Proposal: a phased approach to improving JavaScript/TypeScript flow detection

[javierzhao712-png]

Context

The project FAQ notes that JavaScript and Go flow detection still need improvement. JavaScript and TypeScript syntax can already be indexed, but reconstructing complete execution flows is harder because many relationships are dynamic or defined by framework conventions.

I would like to discuss a small and testable improvement before opening an issue or pull request.

Problem

Some common JavaScript and TypeScript patterns are difficult to represent as complete execution flows:

1. Functions can be passed as callbacks instead of being called directly.
2. Express routes register handlers and middleware through framework APIs.
3. Modules can use aliases, re-exports, and dynamic imports.
4. Frameworks such as React and Next.js define some entry points through conventions.

For example:

app.post(
  "/orders",
  checkLogin,
  checkStock,
  createOrder
);

[tirth8205]

Thanks for breaking this into phases. Some of it already exists on main, so let me map it out.

Callbacks passed but not called: the parser already handles this. _extract_value_references in code_review_graph/parser.py (around line 11994) emits REFERENCES edges for identifiers in value positions, including callback arguments via _ref_from_arguments, object literal values, arrays, and map assignments. A recent PR extended it to keyword-argument callbacks too. The real gap is on the flows side: load_flow_adjacency in graph.py (line 2087) loads only CALLS and TESTED_BY edges, and the BFS in flows.py::_trace_single_flow walks CALLS only, so those REFERENCES edges never extend a flow.

Express: flows.py has an (app|router).(get|post|put|delete|patch|use|all) pattern at line 60, but it only fires on extra["decorators"], which JS nodes rarely carry since route registration is a call, not a decorator. In practice a named handler passed to app.get still surfaces as an entry point through the no-incoming-CALLS rule, because REFERENCES does not count as being called. Inline arrow handlers are weaker.

Aliases and re-exports: mostly done. _resolve_exported_symbol in parser.py (around line 14200) follows export { Foo as Bar } from './x' and export * from './x', and tsconfig path aliases go through tsconfig_resolver.py.

I would take the flows-side callback work first: follow REFERENCES edges during tracing, probably behind a flag or with a depth limit. Please start with a small PR that adds a JS fixture under tests/fixtures/ plus tests in tests/test_flows.py showing current behavior, then the traversal change on top.