dce

vs-token-safer — dead-code elimination (preview only)

Use this when the user wants to know what code can be safely removed starting from one or more symbols ("is Foo used anywhere?", "what becomes dead if I delete Foo?", "find unused code reachable from here").

Run it with the seed symbol(s). Prefer the vts_admin MCP tool (server vs-search):

vts_admin { "op": "dce", "params": { "seed": "Foo", "projectPath": "<the project root>" } }

For several seeds use "seeds": "Foo,Bar,Baz". Prefer the MCP tool — it runs in the warm server process, and vts is often not on PATH in Bash. If the vs-search server is unavailable, run the bundled CLI:

node "$CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT/server/cli.js" dce --seed Foo --projectPath <root>
# (if vts is on PATH:  vts dce --seeds Foo,Bar,Baz --projectPath <root> [--entry main,registerPlugin --maxNodes 120])

Warm-index requirement (C++/clangd)

For a clangd (C/C++) project the call graph must be warm — a cold or large tree (e.g. an Unreal monorepo, ~26k TUs) under-reports callers, so a live symbol could look DEAD. dce therefore refuses on a cold clangd index and tells you to build one. Indexing the whole tree is heavy, so scope it first:

vts setup --scope Source --projectPath <root>   # narrow to the module subtree, not the whole monorepo
vts preindex --projectPath <root>               # build the scoped index (or keep the MCP server warm)

Then re-run dce. To inspect the structure on a cold index anyway, pass allowCold=true — every verdict is then forced to INCONCLUSIVE (nothing is ever marked DEAD). TypeScript/Python/C# index on open and are not gated.

Then show the output verbatim. It classifies every symbol reachable from the seeds as:

• DEAD — no live caller remains; listed in a safe deletion order (top is removable first).
• HELD — still referenced; not dead (shows who calls it).
• ENTRY — a root kept on purpose (main / public API / a name you passed via --entry).
• INCONCLUSIVE — could not be resolved, or its caller set could not be proven complete.