Shape Matching

sqry shape-match finds functions that are structurally similar to a reference function. It matches on an identifier-blind body-shape descriptor (the control-flow shape plus a MinHash of the body), so it finds rename-and-relocate twins that fuzzy name matching misses. The same analysis is exposed to AI assistants through the structural_similar MCP tool.

This is distinct from sqry similar, which matches on symbol names. Shape matching ignores identifiers entirely and compares structure.

CLI usage

sqry shape-match <SYMBOL> [--file <FILE>] [--path <PATH>] [--threshold <N>] [--limit <N>]

Argument / flag	Default	Description
`<SYMBOL>`	required	Reference function or method name (simple or qualified).
`--file <FILE>`	none	Restrict the probe to a symbol in this file (disambiguates overloads).
`--path <PATH>`	`.`	Search path.
`--threshold`, `-t`	`0.6`	Minimum MinHash similarity floor, from `0.0` to `1.0`.
`--limit`, `-l`	`20`	Maximum results to return.

Reading the output

sqry shape-match resolve_api_key_with_config

Structural neighbours of auth::resolve_api_key_with_config (crates/grokrs-api/src/auth.rs:61)
  floor 0.60, 5 match(es)
  0.906  auth::resolve_from_env_then_provider       crates/grokrs-api/src/auth.rs:145
  0.656  tools::write_file::resolve_through_symlinks crates/grokrs-tool/src/tools/write_file.rs:210
  0.625  auth::configured_source_from_parts         crates/grokrs-api/src/auth.rs:126
  0.625  AppConfig::load_with_profile               crates/grokrs-core/src/lib.rs:534

Each match reports two things:

The MinHash similarity (the leading number), an approximate structural Jaccard score between 0.0 and 1.0.
An [exact] marker when the structural shape_hash is byte-identical to the reference. An exact match is a structural twin regardless of names:

sqry shape-match --threshold 0.5 configured_api_key_env

Structural neighbours of auth::configured_api_key_env (crates/grokrs-api/src/auth.rs:48)
  floor 0.50, 20 match(es)
  1.000 [exact]  auth::configured_management_api_key_env  crates/grokrs-api/src/auth.rs:106
  0.750          auth::configured_api_key_source          crates/grokrs-api/src/auth.rs:54

Tips

Lower --threshold to widen the net; raise it to keep only close twins. The default 0.6 is a reasonable starting floor.
Use --file when the reference name is overloaded across the codebase.
Because matching is identifier-blind, results can include call expressions and closures that share a body shape, not just top-level functions.

MCP tool

The standalone MCP server exposes the same analysis as structural_similar. It reports the exact shape_hash identity plus the approximate MinHash similarity for each neighbour, and is distinct from the name-based search_similar tool.

Shape Matching

CLI usage

Reading the output

Tips

MCP tool

See also