Sqry
semantic code search using AST and call graphs
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I built sqry, a local code search tool that works at the semantic level rather than the text level.The motivation: ripgrep is great for finding strings, but it can't tell you "who calls this function", "what does this function call", or "find all public async functions that return Result". Those questions require understanding code structure, not just matching patterns.sqry parses your code into an AST using tree-sitter, builds a unified call/ import/dependency graph, and lets you query it: sqry query "callers:authenticate" sqry query "kind:function AND visibility:public AND lang:rust" sqry graph trace-path main handle_request sqry cycles sqry ask "find all error handling functions" The `sqry ask` command translates natural language into sqry query syntax locally, using a compact 22M-parameter model with no network calls.Some things that might be interesting to HN:- 35 language plugins via tree-sitter (C, Rust, Go, Python, TypeScript, Java, SQL, Terraform, and more) - Cross-language edge detection: FFI linking (Rust↔C/C++), HTTP route matching (JS/TS↔Python/Java/Go) - 33-tool MCP server so AI assistants get exact call graph data instead of relying on embedding similarity - Arena-based graph with CSR storage; indexed queries run ~4ms warm - Cycle detection, dead code analysis, semantic diff between git refsIt's MIT-licensed and builds from source with Rust 1.90+. Fair warning: full build takes ~20 GB disk because 35 tree-sitter grammars compile from source.Repo: https://github.com/verivusai-labs/sqry Docs: https://sqry.devHappy to answer questions about the architecture, the NL translation approach, or the cross-language detection.
HN · launched Mar 6, 2026 · 5 upvotes (top 89%) · 1 view
Niche: code and binary analysis tools · 118 launches, 4 in the last 7 days ▼ -56% · Explore this niche →
Category and tags
- Horizontal
- Search & retrieval
- Developer
- Not AI
- Hobby / open-source project
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More like this: all 118 launches in code and binary analysis tools →
Could you build this?
Partial Building a basic AST query wrapper is accessible, but building a production-grade semantic code search engine supporting 37 languages with complete call graphs and fast indexing requires serious compiler-frontend engineering.
What it would actually take: The architecture uses Rust with Tree-sitter parsers across dozens of languages, constructing persistent ASTs, symbol tables, and cross-file call graphs into an indexed database. The hard parts are cross-file symbol resolution across heterogeneous language semantics (imports, scoping, dynamic dispatch) and sub-second query performance over massive codebases. Requires deep expertise in compiler theory, program analysis, and high-performance graph indexing.
Discussion
1 comment analyzed.
Competitors mentioned: Neo4j
Competitors
Other products that read as similar to this one : 150 launches clear the similarity bar, closest 8 shown.
Attention rank: #136 of 151 (itself plus its competitors, highest first, normalized so YC and Product Hunt are compared fairly).
Launched 127 days after the earliest competitor.
- Anyone interested in a tool helps to explore C++ ASTs · hn · 2026-05-21 · 49 upvotes · similarity 0.48
- Treepeat – Code similarity detection using Tree-sitter · hn · 2026-09-22 · 70 upvotes · similarity 0.45
- CodeRLM · hn · 2026-02-11 · 81 upvotes · similarity 0.45
- Eulix · hn · 2026-09-15 · 5 upvotes · similarity 0.44
- Bloodhound · hn · 2025-12-09 · 5 upvotes · similarity 0.44
- Structural code grep across public GitHub repositories · hn · 2026-08-22 · 15 upvotes · similarity 0.43
- Arcaide · hn · 2026-07-09 · 25 upvotes · similarity 0.43
- CodeDiff · hn · 2026-09-29 · 7 upvotes · similarity 0.41
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