[Feature]: Class/method scoping for trace command in PHP (other OOP languages)

[dzmitry-vasileuski]

Problem Statement

The trace callees and trace callers commands work at the symbol name level only, with no way to scope a symbol to a class, namespace, or file. This makes the feature nearly unusable for PHP where:

• Almost all code lives inside classes
• Common method names like execute, handle, run, boot exist across dozens of unrelated classes
• Targeting a class name returns 0 callees — the class is found, but its methods are not walked

Reproduction with a PHP codebase:

Finds the class but returns 0 callees
grepai trace callees "CreateDiscountAction" --mode precise

Returns 640 results across completely unrelated classes
grepai trace callees "execute" --mode precise

Not recognized — no qualified symbol syntax supported
grepai trace callees "CreateDiscountAction::execute" --mode precise
grepai trace callees "CreateDiscountAction@execute" --mode precise

Proposed Solution

Support qualified symbol syntax using Class::method:

grepai trace callees "CreateDiscountAction::execute"
grepai trace callers "DiscountService::create"

This is the most natural fit — :: is already how PHP refer to class methods. No new flags needed, just symbol name parsing that splits on :: and scopes the method lookup to the matching class.

Alternatives Considered

--file flag — scope the symbol to a specific file or glob:

grepai trace callees "index" --file "app/Http/Controllers/UserController.php"
grepai trace callees "handle" --file "app/Jobs/**"

Works, but requires knowing the file path upfront and is more verbose. Would still be a useful complementary addition.

--class flag — explicit class scoping:

grepai trace callees "execute" --class "CreateUserAction"
or with full namespace:
grepai trace callees "execute" --class "App\Actions\CreateUserAction"

Clean, but adds a new flag. The inline Class::method syntax feels more natural for day-to-day use.

Category

Search / Indexing

Additional Context

For Go or Python with uniquely named top-level functions, trace works great. The limitation only surfaces in OOP-heavy codebases where method names are scoped to classes by design. Supporting Class::method (or Class@method for languages that use @) would make trace as useful for PHP/Java projects as it currently is for Go.

Contribution

• I would be willing to contribute this feature