diff --git a/bulkgen/graph.py b/bulkgen/graph.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..8405c9a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/bulkgen/graph.py
@@ -0,0 +1,64 @@
+"""Dependency graph construction and traversal using networkx."""
+
+from __future__ import annotations
+
+from pathlib import Path
+
+import networkx as nx
+
+from bulkgen.config import ProjectConfig
+
+
+def build_graph(config: ProjectConfig, project_dir: Path) -> nx.DiGraph:
+    """Build a dependency DAG from the project configuration.
+
+    Nodes are filenames: target names (keys in ``config.targets``) and
+    external files that exist on disk.  Edges point from dependency to
+    dependent (``A -> B`` means *A must exist before B*).
+
+    Raises :class:`ValueError` if a dependency is neither a defined target
+    nor an existing file, or if the graph contains a cycle.
+    """
+    graph = nx.DiGraph()
+    target_names = set(config.targets)
+
+    for target_name, target_cfg in config.targets.items():
+        graph.add_node(target_name)
+
+        deps: list[str] = list(target_cfg.inputs)
+        if target_cfg.reference_image is not None:
+            deps.append(target_cfg.reference_image)
+        deps.extend(target_cfg.control_images)
+
+        for dep in deps:
+            if dep not in target_names and not (project_dir / dep).exists():
+                msg = (
+                    f"Target '{target_name}' depends on '{dep}', "
+                    f"which is neither a defined target nor an existing file"
+                )
+                raise ValueError(msg)
+            graph.add_edge(dep, target_name)
+
+    if not nx.is_directed_acyclic_graph(graph):
+        cycles = list(nx.simple_cycles(graph))
+        msg = f"Dependency cycle detected: {cycles}"
+        raise ValueError(msg)
+
+    return graph
+
+
+def get_build_order(graph: nx.DiGraph) -> list[list[str]]:
+    """Return targets grouped into generations for parallel execution.
+
+    Each inner list contains nodes with no inter-dependencies that can
+    be built concurrently.
+    """
+    return [list(gen) for gen in nx.topological_generations(graph)]
+
+
+def get_subgraph_for_target(graph: nx.DiGraph, target: str) -> nx.DiGraph:
+    """Return the subgraph containing *target* and all its transitive dependencies."""
+    ancestors = nx.ancestors(graph, target)
+    ancestors.add(target)
+    subgraph = nx.DiGraph(graph.subgraph(ancestors))
+    return subgraph