C++ — 114 Operations for AI Agents

This page is the canonical reference an AI coding agent uses to refactor, query, and analyze C++ code through the act MCP server. 114 operations available: 69 refactor, 15 query, 30 analysis. Each operation is callable from Claude Code, Cursor, Codex, OpenCode, or any MCP-compatible agent host. Click any operation for a stable anchor link suitable for citation.

15Query

69Refactor

30Analysis

Query

Operation	Description
`callers`	Find every call site of a function or method across the codebase. Use to understand who depends on a function before changing its signature. Requires LSP. Params: symbol (string) [, file (string)]
`control_flow`	Get a function's control flow — branches, loops, early returns, and basic blocks in execution order. Use to understand complex logic without reading the full implementation. Params: target (string), file (string)
`definition`	Jump to definition — find where a symbol is defined given a usage location. Uses abstract syntax trees by default, no LSP required. Params: symbol (string), file (string), line (u32), column (u32)
`diagnostics`	Get compiler errors and warnings from the language server. Omit `file` for workspace-wide diagnostics. Pass a file path or directory path to scope results. Requires LSP.
`fix_auto`	Auto-fix all deterministic issues in a file, directory, or workspace — missing imports, unused imports, simple type errors. Runs multiple fix-revalidate cycles. Use after making changes to clean up automatically. Requires LSP. Params: none [, file (string), workspace_mode (bool), category (string), commit (bool), max_rounds (u32)]
`get_type`	Get the compiler-inferred type of any expression at a position. Use to understand types without reading surrounding code. Requires LSP. Params: file (string), line (u32), column (u32)
`graph`	Build a dependency graph from a file — trace what it imports and what imports it, across multiple hops. Use to understand module relationships and change impact before refactoring. Params: file (string) [, depth (u32), direction (string), leaves (bool), order (string)]
`import_organize`	Organize, sort, and deduplicate imports in a file. Removes unused imports. Use after adding new code or moving symbols to clean up import blocks automatically. Params: file (string) [, preview (bool)]
`interface`	Get a symbol's public API — signatures, types, and docstrings without implementation bodies. Like skeleton but for a single symbol. Use to understand how to call something without reading its internals. Params: target (string), file (string) [, include_private (bool)]
`mutations`	Identify side effects — what external state a function reads or writes (globals, file I/O, network, etc.). Use to understand if a function is pure or has hidden dependencies. Params: target (string), file (string)
`references`	Find every usage of a symbol across the entire codebase — all files, not just the current one. Use before renaming, refactoring, or deleting to understand full impact. Requires LSP. Params: symbol (string), file (string)
`repo_outline`	Get a compressed overview of the entire repository in one call — file tree with languages, line counts, and optionally symbol names per file. Orders of magnitude cheaper than listing directories and reading files individually. Params: none [, path (string), depth (u32), include (glob), exclude (glob), symbols (bool), max_files (u32), relative (bool)]
`skeleton`	Get a file's structure — function signatures, class declarations, type definitions — without implementation bodies. Use INSTEAD of reading the full file to understand its API. Typically 5-10x fewer tokens than reading the raw file. Params: file (string)
`symbols`	List all symbols (functions, classes, variables, types, constants) defined in a file with their locations and kinds. Use INSTEAD of reading a file when you need to know what's defined in it. Much cheaper than reading the full file. IMPORTANT: file must be a path to a single source file — never a directory or empty string. Params: file (string)
`symbols_batch`	Retrieve symbols from multiple files in a single call. Use instead of calling symbols() in a loop — one request instead of N. Params: none [, files (string[]), ids (string[]), kinds (string[])] — provide files or ids

