# Tree-sitter — tools that shaped CodeVetter

> Canonical page: https://codevetter.com/inspiration/tree-sitter

Syntax trees make source relationships repeatable and fast enough for local tooling.

## What we admire

Tree-sitter’s incremental parsing and language grammars offer a practical foundation for extracting symbols and source locations. It lets a tool build structural context without asking an LLM to invent the shape of the program.

## The principle that stayed

A parser gives syntax facts, not an oracle for behavior. Each extracted node and edge should retain its file and location, and unsupported languages should remain visible as a coverage boundary.

## Where CodeVetter stands

CodeVetter bundles pinned Tree-sitter grammar crates in its Rust structural graph. That graph feeds local navigation and evidence leads; runtime verification remains the authority for behavioral claims.

## Sources

- [Tree-sitter introduction](https://tree-sitter.github.io/tree-sitter/) — the creator's own source
- [CodeVetter OSS integration decision](https://github.com/Codevetter/codevetter/blob/main/docs/architecture/decisions/oss-integration.md) — the CodeVetter project record

This is independent appreciation, not endorsement, partnership, code reuse, or feature parity.

## Public product links

- [CodeVetter](https://codevetter.com/)
- [Download](https://codevetter.com/download)
- [Documentation](https://codevetter.com/docs/)
- [Source](https://github.com/Codevetter/codevetter)