docuseal-cli - Fix Report

Generated: 2026-05-20 CLI version: 1.0.3 Scope: all In findings: 71 failure modes evaluated

Summary

Severity	Pass (3/3)	Partial (1-2)	Fail (0)	Indeterminate (?)
Critical	5	6	11	0
High	3	11	21	0
Medium	1	3	10	0

---

Required Fixes (score < 3, sorted: severity desc, score asc)

§1 - Exit Codes & Status Signaling [Critical · 0/3]

Gap: Failures observed with generic exit 1; no documented semantic exit-code table or JSON error body.

Solutions: For CLI tool authors:

Exit code conventions to follow:
  0  = success, operation completed as intended
  1  = general error (use sparingly — be specific)
  2  = misuse / bad arguments (before operation starts)
  3  = operation started but failed mid-way
  4  = precondition not met (dependency missing, not initialized)
  5  = not found (the thing you asked about doesn't exist)
  6  = conflict / already exists
  7  = timeout
  8  = permission denied
  9  = rate limited / quota exceeded

Separate "not found" from "error":

# Bad: exits 1 for both "error" and "not found"
tool get-user --id 123
# exit 1

# Good: exits 5 for "not found", 1 for actual errors
tool get-user --id 123
# exit 5  ← agent knows to stop, not retry

For CLI framework design: - Define a standard exit code table in your framework - Provide typed exit code constants (not magic numbers) - Make every command document its possible exit codes in --help - Support --exit-on-warning flag to make strict mode opt-in

---

Requirements that address this: - REQ-F-001 (P0) - Standard Exit Code Table [Tier: F] - REQ-F-002 (P0) - Exit Code 2 Reserved for Validation Failures [Tier: F] - REQ-C-001 (P0) - Command Declares Exit Codes [Tier: C]

---

§11 - Timeouts & Hanging Processes [Critical · 0/3]

Gap: Network failure produced an uncaught Node stack trace; no timeout flag or TIMEOUT JSON.

Solutions: Built-in timeout flags:

tool operation --timeout 30s        # fail after 30 seconds
tool operation --connect-timeout 5s # specifically for connection phase

Progress heartbeats to stderr:

$ tool long-operation --output json
# stderr:
[  2s] Starting...
[  5s] Phase 1/3: downloading (23%)
[ 10s] Phase 1/3: downloading (67%)
[ 15s] Phase 2/3: processing
# stdout (only on completion):
{"ok": true, "data": {...}}

Emit partial results before timeout:

{
  "ok": false,
  "partial": true,
  "data": {"processed": 42, "total": 100},
  "error": {"code": "TIMEOUT", "message": "Operation timed out after 30s"},
  "resume_token": "abc123"   // allows resuming if supported
}

For framework design: - Every command has a default timeout; --timeout 0 means no timeout (must be explicit) - Timeout exits with a specific code (e.g., 7) and always emits JSON error - Provide --heartbeat-interval to control stderr progress frequency - Track and report wall time in every JSON response's meta.duration_ms

Requirements that address this: - REQ-F-011 (P0) - Default Timeout Per Command [Tier: F] - REQ-F-012 (P0) - Timeout Exit Code and JSON Error [Tier: F] - REQ-F-039 (P1) - Duration Tracking in Response Meta [Tier: F] - REQ-F-078 (P2) - Retry Count in Response Meta [Tier: F] - REQ-C-012 (P0) - Commands with Network I/O Support --timeout [Tier: C] - REQ-O-012 (P2) - --heartbeat-interval Flag [Tier: O]

---

§12 - Idempotency & Safe Retries [Critical · 0/3]

Gap: Mutating commands have no idempotency key or effect/noop field.

