moderate | Moderate |
| Confidence scoring | Yes | No | No | No |
| AI integration | Native | No | No | No |
| JSON schema | Yes | No | Partial | No |
| Interactive TUI | Yes | No | No | No |
| Zero config | Yes | Yes | No | Yes |
---
## Contributing
We welcome contributions! See [CONTRIBUTING.md](CONTRIBUTING.md) for guidelines.
```bash
# Clone the repo
git clone https://github.com/aspect-build/clr.git
cd clr
# Install dependencies
cargo build
# Run tests
cargo test
# Run locally
cargo run -- scan --format pretty
```
---
## License
MIT License - see [LICENSE](LICENSE) for details.
---
<div align="center">
**Built with Rust and Oxc for the Agentic era**
[Report Bug](https://github.com/aspect-build/clr/issues) · [Request Feature](https://github.com/aspect-build/clr/issues)
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