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Fallow: codebase intelligence for JavaScript and TypeScript

Codebase intelligence for JavaScript and TypeScript. The free static layer finds unused code, circular dependencies, code duplication, complexity hotspots, architecture boundary violations, and feature flag patterns. The optional paid runtime layer (Fallow Runtime) merges production execution data into the same fallow health report for hot-path review, cold-path deletion confidence, and stale-flag evidence. 90 framework plugins, zero configuration, sub-second static analysis.

When to Use

• Finding dead code (unused files, exports, types, enum/class members)
• Finding unused or unlisted dependencies
• Detecting code duplication and clones
• Checking code health and complexity hotspots
• Cleaning up a codebase before a release or refactor
• Auditing a project for structural issues
• Setting up CI checks for dead code or duplication thresholds
• Auto-fixing unused exports and dependencies
• Detecting feature flag patterns (environment gates, SDK calls, config objects)
• Investigating why a specific export or file appears unused

When NOT to Use

• Runtime error analysis or debugging
• Type checking (use tsc for that)
• Linting style or formatting issues (use ESLint, Biome, Prettier)
• Security vulnerability scanning
• Bundle size analysis
• Projects that are not JavaScript or TypeScript

Prerequisites

Fallow must be installed. If not available, install it:

npm install -g fallow          # prebuilt binaries (fastest)
# or
npx fallow dead-code               # run without installing
# or
cargo install fallow-cli        # build from source

Agent Rules

1. Always use --format json --quiet 2>/dev/null for machine-readable output. The 2>/dev/null discards stderr so progress messages and threshold warnings don't corrupt the JSON on stdout. Never use 2>&1
2. Always append || true to every fallow command. Exit code 1 means "issues found" (normal), not a runtime error. Without || true, the Bash tool treats exit 1 as failure and cancels parallel commands. Only exit code 2 is a real error (invalid config, parse failure)
3. Use --explain to include a _meta object in JSON output with metric definitions, ranges, and interpretation hints
4. Use issue type filters (--unused-exports, --unused-files, etc.) to limit output scope
5. Always --dry-run before fix, then fix --yes to apply
6. All output paths are relative to the project root
7. Never run fallow watch. It is interactive and never exits

Commands

Issue Types

MCP Tools

When using fallow via MCP (fallow-mcp), the following tools are available:

All tools accept root, config, no_cache, and threads params. The MCP server subprocess timeout defaults to 120s, configurable via FALLOW_TIMEOUT_SECS.

All JSON responses include structured actions arrays on every finding (dead code, health, duplication), enabling programmatic fix application or suppression.

Node.js Bindings

When embedding fallow inside a Node.js process (editor extensions, long-running servers, custom tooling), prefer the NAPI bindings over spawning the CLI. Same analysis engine, same JSON envelopes, no subprocess or JSON parsing overhead.

npm install @fallow-cli/fallow-node

import { detectDeadCode, detectDuplication, computeHealth } from '@fallow-cli/fallow-node';

const deadCode = await detectDeadCode({ root: process.cwd(), explain: true });
const dupes = await detectDuplication({ root: process.cwd(), mode: 'mild', minTokens: 30 });
const health = await computeHealth({ root: process.cwd(), score: true, ownershipEmails: 'handle' });

Six async functions: detectDeadCode, detectCircularDependencies, detectBoundaryViolations, detectDuplication, computeComplexity, computeHealth. Each returns the same JSON envelope the CLI emits for --format json. Rejected promises throw a FallowNodeError with message, exitCode, and optional code, help, context fields that mirror the CLI's structured error surface.

Enum-like fields take lowercase CLI-style literals ("mild", "cyclomatic", "handle", "low"). Write-path commands (fix, init, setup-hooks, license activate, coverage setup) are not exposed; use the CLI for those.

See https://docs.fallow.tools/integrations/node-bindings for the full field reference.