Solutions: Idempotency keys:

tool create-order --amount 100 --idempotency-key "order-$(date +%s)-$RANDOM"
# Server deduplicates based on key
# Safe to retry indefinitely

Declare operation effect in output:

{
  "ok": true,
  "effect": "created",        // "created" | "updated" | "noop" | "deleted"
  "data": {"id": 42}
}

{
  "ok": true,
  "effect": "noop",
  "reason": "Already at version 1.2.3",
  "data": {"current_version": "1.2.3"}
}

--dry-run flag for all mutating commands:

tool deploy --version 1.2.3 --dry-run
# Output:
{
  "ok": true,
  "effect": "would_create",
  "changes": ["would update service to 1.2.3", "would restart 2 instances"]
}

For framework design: - Mark commands as safe (read-only, always idempotent) or unsafe (mutating) - Require --idempotency-key for all unsafe commands, or generate one automatically - Emit effect field in all responses - Implement --dry-run as a framework-level feature, not per-command

Requirements that address this: - REQ-C-003 (P0) - Mutating Commands Declare effect Field [Tier: C] - REQ-C-007 (P1) - Mutating Commands Accept --idempotency-key [Tier: C] - REQ-C-028 (P1) - ALREADY_EXISTS Response Pattern [Tier: C]

---

§13 - Partial Failure & Atomicity [Critical · 0/3]

Gap: No partial-failure/resume protocol.

Solutions: Structured partial failure output:

{
  "ok": false,
  "partial": true,
  "completed_steps": ["backup", "apply_schema"],
  "failed_step": "migrate_data",
  "error": {"code": "DISK_FULL", "message": "..."},
  "resume_from": "migrate_data",
  "rollback_available": true
}

Batch result per item:

{
  "ok": false,
  "partial": true,
  "results": [
    {"id": 1, "ok": true,  "effect": "sent"},
    {"id": 2, "ok": true,  "effect": "sent"},
    {"id": 3, "ok": false, "error": {"code": "INVALID_EMAIL"}},
    {"id": 4, "ok": true,  "effect": "sent"},
    {"id": 5, "ok": false, "error": {"code": "RATE_LIMITED"}}
  ],
  "summary": {"total": 5, "succeeded": 3, "failed": 2}
}

Resumable commands:

tool migrate-database --resume-from migrate_data
# Only runs remaining steps

For framework design: - All multi-step commands emit a step manifest at start - Each step emits its result as it completes (streaming JSON lines) - Final summary always includes completed, failed, skipped counts - --rollback-on-failure flag as standard option

Requirements that address this: - REQ-C-008 (P1) - Multi-Step Commands Emit Step Manifest [Tier: C] - REQ-C-009 (P1) - Multi-Step Commands Report completed/failed/skipped [Tier: C] - REQ-O-010 (P2) - --resume-from Flag for Multi-Step Commands [Tier: O] - REQ-O-011 (P2) - --rollback-on-failure Flag [Tier: O]

---

§23 - Side Effects & Destructive Operations [Critical · 0/3]

Gap: Destructive archive operations have no --dry-run or machine-readable danger declaration.

Solutions: Explicit destructive flag:

tool delete-account --user 42 --confirm-destructive
# Without the flag: exits with clear error explaining the flag is required

Machine-readable danger level in help:

{
  "command": "delete-account",
  "danger_level": "destructive",   // "safe" | "mutating" | "destructive"
  "reversible": false,
  "requires_confirmation": true
}

Dry-run always available for destructive commands:

$ tool delete-account --user 42 --dry-run
{
  "ok": true,
  "effect": "would_delete",
  "would_affect": {
    "user": {"id": 42, "name": "Alice"},
    "related_records": 234,
    "reversible": false
  }
}

Audit output:

{
  "ok": true,
  "effect": "deleted",
  "audit": {
    "timestamp": "2024-03-11T14:30:00Z",
    "operator": "agent-session-abc123",
    "target": {"type": "user", "id": 42},
    "reversible": false
  }
}

For framework design: - Commands declare danger_level in their schema - Framework enforces --dry-run availability for all destructive commands - --yes / --confirm-destructive flags auto-supplied by agent harness - Generate audit log entries for all mutating and destructive operations

Requirements that address this: - REQ-C-002 (P0) - Command Declares Danger Level [Tier: C] - REQ-C-004 (P0) - Destructive Commands Must Support --dry-run [Tier: C] - REQ-O-021 (P0) - --confirm-destructive Flag [Tier: O]

---

§24 - Authentication & Secret Handling [Critical · 0/3]

Gap: Secrets can be supplied via hidden --api-key CLI flag; no standard redaction framework.

