Tracer

Builder Feature - Tracer is included with Builder, Team, and Business plans. Free plan users can also use Tracer with purchased credits (15 credits per job).

Overview

Tracer is an autonomous agent that searches code on GitHub without requiring you to index repositories first. It delegates tasks to specialized sub-agents — each handling search, reading, or analysis in parallel — to deliver faster, more thorough results than a single-agent approach. Tracer supports two modes: Fast (powered by Claude Haiku for quick lookups) and Deep (powered by Claude Opus with 1M context window for thorough investigations). Use Tracer when you need to quickly search unfamiliar code, find implementation examples, or understand how libraries work internally.

Modes

Mode	API Value	Model	Best For
Fast	`tracer-fast`	Claude Haiku	Quick lookups, simple questions, rapid iteration
Deep	`tracer-deep`	Claude Opus (1M context)	Thorough investigations, complex codebases, multi-file analysis

How It Works

You provide a question, repositories to search, and optionally a mode. Tracer delegates work to specialized sub-agents that operate in parallel:

Plan

The coordinator analyzes your query and breaks it into sub-tasks

Explore

Sub-agents browse repository structures to understand layouts

Search & Read

Sub-agents search and read files concurrently using GitHub’s Code Search API

Iterate

Follow code paths as results reveal new areas, with sub-agents working in parallel

Synthesize

Generate a comprehensive report with file paths and line citations

Available Tools

Tracer autonomously uses four GitHub tools:

Tool	Purpose
`github_search`	Code search with qualifiers (`language:`, `path:`)
`github_list`	Browse file tree structure
`github_read`	Read file contents with optional line ranges
`github_glob`	Find files matching glob patterns

API Usage

Create a Tracer Job

curl -X POST https://apigcp.trynia.ai/v2/github/tracer \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $NIA_API_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "query": "How does the streaming response work in generateText?",
    "repositories": ["vercel/ai"],
    "context": "Focus on the core streaming implementation, not the React hooks.",
    "mode": "tracer-deep"
  }'

Parameters:

Parameter	Type	Required	Description
`query`	string	Yes	Your research question
`repositories`	string[]	No	Repositories to search (owner/repo format)
`context`	string	No	Additional context to guide the agent’s focus
`mode`	string	No	`"tracer-fast"` (Haiku) or `"tracer-deep"` (Opus with 1M context). Defaults to `"tracer-deep"`

Response:

{
  "job_id": "abc123",
  "session_id": "def456",
  "status": "queued"
}

Stream Results

Subscribe to real-time updates as Tracer works:

curl -N https://apigcp.trynia.ai/v2/github/tracer/{job_id}/stream \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $NIA_API_KEY"

Event Types:

Event	Description
`started`	Job started with query and repositories
`tool_start`	Tool execution beginning
`tool_complete`	Tool finished with success/failure
`complete`	Final report ready
`error`	Error occurred

Get Job Status

curl https://apigcp.trynia.ai/v2/github/tracer/{job_id} \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $NIA_API_KEY"

List Jobs

curl https://apigcp.trynia.ai/v2/github/tracer \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $NIA_API_KEY"

MCP Integration

Tracer is available as an MCP tool. Once configured, use it in Claude Code, Cursor, or any MCP-compatible agent:

"Use Tracer to search the vercel/ai repository and explain how streaming works."

Example Use Cases

Understanding Library Internals

Query: “Explain why we’re getting this error from Zod and show me the validation logic causing it.”Tracer searches the Zod repo for error messages, finds the validation functions, reads the implementation, and explains exactly what triggers the error.

Finding Implementation Examples

Query: “Find examples of how to implement cursor-based pagination in GraphQL resolvers.”Tracer searches multiple repositories, finds pagination implementations, compares approaches, and synthesizes findings.

Learning Framework Patterns

Query: “How does React’s useEffect cleanup function work?”Tracer navigates the React codebase, finds the hooks implementation, reads the relevant code, and explains the cleanup mechanism.

Tracer vs Index-Based Search

Aspect	Tracer	Nia Search
Speed	Fast mode is quick; Deep mode is thorough	Fastest (pre-indexed)
Setup	None	Requires indexing
Coverage	All public GitHub	Only indexed sources
Best for	Exploration, one-off queries	Repeated searches, production use

Use Tracer when:

Exploring unfamiliar code
Searching repos you haven’t indexed
Researching across multiple repositories

Use Nia Search when:

Working with familiar codebases
Need fast, repeated searches
Want precise control over search scope

Getting Started

Capabilities

Source Types

Explore

Examples & Guides

Enterprise

Privacy

Overview

Modes

How It Works

Available Tools

API Usage

Create a Tracer Job

Stream Results

Get Job Status

List Jobs

MCP Integration

Example Use Cases

Tracer vs Index-Based Search

​Overview

​Modes

​How It Works

​Available Tools

​API Usage

​Create a Tracer Job

​Stream Results

​Get Job Status

​List Jobs

​MCP Integration

​Example Use Cases

​Tracer vs Index-Based Search

Overview

Modes

How It Works

Available Tools

API Usage

Create a Tracer Job

Stream Results

Get Job Status

List Jobs

MCP Integration

Example Use Cases

Tracer vs Index-Based Search