The Symbol Reference Finder Tool
Find the likely definitions and references of any symbol across an indexed repository — the "where is this used?" answer an agent needs before changing, renaming, or removing anything, on infrastructure you control.
"Where is this used?" is the question before every change
Before renaming a function, changing a signature, or deleting a class, you need every place it’s defined and used. Miss one and you ship a break. Finding them by grep is noisy and unreliable.
Grep is noisy
Text search matches comments, strings, and unrelated names.
Missed usages break things
One overlooked reference turns a safe change into an incident.
Definitions are scattered
A symbol may be defined and re-exported in several places.
Agents need certainty
An agent can’t refactor safely without the full usage set.
Definitions and usages, located
Lookup
Definitions and references
Everywhere it lives and is used.
Given a symbol, the tool locates its likely definitions and references across an indexed repository — the complete usage picture, not the noisy approximation grep returns.
- Definition discovery
- Usage references across the repo
- Indexed, not raw grep
- Scoped to a repo and ref
Across the repo
Safety
Know the blast radius
Refactor with confidence.
With every usage in hand, an agent can rename, change a signature, or remove a symbol knowing exactly what it touches — turning risky edits into safe, scoped changes.
Full usage set
Governance
On-premise analysis
Source stays internal.
Lookups run against an indexed snapshot inside your perimeter with audit logging, so reference search never exposes code.
IP-safe, logged
Parameters
The find_references tool accepts these inputs when an agent calls it. Required inputs are flagged.
Where reference finding pays back
Safe renames
Find every usage before renaming a symbol.
Signature changes
Locate all callers before changing an interface.
Dead-code removal
Confirm a symbol is unused before deleting it.
Impact scoping
Size a change by how widely a symbol is used.
Code comprehension
Understand how a function is used across the repo.
Agent refactoring
Let an agent refactor with the full usage set.
Assigned to agents, orchestrated as networks
On VDF AI, an industry’s use cases map to agents, and you assign tools like this one to those agents. Compose multiple agents into a governed, on-premise network.
What changes after you assign it
Questions about the Symbol Reference Finder tool
What does the symbol reference finder do?
Given a symbol name, it locates the likely definitions and references for it across an indexed repository — the complete "where is this used?" answer needed before changing, renaming, or removing it.
How is it better than grep?
It works from an index rather than raw text, so it avoids matching comments, strings, and unrelated names, giving a cleaner and more reliable usage set.
Can I scope it to one repository?
Yes. Provide owner, repo, and optionally a ref to scope the search; symbol_name is the only required input.
Is our code exposed?
No. Lookups run on-premise against an indexed snapshot with audit logging.
How does it pair with other tools?
It is essential for safe refactoring alongside change-impact analysis, the repository map, and code review.
Tools that work well alongside this one
Where this tool delivers value
Answer "where is this used?" with certainty
See the symbol reference finder let an agent refactor safely — on infrastructure you control.