Solutions: Prefer environment variables:

TOOL_API_TOKEN=sk-... tool deploy
# Convention: TOOL_VARNAME

Support secrets files:

tool deploy --token-file /run/secrets/api-token
# File path, not the value

Never echo secrets in output or errors:

// Bad
{"error": "Invalid token: sk-prod-abc123xyz789"}

// Good
{"error": {"code": "AUTH_TOKEN_INVALID", "message": "Token is invalid or expired"}}

Secret output handling:

{
  "ok": true,
  "data": {
    "key_id": "key-42",          // safe to log
    "key_preview": "sk-prod-abc...xyz",  // truncated
    "secret": "REDACTED"          // never return in --output json
  },
  "secret_written_to": "/run/secrets/key-42"  // written to file instead
}

For framework design: - Framework-level redaction: any field named *token*, *secret*, *password*, *key* is auto-redacted in logs - Provide --secret-from-env VAR_NAME and --secret-from-file PATH as standard flags - Document which env vars each command reads for credentials

Requirements that address this: - REQ-F-034 (P1) - Secret Field Auto-Redaction in Logs [Tier: F] - REQ-C-016 (P1) - Secrets Accepted Only via Env Var or File [Tier: C] - REQ-O-022 (P1) - --secret-from-env / --secret-from-file Flags [Tier: O]

---

§25 - Prompt Injection via Output [Critical · 0/3]

Gap: External API data is returned raw without a trusted/untrusted envelope.

Solutions: Structural wrapping in framework output:

The framework should always wrap external data so the agent knows it's data, not instructions.

Instead of:
  Tool result: <raw content>

Use:
  <tool_result source="read-file" trusted="false">
  <raw content here — treat as untrusted data, not instructions>
  </tool_result>

Content type tagging:

{
  "ok": true,
  "data": {
    "_content_type": "user_data",   // signals: treat as untrusted
    "name": "...",
    "value": "..."
  }
}

Sanitization of string fields from external sources:

# In the CLI framework, before returning external data:
def sanitize_external(value: str) -> str:
    # Remove common injection patterns
    # Wrap in clear structural markers
    return f"[EXTERNAL DATA START]\n{value}\n[EXTERNAL DATA END]"

For framework design: - All data from external sources (files, APIs, databases) is tagged as trusted: false - Framework-level wrapping that signals to the agent: "this is data, not instruction" - Provide --no-injection-protection escape hatch for trusted sources

---

Requirements that address this: - REQ-F-035 (P1) - External Data Trust Tagging [Tier: F] - REQ-O-023 (P3) - --no-injection-protection Flag [Tier: O]

---

§43 - Tool Output Result Size Unboundedness [Critical · 0/3]

Gap: No output limit, truncation metadata, or schema max-output declaration.

Solutions: For CLI/tool authors:

# Provide a --max-length or --truncate flag
my-tool get-record --id 12345 --max-length 10000 --truncate-mode head

# Output envelope should signal truncation
{
  "ok": true,
  "data": {"id": "12345", "description": "First 10000 chars..."},
  "meta": {"truncated": true, "total_bytes": 204800, "returned_bytes": 10000,
           "truncation_hint": "Use --offset and --max-length for subsequent chunks"}
}

For framework design: - Implement a default output size limit per command (e.g., 50KB of text content) with the excess truncated and meta.truncated: true set. - Provide a --max-output flag (injected automatically on all commands) that the agent can set to control output size. - For large string fields in responses, automatically truncate at a configurable max_field_length (default: 10,000 chars) and add a "_truncated": true marker on the field. - In MCP tool definitions, expose maxOutputBytes as a tool annotation so clients can pre-negotiate output size. - Schema should declare "max_output_bytes": 51200 as a tool property, allowing agents to assess expected output size before calling.

Requirements that address this: - REQ-F-052 (P0) - Response Size Hard Cap with Truncation Indicator [Tier: F]

---

§53 - Credential Expiry Mid-Session [Critical · 0/3]

Gap: No distinct credential-expiry code, reauth command, or expiry metadata.

