Modern software projects are big. We’re talking millions of lines of code, dozens (or hundreds) of contributors, and complex interdependencies. For developers, navigating this kind of codebase isn’t just difficult—it can be overwhelming.
Whether you’re a new developer onboarding onto a massive codebase, trying to trace a tricky bug across layers, or preparing for a risky refactor, navigating large repositories is hard. CodeVista tackles this challenge head-on by transforming your codebase into a multi-layered knowledge graph—making it navigable, searchable, and context-aware.
At the heart of CodeVista’s approach to handling massive codebases is a powerful system we call VertexVista—an intelligent way to represent your codebase as a multi-layered knowledge graph.
To make sense of large-scale codebases, we built VertexVista, the core engine behind CodeVista’s understanding and reasoning capabilities. VertexVista transforms your code into a multi-layered knowledge graph that captures both the structure and semantics of your system.
The process starts by analyzing the source code using Tree-sitter, language servers, and custom rules to extract all the important entities—functions, classes, variables, APIs—and how they interact through calls, references, and inheritance. These become the nodes and edges of the symbol layer.
Next, we scan the folder structure to build a higher-level layer of organization. File paths are used to infer module boundaries, and LLMs can be used to generate summaries or previews of files to aid navigation.
Finally, we capture project-wide relationships, such as inter-package dependencies and third-party libraries, forming a dependency layer that helps understand external influences on the codebase.
All of this is processed in parallel for speed and stored efficiently so it can be reused instantly. The result is a living graph that allows CodeVista to answer complex developer queries, retrieve relevant context, and guide navigation—just like an experienced engineer would, but with the precision and scale of automation.
Large codebases aren’t just “more code”—they’re more complexity, more context, and more connections. Traditional tools flatten that complexity. VertexVista embraces it.
By building and navigating a layered graph of your codebase, CodeVista gives developers:
We’re continuing to push the boundaries of what’s possible with code graphs:
VertexVista is a core engine powering these next-gen developer experiences.
💬 Want to try CodeVista + VertexVista on your codebase?
Reach out for a private demo or early access to our advanced repo navigator.