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trace-mcp Code Intelligence Routing

Routes Claude's code exploration to trace-mcp MCP tools instead of Read/Grep/Glob for more accurate, far cheaper codebase navigation.

Dev & CodingIntermediate★ 140⑂ 19AI score 9/10Last updated: Sep 5, 2026

What it does

  • Installs a routing policy: when exploring source code, use trace-mcp's 177 tools rather than Read, Grep, Glob, or shell ls/find/cat.
  • Ships a decision matrix mapping tasks to tools — symbol lookup → search, file overview → get_outline, blast radius → get_change_impact, HTTP flow → get_request_flow, dead exports → get_dead_code.
  • Defines session hygiene: get_project_map + get_task_context at start, register_edit after every edit, check_duplication before adding new symbols.
  • Adds token-efficiency rules: batch independent calls, never re-read a file, read only the target line range with offset/limit, don't delegate exploration to subagents.

Who it's for

  • Developers who already run the trace-mcp MCP server with an indexed repo.
  • Teams on large monorepos where grep-heavy exploration blows the context window.
  • Anyone who wants impact analysis, call graphs, and dead-code audits before refactoring.

Examples

  1. "Fix the checkout logic" → get_task_context pulls all relevant code in one call, then get_change_impact shows what would break.
  2. Debugging an endpoint → get_request_flow traces route → controller → service without opening several files.
  3. Cleanup pass → get_dead_code(mode: "exports_only") plus self_audit surface unused exports and untested modules.

· · · Install guide · · ·

Try it now, no install

Paste this into Claude to use the skill without installing anything.

Read the instructions in this file and follow them to help me:
https://raw.githubusercontent.com/nikolai-vysotskyi/trace-mcp/HEAD/skills/trace-mcp/SKILL.md

What I want: (describe your task here)

If Claude can't open the link, open it yourself and paste the contents instead.

↓ If it works for you, download the ZIP below and install it. Then it runs on its own — no pasting each time.

Install in the Claude app (no terminal)
  1. Download the ZIP with the button below.
  2. In Claude, open Settings → Capabilities and turn on 'Code execution and file creation'. (one time)
  3. Go to Customize → Skills → + → 'Upload a skill' and upload the ZIP.
↓ Download ZIP
Install in Claude Code

Let Claude do it — paste this into Claude Code

Install the skill I found on Claude Skill Mart.
Copy the skills/trace-mcp folder from the GitHub repo nikolai-vysotskyi/trace-mcp into my ~/.claude/skills/trace-mcp/.
When it's done, tell me in one line what this skill can do.

Install with a command instead

git clone https://github.com/nikolai-vysotskyi/trace-mcp.git /tmp/trace-mcp && cp -r /tmp/trace-mcp/skills/trace-mcp ~/.claude/skills/trace-mcp

⚠ This is a third-party skill. Check the source repository before installing.

  1. Install and index the trace-mcp MCP server first (see the repo README). Without it the skill has nothing to call.
  2. Clone the repo: git clone https://github.com/nikolai-vysotskyi/trace-mcp.git
  3. Copy the skill folder: mkdir -p ~/.claude/skills && cp -r trace-mcp/skills/trace-mcp ~/.claude/skills/
  4. For a single project, copy it into .claude/skills/ at the project root instead of your home directory.
  5. Restart Claude Code and confirm trace-mcp appears in the skills list.
  6. Sanity-check by asking for a project overview and verifying that get_project_map is called instead of Bash ls.
View source on GitHub ↗License: MIT