trace_path: expose direct self-recursion instead of an unqualified zero-callee result #2816

Written with OpenAI Codex; the commands below were run against official Linux release binaries.

Summary

A direct recursive TypeScript call is recognized as self_recursive: true on its Function node but is absent from CALLS and from trace_path(direction="outbound"). The trace returns callees_total: 0 with relation eq, without indicating that a self-call was excluded.

This is not a v0.12.1 regression: it reproduces in both v0.11.0 and v0.12.1. I am reporting the observable trace/graph contract, not asking to restore the spurious self-loops from weak name matching described in #1085.

Environment

• Linux x86_64, Ubuntu glibc 2.39.
• Official linux-amd64-portable release archives, checksums verified.
• codebase-memory-mcp 0.11.0 and codebase-memory-mcp 0.12.1.
• mode: full, persistence: false, separate cache and runtime directories for each version.
• One source file. Ordinary call edges are positive controls.

Minimal source

export function countdown(n: number): number {
    if (n <= 0) return 0;
    return countdown(n - 1);
}

export function leaf(n: number): number {
    return n;
}

export function wrapper(n: number): number {
    return leaf(n);
}

export function walk(): void {
    const visit = (n: number): void => {
        if (n > 0) visit(n - 1);
    };
    visit(3);
}

Reproduction

Save that source as /tmp/cbm-self-call/repo/recursion.ts. Use fresh, separate cache/runtime directories for each binary version:

mkdir -p /tmp/cbm-self-call/repo /tmp/cbm-self-call/cache /tmp/cbm-self-call/runtime
export CBM_CACHE_DIR=/tmp/cbm-self-call/cache
export CBM_RUNTIME_DIR=/tmp/cbm-self-call/runtime

Save these argument files outside repo/:

/tmp/cbm-self-call/index.json:

{"repo_path":"/tmp/cbm-self-call/repo","name":"self-only","mode":"full","persistence":false}

/tmp/cbm-self-call/trace.json:

{"project":"self-only","function_name":"countdown","direction":"outbound","format":"json"}

codebase-memory-mcp cli --json index_repository --args-file /tmp/cbm-self-call/index.json
codebase-memory-mcp cli --json trace_path --args-file /tmp/cbm-self-call/trace.json

I also inspected the graph with these read-only Cypher queries:

MATCH (a)-[r:CALLS]->(b) RETURN a.name,b.name,r.callee,r.line,r.strategy

MATCH (n:Function) RETURN n.name,n.self_recursive,n.recursive

Actual result

Both versions:

• countdown and nested visit exist as Function nodes, with self_recursive: true.
• Positive controls are present: wrapper -> leaf and walk -> visit.
• countdown -> countdown and visit -> visit are absent from CALLS.
• The countdown outbound trace reports callees_total: 0, callees_total_relation: "eq", and no callees.

Expected / requested contract

A direct, resolved self-call should either be represented in the graph/trace with traversal bounded against cycles, or the trace should explicitly expose its exclusion, for example by carrying the start node's recursion metadata or an excluded-self-call count. A plain exact zero is easy for a consumer to misread as “this function makes no calls.”

If omitting self-edges is an intentional graph policy, documenting it and exposing the already-known recursion signal in the trace would also address the reporting problem.

Source observation

The current main source at 8530c8cd1c1ac8e1e3d2962bc213a8c9025fea0a still rejects a target whose node ID equals the source:

• Sequential resolver
• Parallel resolver

This is source inspection only; I have not executed a build of that main commit.

Related issues and scope

• Parallel pipeline drops all JSX-via-alias CALLS edges (21% of call graph); repros on this repo's own source #1085 concerns phantom self-loops such as Map.get being attached to the enclosing function. The calls above are genuine self-calls, and no weak member fallback is needed to identify them.
• [bug] self_recursive / unguarded_recursion match calls by bare name → super().save() and same-named wrappers are false positives #599 concerns false-positive recursion flags. Here the flag is correct; the graph/trace omits the call.
• Enhancement: index inner declarations of factory/setup callbacks — Vue Pinia setup stores, composables & React hooks (the Vue/React twin of the tracked Zustand gap) #415 and Arrow functions assigned to consts emitted as label:Variable with no function signal #1220 concern missing inner/arrow definitions. Here the Function nodes exist and ordinary incoming calls resolve.

No proprietary source, private logs, credentials, or internal hostnames are included. I searched the existing recursion/self-loop/trace issues and did not find this specific trace-contract report.