Refactor

Operation	Description
`add-braces-to-statement`	Add braces around single-line if/for/while body
`add-break-to-switch-case`	Add break statement to a switch case that falls through
`add-const-method`	Add const qualifier to a C++ member function
`add-const-qualifier`	Add const to variables, parameters, or member functions
`add-constexpr`	Add constexpr specifier to a C++ function or variable
`add-default-parameter`	Add default value to function parameter
`add-explicit-keyword`	Add explicit keyword to single-parameter constructor
`add-include-guard`	Generate #ifndef/#define/#endif include guard
`add-member-initializer`	Add member to a constructor initializer list
`add-missing-include`	Add missing #include directive
`add-noexcept`	Add noexcept specifier to a C++ function
`add-nullptr-check`	Wrap pointer dereference in nullptr check
`add-override`	Add override specifier to a C++ virtual function
`add-virtual-keyword`	Add virtual keyword to function
`convert-c-cast-to-cpp-cast`	Replace C-style cast (Type)expr with static_cast<Type>(expr)
`convert-enum-to-enum-class`	Convert unscoped enum to scoped enum class
`convert-for-loop-to-range-based`	Convert index-based for loop to C++11 range-based for loop
`convert-for-to-while`	Convert for loop to while loop
`convert-function-to-lambda`	Convert simple function to lambda expression
`convert-global-to-static`	Convert global variable/function to static (file-local)
`convert-if-to-switch`	Convert if-else chain to switch statement
`convert-if-to-ternary`	Convert simple if-else to ternary operator
`convert-lambda-to-function`	Convert lambda expression to named function
`convert-local-variable-to-const`	Convert local variable to const
`convert-macro-to-constexpr`	Replace #define constant macro with constexpr auto
`convert-macro-to-inline-function`	Replace #define macro with inline function
`convert-postfix-to-prefix-operator`	Convert postfix operator (i++) to prefix (++i)
`convert-raw-array-to-vector`	Convert a C-style raw array to std::vector
`convert-string-literals-to-std-string`	Convert C-style string literal to std::string
`convert-switch-to-if-chain`	Convert switch statement to if-else chain
`convert-ternary-to-if`	Convert ternary operator to if-else statement
`convert-to-smart-pointer`	Convert a raw pointer new expression to a smart pointer
`convert-while-to-for`	Convert while loop to for loop
`extract-header`	Extract a class declaration into a .hpp header file
`extract_function`	Extract a code selection into a new function — automatically infers parameters, return types, and inserts the call site. Use instead of manually cutting/pasting code. Works without LSP; LSP improves type inference. Params: file (string), new_name (string), start_line (u32), start_column (u32), end_line (u32), end_column (u32) [, preview (bool)]
`extract_variable`	Extract an expression into a named variable — inserts the declaration and replaces the expression with the variable name. Works without LSP. Params: file (string), new_name (string), start_line (u32), start_column (u32), end_line (u32), end_column (u32) [, preview (bool)]
`generate-base-class-methods`	Generate override stubs for all virtual methods from a base class
`generate-class-with-raii`	Generate an RAII class skeleton with constructor/destructor pair
`generate-comparison-operators`	Generate comparison operators (==, !=, <, >, <=, >=)
`generate-const-reference-getter`	Generate a const reference getter for a member variable
`generate-copy-assignment`	Generate copy assignment operator
`generate-copy-constructor`	Generate copy constructor
`generate-default-constructor`	Generate explicit default constructor
`generate-destructor`	Generate explicit destructor
`generate-getter`	Generate const getter for member variable
`generate-getter-setter`	Generate getter and setter for member variable
`generate-interface-methods`	Generate pure virtual method implementations for an abstract base class
`generate-member-initializer-list`	Generate member initializer list for constructor
`generate-move-assignment`	Generate move assignment operator
`generate-move-constructor`	Generate move constructor
`generate-null-check`	Generate nullptr check with error handling
`generate-operator-overloads`	Generate operator overloads for a C++ class
`generate-rule-of-five`	Generate rule-of-five special member functions for a C++ class
`generate-scoped-enum`	Generate an enum class declaration with given name and values
`generate-setter`	Generate setter for member variable
`generate-unit-test-skeleton`	Generate Google Test or CppUnit test case stub
`inline`	Inline a variable, function, or method — replace every usage with its definition body, then remove the original. The inverse of extract. Works without LSP (single-file); LSP enables cross-file inlining. Params: file (string), symbol (string) [, line (u32), preview (bool)]
`inline-function-call`	Inline function body at call site
`insert_body`	Replace a function's implementation body with new code. AST-validated — rejects if the result has parse errors, so you can't accidentally break syntax. Use instead of manual text editing for function rewrites. Params: file (string), symbol (string), code (string) [, commit (bool)]
`move_symbol`	Move a function, class, or type to a different file and automatically update all imports across the codebase. Use instead of manually cut/paste + fixing imports. Works without LSP (single-file); LSP enables cross-file import updates. Params: file (string), symbol (string), destination (string) [, preview (bool)]
`outline-function-body`	Extract function body from inline implementation
`remove-unused-include`	Remove unused #include directives
`remove-unused-macro`	Remove a #define macro that has no references in the file
`rename`	Rename a symbol and automatically update ALL references across the codebase. Safer and faster than find-and-replace — AST-aware, won't rename strings or comments. Works without LSP (single-file); LSP enables cross-file renames. Params: file (string), old_name (string), new_name (string) [, line (u32), column (u32), preview (bool)]
`reorder-function-parameters`	Reorder function parameters with call-site updates
`simplify-boolean-expression`	Simplify boolean expressions by removing redundant operations
`simplify-if-statement`	Simplify if statements by reducing nesting or merging conditions
`simplify-null-check`	Simplify null checks with modern C++ patterns
`wrap-raii`	Wrap a resource acquisition with a RAII guard struct

