Output Formats

symtrace has two output modes: colored terminal (default) and JSON (--json).

Terminal output (default)

src/server.rs
  + [INSERT] function 'handle_request' inserted (L42)
  ~ [MODIFY] function 'parse_body' modified (L10 -> L10) [75% similar]
  r [RENAME] function renamed: 'old_name' -> 'new_name' (L5) [98% similar]
  - [DELETE] function 'deprecated_fn' deleted (L88)
  m [MOVE]   function 'helper' moved (L20 -> L35) [100% similar]

Summary
  Files: 1 | Moves: 1 | Renames: 1 | Inserts: 1 | Deletes: 1 | Modifications: 1

Commit Classification
  Class: refactor | Confidence: 85%

What you’ll see

Section	Content
Header	Repository path and commit range
Per-file operations	Each changed file with its semantic operations
Refactor patterns	Detected refactoring patterns per file
Summary	Aggregate operation counts
Cross-file tracking	Symbols that moved or changed across files
Commit classification	Auto-detected commit type and confidence
Performance	Timing and node statistics

JSON output (--json)

{
  "repository": "/repos/project",
  "commit_a": "HEAD~1",
  "commit_b": "HEAD",
  "files": [
    {
      "file_path": "src/server.rs",
      "operations": [
        {
          "type": "MODIFY",
          "entity_type": "function",
          "old_location": "L10",
          "new_location": "L10",
          "details": "function_item 'parse_body' modified",
          "similarity": {
            "structure_similarity": 0.84,
            "token_similarity": 0.61,
            "node_count_delta": 3,
            "cyclomatic_delta": 1,
            "control_flow_changed": true,
            "similarity_percent": 75.2,
            "change_intensity": "medium"
          }
        }
      ],
      "refactor_patterns": []
    }
  ],
  "summary": {
    "total_files": 1,
    "moves": 1,
    "renames": 1,
    "inserts": 1,
    "deletes": 1,
    "modifications": 1
  },
  "cross_file_tracking": { },
  "commit_classification": {
    "classification": "refactor",
    "confidence": 0.85
  },
  "performance": {
    "total_files_processed": 1,
    "total_nodes_compared": 312,
    "parse_time_ms": 2.14,
    "diff_time_ms": 0.38,
    "total_time_ms": 12.05
  }
}

JSON field notes

• old_location is omitted on INSERT operations.
• new_location is omitted on DELETE operations.
• similarity is omitted on INSERT and DELETE (no counterpart to compare).
• entity_type values: "function", "class", "variable", "block", "other".
• change_intensity values: "low", "medium", "high".