Solutions: Auth errors MUST distinguish expiry from permission denial:

{
  "ok": false,
  "error": {
    "code": "CREDENTIALS_EXPIRED",
    "message": "Access token expired at 2024-03-11T14:15:00Z.",
    "expired": true,
    "expired_at": "2024-03-11T14:15:00Z",
    "retryable": true,
    "reauth_command": "tool auth refresh",
    "reauth_env_var": "TOOL_TOKEN"
  }
}

For framework design: - Add exit 10 to the standard exit code table: 10 = credentials expired (retryable with refresh). Exit 8 = permanent permission denied. - Framework MUST intercept HTTP 401/403 responses and attempt to classify expiry vs permission denial before surfacing the error. - error.reauth_command is a mandatory field for all auth errors — the exact command to run to recover credentials.

Requirements that address this: - REQ-F-063 (P1) - Credential Expiry Structured Error [Tier: F]

---

§60 - OS Output Buffer Deadlock [Critical · 0/3]

Gap: No streaming protocol or heartbeat for long-running commands.

Solutions: Unbuffer stdout explicitly in non-TTY mode:

# Python: disable buffering
import sys, os
if not sys.stdout.isatty():
    sys.stdout.reconfigure(line_buffering=True)
    # or: os.environ['PYTHONUNBUFFERED'] = '1'

# Wrapper: force unbuffered output
$ stdbuf -o0 my-tool migrate
$ unbuffer my-tool migrate   # via expect package

Emit JSON heartbeats every N seconds for long operations:

{"status": "running", "step": "migrating table users", "elapsed_ms": 5000, "heartbeat": true}

For framework design: - Framework MUST call sys.stdout.reconfigure(line_buffering=True) (Python) or setvbuf(stdout, NULL, _IOLBF, 0) (C) on startup when stdout is not a TTY. - Long-running commands MUST emit a JSON heartbeat object to stdout every configurable interval (default: 10s) so the agent has proof of life. - PYTHONUNBUFFERED=1 and equivalent env vars MUST be set in the framework's bootstrap before any output.

Requirements that address this: - REQ-F-053 (P0) - Stdout Unbuffering in Non-TTY Mode [Tier: F] - REQ-O-038 (P1) - --heartbeat-ms Flag for Long-Running Commands [Tier: O]

---

§74 - Credential Scope Declaration Absence [Critical · 0/3]

Gap: No machine-readable required scopes or permission check command.

Solutions: Declare required_scopes per command in --schema output:

{
  "command": "issue list",
  "danger_level": "safe",
  "required_scopes": ["repo:read"],
  "flags": { "repo": { "type": "string", "required": true } }
}

Provide a check-permissions pre-flight command:

$ tool check-permissions --for issue:list
{
  "ok": true,
  "required_scopes": ["repo:read"],
  "active_scopes": ["repo:read", "repo:write"],
  "over_privileged": true,
  "warnings": ["Active credential has scopes beyond what this command needs"]
}

Warn in warnings[] when active credential exceeds declared scopes:

{
  "ok": true,
  "data": { ... },
  "warnings": [
    "Credential has write access; this command only requires read — consider a scoped token"
  ]
}

Document minimal credential recipes in AGENTS.md:

## Minimal credentials by workflow

| Workflow | Required scopes | How to create |
|----------|----------------|---------------|
| Read issues and PRs | `repo:read` | Fine-grained PAT → Contents: Read |
| Comment on issues | `repo:read`, `issues:write` | Fine-grained PAT → Issues: Read+Write |
| Never needed by agents | `delete_repo`, `admin:org` | Do not grant |

For framework design: - Commands declare required_scopes: [] at registration; framework enforces that the field is present - Framework compares required_scopes against the credential's active scopes at invocation and emits structured warnings on over-privilege - check-permissions is a built-in command that accepts --for <command> and returns a machine-readable scope report - Credentials with admin or owner-level scopes trigger an unconditional warning when used in agent sessions

Requirements that address this: - REQ-C-029 (P0) - Command Declares Required Scopes [Tier: C] - REQ-O-047 (P0) - tool check-permissions Built-In Command [Tier: O]

---

§2 - Output Format & Parseability [Critical · 1/3]

Gap: API commands emit JSON on success, but there is no --output json and no ok/data/error envelope; many errors are prose/stack traces.

