How many of the spec's requirements were verified for this tool.
See /coverage for the full matrix.
Level
Total
Verified
Unverified
MUST
28
19
9
SHOULD
21
13
8
MAY
10
10
0
Top Issues
FAILError messages include a hint or remediation phraseFail-Fast, Actionable Errorsstderr was empty on bad invocation. Argument parsers must explain why the input was rejected — silent failure forces the agent to guess.
WARNVersion flag works (`--version` plus short alias)Progressive Help Discovery`--version` works but no short alias responded (tried -V, -v, -version). Adding one shortens version probes for agents.
WARNVersion flag works (`--version` plus short alias)Progressive Help Discovery`--version` works but no short alias responded (tried -V, -v, -version). Adding one shortens version probes for agents.
target satisfies P1 via alternative gate (help-on-bare or stdin-primary)
WARN
Flags advertise env-var bindings in --help
33 flag(s) found in --help but no `[env: NAME]` bindings advertised
PASS
Secret-bearing flags expose stdin or *-file companion
PASS
`--help` advertises default values for flags
WARN
Rich-TUI affordance for TTY contexts
no rich-TUI affordance detected (no `--tui`/`--interactive`/`--ui` flag, no spinner/progress/tui mention in --help). MAY-tier — rich TUI in TTY contexts is a nice-to-have, not required.
no `--output` or `--format` flag advertised; vacuous skip for MAY-tier extra formats.
WARN
Bad invocation exits with structured usage-error code (2)
bad invocation exited with code 1. The 0/1/2/77/78 convention reserves code 2 for usage errors; using a different non-zero code (often 1) blurs the distinction between usage errors and general failure.
SKIP
Errors emit JSON envelope with `error`/`kind`/`message` under `--output json`
binary does not advertise `--output json` in --help; MUST applies only to CLIs that opt into the JSON contract.
SKIP
JSON success and error envelopes share their non-payload key set
binary does not advertise `--output json` in --help; envelope-consistency only applies to CLIs that opt into the JSON contract.
`--version` works but no short alias responded (tried -V, -v, -version). Adding one shortens version probes for agents.
WARN
Version flag works (`--version` plus short alias)
`--version` works but no short alias responded (tried -V, -v, -version). Adding one shortens version probes for agents.
WARN
`examples` subcommand or `--examples` flag for curated usage patterns
no `examples` subcommand or `--examples` flag found. MAY-tier — a curated usage block keeps agents from hunting through long help text.
WARN
Short `-h` summary differs from `--help` long form
`-h` and `--help` produce byte-identical output. SHOULD-tier — clap renders the short summary on `-h` and the full description on `--help` when `long_about` is set; collapsing them gives agents no concise list-level grep target.
SKIP
Each subcommand's `--help` ships at least one invocation example
no subcommands responded to `--help`; nothing to inspect.
WARN
Help text pairs human and `--output json` example invocations
no paired text + `--output json` example found within 5 lines in top-level or any subcommand `--help`. Pairing keeps agents from reverse-engineering the JSON invocation from the text one.
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
SKIP
Input-accepting commands read from stdin when no file is given
no input-accepting subcommand detected (process/parse/convert/transform/analyze/validate/format/lint/audit); vacuous skip for the conditional SHOULD.
SKIP
Subcommand naming follows a consistent verb/noun convention
fewer than 2 user-defined subcommands; vacuous skip for the conditional SHOULD.
WARN
Operations are subcommands, not verb-shaped flags
top-level verb-shaped flag(s) found: --query, --search. Operations belong under the `Commands:` block (`tool search "q"`), not on the flag namespace where they fight the `--help` filtering agents rely on.
no `--verbose` / `-v` flag advertised. SHOULD-tier — agents debugging failures need a way to escalate diagnostic detail.
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.
WARN
Help text advertises TTY-aware verbosity behavior
no TTY-aware language found in `--help`. MAY-tier — automatic verbosity reduction when stdout is piped or redirected lets agents skip the explicit `--quiet` flag. Behavioral probes cannot simulate a real TTY without a pty crate, so this audit relies on documented intent.