Symbol graphs beat raw tokens
AST and reference graphs expose relationships that text search misses. This is why symbol graphs are essential for refactors and investigations.
Text search is not enough
Naive chunking misses overloads, indirect dependencies, and call-site patterns. Text search finds matches, but not meaning; symbol graphs capture the relationships that drive real changes.
ASTs unlock precision
Parsing the repo into definitions and references creates deterministic links between concepts. That reduces guesswork and manual file hunting, letting agents jump directly to the right slice.
Better investigations
When a bug spans modules, the graph shows blast radius fast. You can trace impact without opening half the repo, keeping debugging coherent even after compaction.