pkgrank

pkgrank ranks nodes in a Cargo dependency graph using centrality metrics.

Install

cargo install pkgrank
pkgrank --help

TL;DR

# Rank local crates by importance (PageRank)
cargo run -- -n 10

# Rank by "who consumes this?" (Consumer PageRank)
cargo run -- --metric consumers-pagerank -n 10

Graph model

• Nodes are Cargo packages (from cargo metadata).
• Directed edges are $A \to B$ iff crate A depends on crate B.

Interpretation

• PageRank on the depends-on graph tends to surface shared dependencies / “substrate” crates.
• To surface top-level orchestrators / consumers, use the “consumer PageRank” (PageRank on the reversed graph).

Usage (local crate graph)

Analyze the current directory (finds Cargo.toml if present):

cargo run -- -n 25

Pick the “top-level orchestrators” view:

cargo run -- --metric consumers-pagerank -n 25

Bound JSON output explicitly:

cargo run -- analyze --format json --json-limit 200

Write per-repo artifacts under evals/pkgrank/ (super-workspace mode):

cargo run -- sweep-local --root . --out evals/pkgrank --mode workspace-slice -n 10

Triage (artifact-backed summary, same payload as MCP pkgrank_triage):

cargo run -- triage --root . --out evals/pkgrank

JSON output shape (stable wrapper)

For commands that support --format json, the JSON is wrapped for forwards-compatible parsing:

{
  "schema_version": 1,
  "ok": true,
  "command": "analyze|modules|modules-sweep|cratesio",
  "rows": [ /* ... */ ]
}

pkgrank analyze --format json also includes explicit bounding metadata:

• rows_total: total rows computed
• rows_returned: rows included in rows
• truncated: whether rows was truncated
• json_limit: the applied limit (if any)

Usage (module/item graph via cargo-modules)

pkgrank modules shells out to cargo-modules and parses its DOT output.

Install once:

cargo install cargo-modules

Defaults are tuned for a “fast, actionable hotspot scan”:

• aggregate by file
• include types + traits
• hide functions / externs / sysroot
• show a few strongest edges
• cache cargo-modules DOT output

Note on CLI vs MCP defaults:

• The CLI pkgrank modules defaults include types + traits (and hide functions).
• The MCP pkgrank_modules tool is more conservative by default (hides fns/types/traits unless you opt in via preset or include_*), because MCP payloads are easy to blow up accidentally.
  • If you want the CLI-like view from MCP, pass a preset like file-api or file-full.

File-level hotspots (explicit, but these are now close to the defaults):

cargo run -- modules --manifest-path ../Cargo.toml -p walk --lib -n 25

Workspace sweep (summary-only):

cargo run -- modules-sweep --manifest-path ../Cargo.toml -p walk -p innr --lib

Use presets when you want a different “view” quickly:

# Item-level view, more verbose
cargo run -- modules --manifest-path ../Cargo.toml -p walk --lib --preset node-full -n 25

Failure semantics:

• Default: continue on error and report which packages failed.
• --fail-fast: stop on first failure.
• --continue-on-error=false: equivalent explicit form.

Caching:

• modules/modules-sweep cache cargo modules dependencies DOT output under evals/pkgrank/modules_cache/.
• Use --cache-refresh to force regeneration.

MCP stdio server (Cursor)

pkgrank mcp-stdio runs an MCP server over stdio. Stdout is reserved for JSON-RPC frames.

Run:

cargo run -- mcp-stdio

Toolset selection (optional):

• Default: slim (small tool surface; “just works” for Cursor)
• Opt-in:
  • PKGRANK_MCP_TOOLSET=full to expose advanced tools (e.g. module/type graph centrality)
  • PKGRANK_MCP_TOOLSET=debug to also expose internal artifact-inspection tools

Environment (optional):

• PKGRANK_ROOT: default root directory for artifact-backed tools
• PKGRANK_OUT: default artifacts directory (default evals/pkgrank)

Tools (high level):

• Default (Cursor MCP): pkgrank_view, pkgrank_triage, pkgrank_analyze, pkgrank_repo_detail, pkgrank_crate_detail, pkgrank_snapshot, pkgrank_compare_runs
• Advanced (opt-in: PKGRANK_MCP_TOOLSET=full): pkgrank_status, pkgrank_modules, pkgrank_modules_sweep
• Debug (opt-in: PKGRANK_MCP_TOOLSET=debug): internal artifact-inspection tools (e.g. TLC tables, invariants list, PPR summaries)

Tests (E2E targets)

• Default test suite is offline/deterministic and uses local real targets (the dev super-workspace itself).
• URL-backed tests (crates.io crawl) are opt-in:
  • set PKGRANK_E2E_NETWORK=1 before running tests.

Invariants (must not drift)

• Edge meaning: $A \to B$ means “A depends on B”.
• Dependency kind gating: --dev / --build control whether those edges exist.
• Workspace restriction: “workspace-only” means nodes/edges restricted to the current Cargo workspace members.

User stories (what this is for)

These are the “real” workflows this tool is meant to serve.

• Onboarding / orientation: “What are the most central crates in this workspace? Who are the orchestrators?”
  • Use: pkgrank analyze (metric pagerank vs consumers-pagerank) and pkgrank triage.
• Dependency slimming / graph sanity: “Why is this crate so central / so sticky? What depends on it?”
  • Use: pkgrank analyze --metric consumers-pagerank + drill into origins and degrees; optionally generate artifacts via pkgrank view.
• Refactor hotspots inside a crate: “Which files/modules/items are the coupling hotspots?”
  • Use: pkgrank modules with --aggregate file (hot files) or --aggregate node (hot items).
• Workspace sweep: “Run that hotspot scan across a bunch of crates and summarize failures/results.”
  • Use: pkgrank modules-sweep (summary-only by default).
• Shareable artifacts: “Write an HTML snapshot I can point people at.”
  • Use: pkgrank view / pkgrank sweep-local.

Evidence pointers (qualitative):

• Community demand for “internal dependency graph visualization” (rust-analyzer crate graph is commonly suggested): https://www.reddit.com/r/rust/comments/x04zko/visualizing_internal_dependencies_as_a_graph/
• Cursor’s framing of MCP: “connect to external tools and data sources” (so MCP tends to be used for “triage + drilldown”): https://cursor.com/docs/context/mcp
• Cargo’s own cargo tree docs emphasize dependency display, reverse-deps (--invert), and “duplicates” as a common pain point: https://doc.rust-lang.org/cargo/commands/cargo-tree.html

Dependencies / integration notes

• pkgrank includes its centrality algorithms internally (PageRank / PPR / betweenness / reachability), to stay buildable as a standalone repo (no cross-repo path deps).