References

• CLI Reference: complete command and flag specifications
• Gotchas: common pitfalls, edge cases, and correct usage patterns
• Patterns: workflow recipes for CI, monorepos, migration, and incremental adoption

Common Workflows

Audit a project for all dead code

fallow dead-code --format json --quiet

Parse the JSON output. It contains arrays for each issue type (unused_files, unused_exports, unused_types, unused_dependencies, etc.) plus total_issues and elapsed_ms metadata. Each issue object includes an actions array with structured fix suggestions (action type, auto_fixable flag, description, and optional suppression comment). For dependency findings, a non-empty used_in_workspaces array means the package is imported elsewhere in the monorepo; treat it as a workspace placement issue and do not auto-remove it.

Find only unused exports (smaller output)

fallow dead-code --format json --quiet --unused-exports

Check if a PR introduces dead code

fallow dead-code --format json --quiet --changed-since main --fail-on-issues

Exit code 1 if new dead code is introduced. Only analyzes files changed since the main branch.

Find code duplication

fallow dupes --format json --quiet
fallow dupes --format json --quiet --mode semantic

The semantic mode detects renamed variables. Other modes: strict (exact), mild (default, syntax normalized), weak (different literals).

Safe auto-fix cycle

# 1. Preview what will be removed
fallow fix --dry-run --format json --quiet

# 2. Review the output, then apply
fallow fix --yes --format json --quiet

# 3. Verify the fix worked
fallow dead-code --format json --quiet

The --yes flag is required in non-TTY environments (agent subprocesses). Without it, fix exits with code 2.

Discover project structure

fallow list --entry-points --format json --quiet
fallow list --plugins --format json --quiet

Shows detected entry points and active framework plugins (91 built-in: Next.js, Vite, Jest, Storybook, Tailwind, PandaCSS, etc.).

Production-only analysis

fallow dead-code --format json --quiet --production

Excludes test/dev files (*.test.*, *.spec.*, *.stories.*) and only analyzes production scripts.

Analyze specific workspaces

# Single package
fallow dead-code --format json --quiet --workspace my-package

# Multiple packages
fallow dead-code --format json --quiet --workspace web,admin

# Glob (matched against package name AND workspace path)
fallow dead-code --format json --quiet --workspace 'apps/*'

# Exclude one workspace from a set
fallow dead-code --format json --quiet --workspace 'apps/*,!apps/legacy'

# Monorepo CI: auto-scope to workspaces containing any file changed since origin/main
# (replaces hand-written --workspace lists that drift as the repo evolves)
fallow dead-code --format json --quiet --changed-workspaces origin/main

Scopes output while keeping the full cross-workspace graph. Patterns are tested against BOTH the package name (from package.json) AND the workspace path relative to the repo root; either match counts. Use !-prefixed patterns to exclude.

--changed-workspaces <REF> auto-derives the set from git diff. It's the CI primitive: point it at the PR base branch (e.g. origin/main) and fallow reports only on workspaces touched by the change. Mutually exclusive with --workspace. A missing ref or non-git directory is a hard error (exit 2) rather than a silent full-scope fallback, so CI never quietly widens back to the whole monorepo.

Scope to specific files (lint-staged)

fallow dead-code --format json --quiet --file src/utils.ts --file src/helpers.ts

Only reports issues in the specified files. Project-wide dependency issues are suppressed. Warns on non-existent paths.

Catch typos in entry file exports

fallow dead-code --format json --quiet --include-entry-exports

Reports unused exports in entry files (package.json main/exports, framework pages). By default, exports in entry files are assumed externally consumed. This flag catches typos like meatdata instead of metadata.

Debug why something is flagged

# Trace an export's usage chain
fallow dead-code --format json --quiet --trace src/utils.ts:myFunction

# Trace all edges for a file
fallow dead-code --format json --quiet --trace-file src/utils.ts

# Trace where a dependency is used
fallow dead-code --format json --quiet --trace-dependency lodash

Migrate from knip or jscpd

# Preview migration
fallow migrate --dry-run

# Apply migration (creates .fallowrc.json)
fallow migrate

# Migrate to TOML (creates fallow.toml)
fallow migrate --toml

Auto-detects knip.json, .knip.json, .jscpd.json, and package.json embedded configs.

