Migrating from dpdm

dpdm is a static dependency analyzer that detects circular dependencies and unused files. rev-dep covers both and folds them into one config alongside the rest of a dependency-hygiene suite.

Why migrate

• Speed and a single pass. rev-dep is Go-based and parallel - up to 13x faster on large repos.
• More checks, one config. dpdm focuses on cycles and unused files. rev-dep adds unused exports, unused/missing dependencies, module boundaries, restricted imports, and more.

What carries over, what changes

• Covered well: circular dependencies, unused (orphan) files.
• Different output: dpdm can print/serialize the dependency tree (--tree, JSON). rev-dep exposes the graph through the exploratory toolkit (files, resolve) and a JSON output for config run.

Feature mapping

dpdm	rev-dep
--circular	circular command / circularImportsDetection
--detect-unused-files-from <glob>	orphanFilesDetection (with entry points)
--tree / -o, --output (JSON)	exploratory files - lists files imported by selected entry point
--exit-code circular:1	config run / rev-dep circular exit non-zero on cycles
--skip-dynamic-imports	rev-dep traces dynamic imports as usage by design

Translating your usage

dpdm --circular --tree false src/index.ts
dpdm --detect-unused-files-from 'src/**/*.ts' src/index.ts

become:

{
  "rules": [
    {
      "path": ".",
      "prodEntryPoints": ["src/index.ts"],
      "circularImportsDetection": {
        "enabled": true,
        "ignoreTypeImports": true,
        "algorithm": "SCC"
      },
      "orphanFilesDetection": {
        "enabled": true
      }
    }
  ]
}

dpdm option	rev-dep equivalent
--tsconfig	read automatically; --tsconfig-json to override
--extensions	built-in source extensions (supported file types)
--exclude <regexp>	graphExclude / ignoreFiles (globs)

Running it

# dpdm
npx dpdm --circular src/index.ts

# rev-dep
rev-dep circular        # ad-hoc
rev-dep config run      # CI gate

Next steps

• Orphan files check - and note the monorepo placement guidance.
• Monorepo integration guide.