anc.dev The agent-native CLI standard

helm

The Kubernetes package manager

workhorse Go helm/helm
63% pass rate
2/8 principles met

Spec Coverage

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

All Audits

P1: Non-Interactive by Default

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)
WARN Flags advertise env-var bindings in --help 20 flag(s) found in --help but no `[env: NAME]` bindings advertised
FAIL Secret-bearing flags expose stdin or *-file companion secret-bearing flag(s) without `*-file` companion or stdin path: --kube-token. Flag values leak via process tables, shell history, and CI logs; provide stdin support or a `--<flag>-file` variant.
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.

P2: Structured, Parseable Output

OPT-OUT Structured output support no --output/--format flag detected — tool does not ship structured output. Schema-discovery requirements (p2-must-schema-print, p2-should-schema-file) collapse to n/a via antecedent propagation.
N/A Structured-output CLI exposes its schema at runtime antecedent `p2-json-output` is opt_out: no --output/--format flag detected — tool does not ship structured output. Schema-discovery requirements (p2-must-schema-print, p2-should-schema-file) collapse to n/a via antecedent propagation.
WARN --json / --jsonl short aliases for --output no --json or --jsonl short alias found. Agents and pipelines benefit from short forms alongside the canonical `--output` enum.
WARN `--raw` flag for pipe-safe unformatted output no `--raw` flag advertised. MAY-tier — useful for pipelines that want to strip formatting before piping to other tools.
SKIP `--output` advertises additional formats beyond text/json 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.

P3: Progressive Help Discovery

PASS Help flag produces useful output
FAIL Version flag works (`--version` plus short alias) `--version` exited with code 1
FAIL Version flag works (`--version` plus short alias) `--version` exited with code 1
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 binary has no subcommands; MUST applies conditionally to CLIs that use them.
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.

P4: Fail-Fast, Actionable Errors

PASS Rejects invalid arguments
FAIL Error messages include a hint or remediation phrase stderr lacks a hint phrase. Looked for one of: try , use , expected , did you mean, see , run , for more, tip:, help:, hint:, suggestion:, available . Error messages must name what to do next, not just the symptom.
SKIP `--output json` produces JSON-formatted errors binary does not advertise `--output json` in --help; SHOULD applies only to CLIs that opt into the JSON contract.

P5: Safe Retries & Mutation Boundaries

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.

P6: Composable, Predictable Command Structure

PASS Handles SIGPIPE gracefully
WARN Pager-using CLI ships --no-pager escape hatch pager referenced in --help but no --no-pager escape hatch advertised
PASS Respects NO_COLOR
SKIP Subcommand verbs follow community-standard names no subcommands parsed from --help
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.
PASS Operations are subcommands, not verb-shaped flags

P7: Bounded, High-Signal Responses

PASS Quiet mode available
WARN `--verbose` flag for diagnostic escalation 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.

P8: Discoverable Through Agent Skill Bundles

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

Details

Version scored
4.2.0
Audit date
2026-06-01 17:34:41 UTC
Duration
357ms
Platform
linux/x86_64
Mode
command
Anc build
0.5.0
Install
brew install helm

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The badge floor is 70%; this scorecard is at 63% (7 points below). Once the score clears the floor, the embed snippet will appear here. The top issues above are the place to start.

Reproduce this scorecard for helm locally and inspect the failing audits:

anc audit --command helm --output json

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