Analysis

Operation	Description
`analyze_chokepoints`	Find files that act as critical bottlenecks — high betweenness centrality in the dependency graph (R4). Params: none [, include (string[]), exclude (string[])]. Use include/exclude to restrict the scan scope (e.g. include=["crates"], exclude=["corpus"]).
`analyze_clusters`	Identify tightly coupled groups of files using community detection. Use to discover natural module boundaries and understand which files change together. Params: none [, granularity (string), min_size (u32), include (string[]), exclude (string[])]. Use include/exclude to restrict the scan scope (e.g. include=["crates"], exclude=["corpus"]).
`analyze_cohesion`	Measure intra-module cohesion for each file — ratio of internal to total symbol edges (H2). Params: none [, include (string[]), exclude (string[])]. Use include/exclude to restrict the scan scope (e.g. include=["crates"], exclude=["corpus"]).
`analyze_coupling`	Measure coupling per file — how many files depend on it (afferent) vs how many it depends on (efferent), plus instability and abstractness scores. Use to find the most critical/fragile files. Params: none [, granularity (string), sort (string), threshold (f64), include (string[]), exclude (string[])]. Use include/exclude to restrict the scan scope (e.g. include=["crates"], exclude=["corpus"]).
`analyze_cycle_risk`	Score each circular dependency cycle by its external risk surface (R6 circular risk zones analysis). Params: none [, include (string[]), exclude (string[])]. Use include/exclude to restrict the scan scope (e.g. include=["crates"], exclude=["corpus"]).
`analyze_cycles`	Find circular dependency chains in the codebase. Use to identify import cycles that cause build issues or indicate architecture problems. Params: none [, granularity (string), max_length (u32), include (string[]), exclude (string[])]. Use include/exclude to restrict the scan scope (e.g. include=["crates"], exclude=["corpus"]).
`analyze_dead_code`	Find dead code — functions, classes, and types that are never referenced from any entry point. Use before cleanup to safely identify what can be deleted. Params: none [, entry (string[]), granularity (string), include_tests (bool), include (string[]), exclude (string[])]. Use include/exclude to restrict the scan scope (e.g. include=["crates"], exclude=["corpus"]).
`analyze_depth`	Compute longest transitive dependency chain per file (S4 dependency depth analysis). Params: none [, include (string[]), exclude (string[])]. Use include/exclude to restrict the scan scope (e.g. include=["crates"], exclude=["corpus"]).
`analyze_entry_points`	Detect entry points: main functions, HTTP routes, CLI commands, event listeners, test files (S5). Params: none [, include (string[]), exclude (string[])].
`analyze_export`	Export the full semantic graph (files, symbols, dependencies) in JSON, DOT (Graphviz), or CSV format. Use for visualization or external analysis. Params: none [, format (string), include (string[]), exclude (string[])]. Use include/exclude to restrict the scan scope (e.g. include=["crates"], exclude=["corpus"]).
`analyze_extraction`	Score clusters for service or package extraction viability (M2 extraction candidates analysis). Params: none [, include (string[]), exclude (string[])]. Use include/exclude to restrict the scan scope (e.g. include=["crates"], exclude=["corpus"]).
`analyze_fan_balance`	Compute fan-in/fan-out imbalance for migration ordering guidance (M6 fan balance analysis). Params: none [, include (string[]), exclude (string[])]. Use include/exclude to restrict the scan scope (e.g. include=["crates"], exclude=["corpus"]).
`analyze_features`	Inventory language-specific AST features used in the codebase — async, generics, decorators, etc. (M3). Params: none [, include (string[]), exclude (string[])]. Use include/exclude to restrict the scan scope (e.g. include=["crates"], exclude=["corpus"]).
`analyze_hotspots`	Rank files by composite complexity score — max cyclomatic complexity, statement count, nesting depth (H1). Params: none [, top_n (u32), include (string[]), exclude (string[])]. Use include/exclude to restrict the scan scope (e.g. include=["crates"], exclude=["corpus"]).