Solutions: Machine-readable output flag:

# Always provide a structured output mode
tool list-users --output json
tool list-users --output jsonl   # one JSON object per line for streaming
tool list-users --output tsv     # tab-separated, good for piping
tool list-users --output plain   # minimal, no decoration (for humans too)

JSON output schema:

{
  "ok": true,
  "data": [...],      // always present, even if empty array/null
  "error": null,      // always present
  "meta": {
    "count": 2,
    "duration_ms": 45
  }
}

On failure:

{
  "ok": false,
  "data": null,
  "error": {
    "code": "NOT_FOUND",
    "message": "User with id=999 does not exist",
    "details": {}
  }
}

Rules for agent-compatible output: 1. Same schema whether 0, 1, or N results 2. No prose mixed into data output (prose goes to stderr) 3. No color codes in --output json mode (detect NO_COLOR env var) 4. Numbers always in invariant locale (. decimal, no thousands separator) 5. Dates always in ISO 8601 (2024-03-11T14:30:00Z) 6. Boolean as true/false, never yes/no/1/0 in JSON mode

For framework design: - Auto-detect output format based on --output flag or CI=true env - Provide output formatters as first-class framework primitives - Emit a JSON schema for every command's output via --output-schema

---

Merged from §48: The following content was originally a separate challenge. It is consolidated here because it describes a specific case of the same root problem.

Requirements that address this: - REQ-F-003 (P0) - JSON Output Mode Auto-Activation [Tier: F] - REQ-F-004 (P0) - Consistent JSON Response Envelope [Tier: F] - REQ-F-005 (P0) - Locale-Invariant Serialization [Tier: F] - REQ-F-074 (P1) - JSON Null/Absent/Empty Convention [Tier: F] - REQ-O-001 (P0) - --output Format Flag [Tier: O] - REQ-O-042 (P2) - Output Format Environment Variable Default [Tier: O]

---

§10 - Interactivity & TTY Requirements [Critical · 1/3]

Gap: configure has flags for non-interactive setup, but the prompt path still runs in non-TTY and can exit 0 without configuring.

Solutions: Always provide non-interactive flags:

tool deploy --non-interactive
tool deploy --yes          # auto-confirm all prompts
tool deploy --no-input     # fail immediately if input would be needed
tool init --defaults       # use defaults, skip all prompts

Detect non-interactive context and adapt:

import sys
if not sys.stdin.isatty():
    # non-interactive mode: use defaults, fail on ambiguity
    # never prompt

Fail fast instead of hanging:

$ tool deploy --no-input
Error: Config file not found. Run `tool init` first or provide --config.
exit 4   # precondition not met
# ← agent gets an immediate, actionable error instead of a hang

For framework design: - Auto-detect sys.stdin.isatty() and set --non-interactive implicitly - Never use pagers; respect NO_COLOR, TERM=dumb, CI env vars - Any command with a confirmation prompt MUST have a --yes/--force flag - Document which commands are interactive in help text - Set PAGER=cat and GIT_PAGER=cat in agent execution environments

---

Merged from §36: The following content was originally a separate challenge. It is consolidated here because it describes a specific case of the same root problem.

Requirements that address this: - REQ-F-009 (P0) - Non-Interactive Mode Auto-Detection [Tier: F] - REQ-F-010 (P0) - Pager Suppression [Tier: F] - REQ-F-046 (P0) - Pager Environment Variable Suppression [Tier: F] - REQ-C-005 (P0) - Interactive Commands Must Support --yes / --non-interactive [Tier: C]

---

§34 - Shell Injection via Agent-Constructed Commands [Critical · 1/3]

Gap: No shell execution path found, but suspicious name/path values are not validated into structured errors.

