sqlite-utils
CLI utility and library for manipulating SQLite databases
68%
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
- FAIL Each subcommand's `--help` ships at least one invocation example Progressive Help Discovery subcommands missing example invocations in their `--help`: add-geometry-column, bulk, create-spatial-index, duplicate, install, plugins, rename-table, uninstall, upsert. Examples teach agents the call shape faster than option tables; use clap's `after_help` or a dedicated `Examples:` block.
- FAIL Destructive subcommands require `--force` or `--yes` Safe Retries & Mutation Boundaries destructive subcommand(s) without `--force` or `--yes`: drop-table, drop-view, reset-counts, transform. Irreversible operations must require explicit confirmation so they can't be invoked accidentally.
- WARN Version 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.
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 | 2 flag(s) found in --help but no `[env: NAME]` bindings advertised |
| PASS | Secret-bearing flags expose stdin or *-file companion | |
| WARN | `--help` advertises default values for flags | no default-value annotations found in --help. SHOULD-tier — agents reading help text need to see what value a flag falls back to when omitted (`[default: <value>]` per clap convention). |
| 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
| WARN | Structured output support | --output/--format flag detected but could not validate JSON via safe probes (--help/--version override output flags in most CLIs) |
| PASS | Structured-output CLI exposes its schema at runtime | |
| 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. |
| PASS | Bad invocation exits with structured usage-error code (2) | |
| 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 | |
| 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 | 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. |
| FAIL | Each subcommand's `--help` ships at least one invocation example | subcommands missing example invocations in their `--help`: add-geometry-column, bulk, create-spatial-index, duplicate, install, plugins, rename-table, uninstall, upsert. Examples teach agents the call shape faster than option tables; use clap's `after_help` or a dedicated `Examples:` block. |
| 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 | |
| PASS | Error messages include a hint or remediation phrase | |
| 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
| FAIL | Destructive subcommands require `--force` or `--yes` | destructive subcommand(s) without `--force` or `--yes`: drop-table, drop-view, reset-counts, transform. Irreversible operations must require explicit confirmation so they can't be invoked accidentally. |
| PASS | Read and write surfaces are both visible in subcommand list |
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 | |
| WARN | Subcommand verbs follow community-standard names | 4/45 subcommand(s) follow standard verb names. Non-standard: add-column, add-foreign-key, add-foreign-keys, add-geometry-column, analyze, analyze-tables, bulk, convert, create-database, create-index, create-spatial-index, create-table, create-view, disable-fts, disable-wal, drop-table, drop-view, dump, duplicate, enable-counts, enable-fts, enable-wal, extract, index-foreign-keys, indexes, insert, insert-files, memory, optimize, plugins, populate-fts, rebuild-fts, rename-table, reset-counts, rows, tables, transform, triggers, upsert, vacuum, views. MAY-tier — community-standard verbs (get/list/create/update/delete) help agents predict subcommand behavior across CLIs. |
| WARN | `--color` flag for explicit color control | no `--color` flag advertised. MAY-tier — `auto|always|never` lets agents and pipelines override the TTY-based default. |
| WARN | Input-accepting commands read from stdin when no file is given | input-accepting subcommand present but `--help` does not mention stdin or `-` as a path placeholder. SHOULD-tier — agents piping data into the tool expect stdin to work when no file arg is provided. |
| PASS | Subcommand naming follows a consistent verb/noun convention | |
| PASS | Operations are subcommands, not verb-shaped flags |
P7: Bounded, High-Signal Responses
| WARN | Quiet mode available | no --quiet/-q flag detected in --help output |
| WARN | `--verbose` flag for diagnostic escalation | no `--verbose` / `-v` flag advertised. SHOULD-tier — agents debugging failures need a way to escalate diagnostic detail. |
| WARN | `--limit` / `--max-results` flag for list operations | list-style subcommand present but no limit flag advertised (looked for --limit, --max-results, --max, --top, -n). SHOULD-tier — callers should be able to bound response size directly rather than scrape-then-truncate. |
| WARN | Cursor-based pagination flags for list traversal | list-style subcommand present but no cursor/page flag advertised (looked for --after, --before, --cursor, --page, --offset). MAY-tier — cursor pagination lets agents traverse large result sets without re-scanning earlier pages. |
| 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 |
Reproduce this scorecard for sqlite-utils locally and inspect the failing audits:
anc audit --command sqlite-utils --output jsonInstall anc first if you don't have it.
Add --output json to get the same JSON shape committed under
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