deps.md

command	deps
summary	List a file's dependency-graph edges (includes, links, catalogs, builds).

mdsmith deps

Print the dependency edges of one Markdown file: the includes, catalogs, build inputs, and links it points at. With --incoming, print every workspace file that points at it instead. This is the CLI surface for the same workspace graph the LSP call-hierarchy walks.

mdsmith deps [flags] <file>

<file> is workspace-relative. Absolute paths and parent-traversal entries (../foo.md) are rejected with exit code 2.

Flags

Flag	Default	Description
-c, --config	auto	Override config path
-f, --format	text	Output format: text or json
--incoming	false	List files that depend on <file> instead
--no-gitignore	false	Disable .gitignore filtering during walk
--follow-symlinks	config	Follow symlinks; tri-state — see below
--max-input-size	2MB	Max file size (e.g. 2MB, 0=none)

--follow-symlinks and file discovery (the files: and ignore: patterns in .mdsmith.yml) match mdsmith check.

Output

text (default), one row per edge:

docs/index.md:14: file-link docs/api.md#authentication
docs/index.md:20: include docs/frag.md

Each row carries the source path, the 1-based source line, the edge kind, and the target. Outgoing rows are sorted by line; --incoming rows are sorted by source path then line.

Edge kinds are anchor-link, file-link, ref-link, include, catalog, and build. An unresolved <?catalog?> glob renders its target as (glob).

json:

[
  {
    "source": "docs/index.md",
    "line": 14,
    "kind": "file-link",
    "target": "docs/api.md#authentication"
  }
]

Keys are stable. Empty results emit [], not null.

Examples

What does this file pull in?

mdsmith deps docs/index.md

What depends on this file (impact analysis before a move or delete)?

mdsmith deps docs/api.md --incoming

JSON for a CI dependency check:

mdsmith deps --format json docs/api.md --incoming

Exit codes

Code	Meaning
0	At least one edge
1	No edges, no errors
2	Runtime/parse error

See also

• mdsmith list backlinks — the reverse-link query scoped to direct Markdown links.
• mdsmith lsp — the editor surface for the same graph (call hierarchy, references).