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find-refs Command

The find-refs command traces reference chains leading to specific objects. Use it to understand why an asset was included (and potentially duplicated) in a build.

It walks up the reference graph from the target object and stops at the first asset it reaches. The reported chains therefore end at the immediate containing asset, not at the ultimate root that transitively depends on the target. For example, if RootAsset references LeafAsset which references a texture, searching for the texture reports the chain ending at LeafAsset; to see that RootAsset pulls it in, search for LeafAsset instead.

Quick Reference

UnityDataTool find-refs <database> [options]
Option Description Default
<database> Path to database from analyze command (required)
-i, --object-id <id> ID of object to analyze (from id column) —
-n, --object-name <name> Name of objects to analyze —
-t, --object-type <type> Type filter when using -n —
-o, --output-file <file> Output filename references.txt
--stdout Write the reference chains to stdout instead of a file false
-a, --find-all Find all chains instead of stopping at first false

Note: Either --object-id or --object-name must be provided.

--stdout and -o/--output-file are mutually exclusive.

Prerequisites

This command requires a database created by the analyze command without the --skip-references option.

Examples

Find references to an object by name and type, printing directly to the console:

UnityDataTool find-refs my_database.db -n "MyTexture" -t "Texture2D" --stdout

Write the reference chains to a file instead:

UnityDataTool find-refs my_database.db -n "MyTexture" -t "Texture2D" -o refs.txt

Find references to a specific object by ID:

UnityDataTool find-refs my_database.db -i 12345 --stdout

Find all duplicate references (useful for finding why an asset is duplicated):

UnityDataTool find-refs my_database.db -n "SharedMaterial" -t "Material" -a -o all_refs.txt

Use Cases

Scenario Approach
Why is this asset included? Use -n with the asset name
Why is this asset duplicated? Use -n to find all instances (same name, different IDs)
Trace specific object Use -i with the object ID from the database
Find all reference chains Add -a flag (may take longer)

Output Format

The output shows the reference chain from root assets to your target object:

Reference chains to 
  ID:             1234
  Type:           Transform
  Archive:        archive_name
  SerializedFile: CAB-353837edf22eb1c4d651c39d27a233b7

Found reference in:
MyPrefab.prefab
(Archive = MyAssetBundle; SerializedFile = CAB-353837edf22eb1c4d651c39d27a233b7)
  GameObject (id=1348) MyPrefab
    ↓ m_Component.Array[0].component
    RectTransform (id=721) [Component of MyPrefab (id=1348)]
      ↓ m_Children.Array[9]
      RectTransform (id=1285) [Component of MyButton (id=1284)]
        ↓ m_GameObject
        GameObject (id=1284) MyButton
          ...
          Transform (id=1234) [Component of MyButtonEffectLayer (1) (id=938)]

Analyzed 266 object(s).
Found 1 reference chain(s).

Reading the Output

Element Description
↓ property_name The property containing the reference
[Component of X (id=Y)] Shows the GameObject for Components
[Script = X] Shows the script name for MonoBehaviours

Refer to the ReferenceFinder documentation for more details.