anc

Audit CLI tools against the agent-native standard

$ anc audit anc --json

MUST 19 / 28SHOULD 13 / 21audited 2026-06-01 · anc 0.5.0

100pass rate

8/8principles met

Eight principles, scored

Behavioral and source checks. Every non-pass row carries a copy-paste remediation prompt.

PASS	Non-interactive by default
SKIP	Non-interactive gate flag advertised in --help	target satisfies P1 via alternative gate (help-on-bare or stdin-primary)
PASS	Flags advertise env-var bindings in --help
PASS	Secret-bearing flags expose stdin or *-file companion
PASS	`--help` advertises default values for flags
PASS	Rich-TUI affordance for TTY contexts

PASS	Structured output support
PASS	Structured-output CLI exposes its schema at runtime
PASS	--json / --jsonl short aliases for --output
PASS	`--raw` flag for pipe-safe unformatted output
SKIP	`--output` advertises additional formats beyond text/json	no `--output` or `--format` flag advertised; vacuous skip for MAY-tier extra formats.
PASS	Bad invocation exits with structured usage-error code (2)
PASS	Errors emit JSON envelope with `error`/`kind`/`message` under `--output json`
PASS	JSON success and error envelopes share their non-payload key set

PASS	Help flag produces useful output
PASS	Version flag works (`--version` plus short alias)
PASS	Version flag works (`--version` plus short alias)
PASS	`examples` subcommand or `--examples` flag for curated usage patterns
PASS	Short `-h` summary differs from `--help` long form
PASS	Each subcommand's `--help` ships at least one invocation example
PASS	Help text pairs human and `--output json` example invocations

PASS	Rejects invalid arguments
PASS	Error messages include a hint or remediation phrase
PASS	`--output json` produces JSON-formatted errors

SKIP	Destructive subcommands require `--force` or `--yes`	no destructive subcommands detected; MUST applies conditionally to CLIs with destructive operations.
SKIP	Read and write surfaces are both visible in subcommand list	no recognizable read or write subcommand verbs; the read/write distinction is unobservable from the help surface alone.

PASS	Handles SIGPIPE gracefully
SKIP	Pager-using CLI ships --no-pager escape hatch	no pager signal (less/more/$PAGER/--pager) in --help
PASS	Respects NO_COLOR
PASS	Subcommand verbs follow community-standard names
PASS	`--color` flag for explicit color control
PASS	Input-accepting commands read from stdin when no file is given
PASS	Subcommand naming follows a consistent verb/noun convention
PASS	Operations are subcommands, not verb-shaped flags

PASS	Quiet mode available
PASS	`--verbose` flag for diagnostic escalation
SKIP	`--limit` / `--max-results` flag for list operations	no list-style subcommand detected (list/ls/search/query/find/show/get); vacuous skip for the list-only SHOULD.
SKIP	Cursor-based pagination flags for list traversal	no list-style subcommand detected; vacuous skip for the list-only MAY.
SKIP	`--timeout` flag for long-running operations	no long-running subcommand detected (serve/daemon/watch/tail/monitor/follow/run/start/stream); vacuous skip for the conditional SHOULD.
PASS	Help text advertises TTY-aware verbosity behavior

PASS	Skill bundle has install path (`tool skill install [<host>]`)
PASS	`skill install --all` for multi-runtime install
PASS	`skill update` / `skill upgrade` for bundle refresh

This score (100%) clears the badge floor (70%). Copy this into your README:

[![agent-native](https://anc.dev/badge/anc.svg)](https://anc.dev/score/anc)

Preview:

Reproduce this scorecard for anc locally:

anc audit --command anc --output json

Install anc first if you don't have it. Add --output json to get the same JSON shape committed under scorecards/.