`analyze_impact`	Compute change impact for a target file — finds all files directly and transitively depending on it (R1). Params: target (string) [, max_depth (u32), include (string[]), exclude (string[])]. Use include/exclude to restrict the scan scope (e.g. include=["crates"], exclude=["corpus"]).
`analyze_inconsistencies`	Detect inconsistent abstractions — sibling files in the same directory that diverge from the group's structural pattern (H5). Params: none [, include (string[]), exclude (string[])].
`analyze_inheritance`	Detect tangled inheritance — deep hierarchies (>N levels) and diamond inheritance (H6). Params: none [, include (string[]), exclude (string[])].
`analyze_interface_bloat`	Detect interface bloat — files where the public API is disproportionately large relative to implementation (H3). Params: none [, include (string[]), exclude (string[])].
`analyze_interfaces`	Map cross-module interfaces — symbols that cross directory-module boundaries, ranked by interface width (M4). Params: none [, include (string[]), exclude (string[])]. Use include/exclude to restrict the scan scope (e.g. include=["crates"], exclude=["corpus"]).
`analyze_layers`	Detect architectural layers from directory names and find dependency direction violations (S1+S2). Params: none [, detect_only (bool), include (string[]), exclude (string[])]. Use include/exclude to restrict the scan scope (e.g. include=["crates"], exclude=["corpus"]).
`analyze_orphan_types`	Find type definitions used exclusively outside their defining directory (H4 orphan types analysis). Params: none [, include (string[]), exclude (string[])]. Use include/exclude to restrict the scan scope (e.g. include=["crates"], exclude=["corpus"]).
`analyze_patterns`	Find code smells — god functions, deep nesting, high coupling, and other structural issues. Use to identify refactoring targets or assess code quality. Params: none [, tier (string), pattern (string), file (string), severity (string), include (string[]), exclude (string[])]. Use include/exclude to restrict the scan scope (e.g. include=["crates"], exclude=["corpus"]).
`analyze_platform_deps`	Detect platform-specific API usage by scanning imports (M5 platform dependencies analysis). Params: none [, include (string[]), exclude (string[])]. Use include/exclude to restrict the scan scope (e.g. include=["crates"], exclude=["corpus"]).
`analyze_readiness`	Compute migration readiness scores per file — composite of complexity, coupling, porting blockers (M1). Params: none [, include (string[]), exclude (string[])]. Use include/exclude to restrict the scan scope (e.g. include=["crates"], exclude=["corpus"]).
`analyze_roles`	Classify files by architectural role: entry point, routing, business logic, data access, config, test, utility, types, generated (S3). Params: none [, include (string[]), exclude (string[])].
`analyze_seams`	Find the natural boundaries between file clusters — the narrowest points where groups of files communicate. Use to identify where to split modules or add API boundaries. Params: none [, min_cluster_size (u32), max_seam_width (u32), include (string[]), exclude (string[])]. Use include/exclude to restrict the scan scope (e.g. include=["crates"], exclude=["corpus"]).
`analyze_stability`	Compute stability index (R2) and detect stable dependency violations (R3) — flags edges where stable modules depend on unstable ones. Params: none [, index_only (bool), include (string[]), exclude (string[])].
`analyze_surface`	Measure API surface area — count exposed functions, types, and complexity at a module boundary. Use to assess whether an API is too large or leaky. Params: none [, boundary (string), files (string), include (string[]), exclude (string[])]. Use include/exclude to restrict the scan scope (e.g. include=["crates"], exclude=["corpus"]).
`analyze_test_gaps`	Detect source files with no or partial test coverage based on graph import analysis (R5). Params: none [, include (string[]), exclude (string[])]. Use include/exclude to restrict the scan scope (e.g. include=["crates"], exclude=["corpus"]).
`analyze_type_completeness`	Analyze type boundary completeness — detect 'any' types, untyped parameters, missing return types at exported function boundaries (M7). Params: none [, include (string[]), exclude (string[])].

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