Initialize a new config

fallow init              # creates .fallowrc.json, adds .fallow/ to .gitignore
fallow init --toml       # creates fallow.toml, adds .fallow/ to .gitignore
fallow init --hooks      # scaffold a pre-commit git hook
fallow init --hooks --branch develop  # hook using custom base branch

Exit Codes

When --format json is active and exit code is 2, errors are emitted as JSON on stdout:

{"error": true, "message": "invalid config: ...", "exit_code": 2}

Configuration

Fallow reads config from project root: .fallowrc.json > fallow.toml > .fallow.toml. Most projects work with zero configuration thanks to 90 auto-detecting framework plugins.

{
  "$schema": "https://raw.githubusercontent.com/fallow-rs/fallow/main/schema.json",
  "entry": ["src/index.ts"],
  "ignorePatterns": ["**/*.generated.ts"],
  "ignoreDependencies": ["autoprefixer"],
  "publicPackages": ["@myorg/shared-lib"],
  "dynamicallyLoaded": ["plugins/**/*.ts"],
  "rules": {
    "unused-files": "error",
    "unused-exports": "warn",
    "unused-types": "off",
    "private-type-leaks": "warn"
  }
}

Rules: "error" (fail CI), "warn" (report only), "off" (skip detection).

Config fields:

• publicPackages: workspace packages that are public libraries; exports from these packages are not flagged as unused
• dynamicallyLoaded: glob patterns for files loaded at runtime (plugin dirs, locale files); treated as always-used
• usedClassMembers: class method/property names that extend the built-in Angular/React lifecycle allowlist with framework-invoked names. Each entry is a plain string (global suppression) or a scoped object {extends?, implements?, members} matching only classes with the given heritage. Use scoped rules for common names like refresh or execute to avoid false negatives on unrelated classes; global strings for unique names like agInit. Example: ["agInit", {"implements": "ICellRendererAngularComp", "members": ["refresh"]}, {"extends": "BaseCommand", "members": ["execute"]}]. An unconstrained scoped rule (no extends or implements) is rejected at load time. Use plugin-level usedClassMembers in a .fallow/plugins/*.jsonc file for library-specific allowlists
• resolve.conditions: additional package.json exports / imports condition names to honor during module resolution. Baseline conditions (development, import, require, default, types, node, plus react-native / browser under RN/Expo) are always included; user entries prepend ahead of them. Use for community conditions like worker, edge-light, deno, or custom bundler conditions. Example: {"resolve": {"conditions": ["worker", "edge-light"]}}

Inline suppression

// fallow-ignore-next-line
export const keepThis = 1;

// fallow-ignore-next-line unused-export
export const keepThisToo = 2;

// fallow-ignore-file
// fallow-ignore-file unused-export

// Mark as intentionally unused (tracked for staleness)
/** @expected-unused */
export const deprecatedHelper = () => {};

Key Gotchas

• fix --yes is required in non-TTY (agent) environments. Without it, fix exits with code 2
• Zero config by default. 90 framework plugins auto-detect. Don't create config unless customization is needed
• Syntactic analysis only. No TypeScript compiler, so fully dynamic import(variable) is not resolved
• Function overloads are deduplicated. TypeScript function overload signatures are merged into a single export (not reported as separate unused exports)
• Re-export chains are resolved. Exports through barrel files are tracked, not falsely flagged
• --changed-since is additive. Only new issues in changed files, not all issues in the project

For the full list with examples, see references/gotchas.md.

Instructions

1. Identify the task from the user's request (audit, fix, find dupes, set up CI, migrate, debug)
2. Run the appropriate command with --format json --quiet
3. Use filter flags to limit output when the user asks about specific issue types
4. Always dry-run before fix. Show the user what will change, then apply
5. Report results clearly. Summarize issue counts, list specific findings, suggest next steps
6. For false positives, suggest inline suppression comments or config rule adjustments

If $ARGUMENTS is provided, use it as the --root path or pass it as the target for the appropriate fallow command.