diff --git a/gitnexus/src/mcp/local/local-backend.ts b/gitnexus/src/mcp/local/local-backend.ts
index b0beff286..9ae45ee6a 100644
--- a/gitnexus/src/mcp/local/local-backend.ts
+++ b/gitnexus/src/mcp/local/local-backend.ts
@@ -636,6 +636,11 @@ export class LocalBackend {
     }
   }
 
+  async executeCypher(repoName: string, query: string): Promise<any> {
+    const repo = await this.resolveRepo(repoName);
+    return this.cypher(repo, { query });
+  }
+
   private async cypher(repo: RepoHandle, params: { query: string }): Promise<any> {
     await this.ensureInitialized(repo.id);
     
diff --git a/gitnexus/src/server/api.ts b/gitnexus/src/server/api.ts
index 374c66b10..fbe0ebcd6 100644
--- a/gitnexus/src/server/api.ts
+++ b/gitnexus/src/server/api.ts
@@ -39,7 +39,7 @@ const buildGraph = async (
         query = `MATCH (n:${table}) RETURN n.id AS id, n.name AS name, n.filePath AS filePath, n.startLine AS startLine, n.endLine AS endLine, n.content AS content`;
       }
 
-      const result = await backend.callTool('cypher', { repo: repoName, query });
+      const result = await backend.executeCypher(repoName, query);
       // cypher returns the rows directly (array), or { error } on failure
       const rows = Array.isArray(result) ? result : [];
 
@@ -71,10 +71,10 @@ const buildGraph = async (
 
   const relationships: GraphRelationship[] = [];
   try {
-    const relResult = await backend.callTool('cypher', {
-      repo: repoName,
-      query: `MATCH (a)-[r:CodeRelation]->(b) RETURN a.id AS sourceId, b.id AS targetId, r.type AS type, r.confidence AS confidence, r.reason AS reason, r.step AS step`,
-    });
+    const relResult = await backend.executeCypher(
+      repoName,
+      `MATCH (a)-[r:CodeRelation]->(b) RETURN a.id AS sourceId, b.id AS targetId, r.type AS type, r.confidence AS confidence, r.reason AS reason, r.step AS step`,
+    );
     const relRows = Array.isArray(relResult) ? relResult : [];
 
     for (const row of relRows) {