Refactoring

Find the Symbol

Locate the code you want to refactor:

"Find the getUserData function"

Uses: noodlbox_query_with_context tool

Get Full Symbol Context

Understand the symbol's role, all references, and community:

"Show me the full context for getUserData"

Uses: noodlbox_symbol_context tool

Returns categorized incoming/outgoing references, community membership, and centrality score.

Map All Callers

Find everything that depends on this code:

"What calls getUserData?"

Uses: noodlbox_raw_cypher_query tool

MATCH (caller)-[:CALLS]->(target:Symbol {name: "getUserData"})
RETURN caller.name, caller.file_path, caller.kind
ORDER BY caller.file_path

This tells you what will break if you change the signature.

Map All Callees

Find everything this code depends on:

"What does getUserData call?"

MATCH (source:Symbol {name: "getUserData"})-[:CALLS]->(callee)
RETURN callee.name, callee.file_path, callee.kind

This tells you what you're bringing along if you move the code.

Identify Cross-Community Dependencies

Check if refactoring crosses module boundaries:

"Which communities reference getUserData?"

MATCH (caller)-[:CALLS]->(target:Symbol {name: "getUserData"})
MATCH (caller)-[:BELONGS_TO]->(comm:Community)
RETURN DISTINCT comm.name, comm.label, count(caller) as caller_count

Cross-community changes require more coordination.

Preview Impact

Before making changes, preview the blast radius:

"What would be impacted if I changed getUserData?"

Uses: noodlbox_detect_impact tool

Review the potentially_affected symbols.

Get Symbol Context

"Show me the context for getUserData"

Uses: noodlbox_symbol_context

Returns: 12 incoming callers across 4 files, all in the "UserManagement" community. Centrality score: 0.72.

Preview the Rename

"Preview renaming getUserData to fetchUserProfile"

Uses: noodlbox_rename_symbol with dry_run: true

Returns: 4 files affected, 14 total edits (12 graph edits, 2 ast_search edits), with per-file change details and confidence tags.

Assess and Apply

• 12 graph edits (high confidence) -- auto-accept
• 2 ast_search edits (lower confidence) -- review in test files
• Same community (low coordination risk)
• Decision: Apply the rename with dry_run: false

Map Internal Methods

MATCH (method)-[:DEFINED_IN]->(class:Symbol {name: "DataService"})
RETURN method.name, method.kind

Group by Domain

MATCH (method)-[:DEFINED_IN]->(class:Symbol {name: "DataService"})
MATCH (method)-[:CALLS]->(dep)
RETURN method.name,
       CASE
         WHEN dep.name CONTAINS "User" THEN "user"
         WHEN dep.name CONTAINS "Product" THEN "product"
         ELSE "shared"
       END as domain

Identify Shared Dependencies

Methods calling both user and product code need special handling.

Plan Extraction Order

1. Extract shared utilities first
2. Create UserDataService with user methods
3. Create ProductDataService with product methods
4. Update callers
5. Remove original DataService