Common Code Insights use cases and recipes

Here are some common use cases for Code Insights and example data series queries you could use.

For all use cases, you can also explore your insight by filtering repositories in real time or add any Sourcegraph search filter to the data series query to filter by language, directory, or content. Currently, the sample queries using commit and diff searches are only supported for insights running over explicit lists of specific repositories.

The sample queries below make the assumption you do not want to search fork or archived repositories. You can exclude those flags if you do.

Migration tracking

How many repos yet contain a config or docs file in a specific directory

select:repo file:docs/*/new_config_file archived:no fork:no

How the switch from files containing “blacklist/whitelist” to “denylist/allowlist” is progressing

// series 1, decreasing
select:file blacklist OR whitelist archived:no fork:no 
// series 2, increasing
select:file denylist OR allowlist archived:no fork:no 

Tracking migration from global CSS to CSS modules

// series 1, decreasing
type:file lang:scss -file:module.scss patterntype:regexp archived:no fork:no 
// series 2, increasing
type:file lang:scss file:module.scss patterntype:regexp archived:no fork:no 

Note these queries differ only by -file: exclusion vs file: inclusion – because you can know that all lang:scss files are either modules or not.

Adoption tracking

How many repos or teams are using a new API your team built

select:repo ourApiLibrary.load archived:no fork:no

Are more groups or teams using yarn

select:repo file:yarn.lock archived:no fork:no

Which databases we are calling or writing to most often

// redis
redis\.set\(.*\) patternType=regexp archived:no fork:no 
// graphQL
graphql\(.*\) patternType=regexp archived:no fork:no

Understand if a growing number of repos import a large/expensive package

select:repo import\slargePkg\s patternType=regexp archived:no fork:no

Deprecation tracking

The removal of all deprecated CSS class or icon instances

2018logo.png archived:no fork:no

theme-redesign archived:no fork:no

The progress of deprecating tooling you’re moving off of

slowEventLib.log archived:no fork:no

Or you can count how many removals (below) rather than how many remain (above):

slowEventLib.log type:diff select:commit.diff.removed archived:no fork:no

Deprecating a structural code pattern in favor of a safer pattern

Example: do all our tries have catches? This tracks how many do not:

try {:[_]} catch (:[e]) { } finally {:[_]} lang:java patternType:structural archived:no fork:no

Code hygiene and health

How many TODOs are in a specific part of the codebase (or all of it)

TODO archived:no fork:no

How many linter override rules exist

file:^\.eslintignore .\n patternType:regexp archived:no fork:no

(This counts the number of lines, which are file paths to ignore, in .eslintignore files)

How frequently are there commits with “revert” in the commit message

type:commit revert archived:no fork:no

How many times are deprecated calls used

lang:java @deprecated archived:no fork:no

How many repos have CODEOWNERS files

\\ how many do:
file:CODEOWNERS select:repo archived:no fork:no
\\ how many don't:
-file:CODEOWNERS select:repo archived:no fork:no

Security vulnerabilities

Confirm that a vulnerable open source library has been fully removed, or the speed of the deprecation

vulnerableLib@14.3.9 archived:no fork:no

How quickly we notice and remove API keys when they are committed

regexMatchingAPIKey patternType:regexp archived:no fork:no

How often we are merging permissions changes

type:commit perms|permissions patternType:regexp archived:no fork:no

Version tracking (packages or languages)

Which package version do parts of the codebase use

// for version 13
nvm install 13 archived:no fork:no
// for version 14
nvm install 14 archived:no fork:no
// ... so on

Which language versions are in use most and how we are tracking on updating them

// python 2.7
#!/usr/bin/env python2.7 archived:no fork:no
// python 3
#!/usr/bin/env python3 archived:no fork:no

Codebase Topline Metrics

Are there more Typescript or more Go files

select:file lang:TypeScript archived:no fork:no
// vs Go files
select:file lang:Go archived:no fork:no

What number of iOS app screens are in the entire app

struct : view$ patternType:regexp lang:swift archived:no fork:no

Understanding Code by Team

Which teams or repos adopted our new events API fastest

newEventAPI.call archived:no fork:no

And then filter by repositories in real time.

Which teams have the most usage of a problematic API

// series 1
problemAPI file:teamOneFilePath archived:no fork:no
// series 2
problemAPI file:teamTwoFilePath archived:no fork:no
// ... so on