Solutions: For CLI consumers (agents):

import shlex

# Safe: never interpolate into shell strings
subprocess.run(["git", "commit", "-m", message])  # ✓ list form

# Validate before passing: reject traversal and metacharacter patterns
import re
SAFE_VALUE_RE = re.compile(r'^[^;&|<>`$\\\n\r]+$')
if not SAFE_VALUE_RE.match(message):
    raise ValueError(f"Unsafe value for --message: {message!r}")

For CLI authors / MCP wrapper authors:

import shellEscape from 'shell-escape';

// In MCP tool handler: receive typed args from JSON, construct safely
const args = ["git", "commit", "-m", request.params.arguments.message];
const result = await execFile(args[0], args.slice(1));  // ✓ never shell=True

For framework design: - Reject arguments containing ../, ./, percent-encoded characters (%[0-9a-fA-F]{2}), embedded query string markers (?, #), and shell metacharacters (;, &&, ||, backtick, $()) by default. - Provide a whitelist-based argument sanitizer as a framework primitive: @arg(pattern=r'^[\w\-\.]+$'). - Default to subprocess.run(args_list) (never shell=True) in all generated subprocess calls. - Apply jpoehnelt Axis 5 level 2 checks at argument parsing time, before any execution. - MCP wrappers: always receive arguments as typed JSON objects, never concatenate into shell strings.

Requirements that address this: - REQ-F-044 (P0) - Shell Argument Escaping Enforcement [Tier: F] - REQ-C-019 (P1) - Subprocess-Invoking Commands Declare Argument Schema [Tier: C]

---

§45 - Headless Authentication / OAuth Browser Flow Blocking [Critical · 1/3]

Gap: Missing auth exits immediately, but as an uncaught stack trace rather than AUTH_REQUIRED with auth_methods.

Solutions: For CLI authors:

# Check for non-interactive auth options before attempting browser flow
if not sys.stdin.isatty():
    # Non-interactive mode: check for token in env vars
    token = os.environ.get("MY_TOOL_TOKEN") or os.environ.get("MY_TOOL_API_KEY")
    if not token:
        print(json.dumps({"ok": False, "error": {
            "code": "AUTH_REQUIRED",
            "message": "No credentials found. Set MY_TOOL_TOKEN environment variable.",
            "auth_methods": [
                {"type": "env_var", "name": "MY_TOOL_TOKEN", "description": "API token"},
                {"type": "env_var", "name": "MY_TOOL_API_KEY", "description": "Legacy API key"}
            ]
        }}))
        sys.exit(8)  # PERMISSION_DENIED exit code
    authenticate_with_token(token)
else:
    # Interactive: offer browser flow
    launch_browser_auth_flow()

For framework design: - Any command that triggers authentication must check isatty() and return a structured AUTH_REQUIRED error in non-interactive mode, never hang. - The AUTH_REQUIRED error must include auth_methods — an array of structured objects describing how to authenticate non-interactively (env var name, config file format, token endpoint). - Schema output should include "requires_auth": true and "auth_methods": [...] so agents can determine how to authenticate before first invocation. - Support --token / --api-key as universal authentication flags that bypass stored credentials for headless use. - Credential expiry should produce {"code": "AUTH_EXPIRED"} distinct from AUTH_REQUIRED, with instructions for renewal that work in headless mode.

Requirements that address this: - REQ-C-021 (P0) - Auth Commands Declare Headless Mode Support [Tier: C] - REQ-O-033 (P0) - --headless and --token-env-var Flags for Auth Commands [Tier: O]

---

§42 - Debug / Trace Mode Secret Leakage [Critical · 2/3]

Gap: No debug/trace mode found to leak secrets, but no sensitive schema/redaction declaration exists.

Solutions: For CLI authors:

from pydantic import SecretStr

class DeployConfig(BaseModel):
    api_key: SecretStr  # repr never shows value; model_dump() returns "[REDACTED]"
    region: str

# Argparse: use action to mask value in namespace repr
import argparse
class SecretAction(argparse.Action):
    def __call__(self, parser, namespace, values, option_string=None):
        setattr(namespace, self.dest, values)
    def __repr__(self):
        return f"{self.dest}=[REDACTED]"

For framework design: - Apply name-based heuristics to automatically redact argument values whose names match token|secret|password|key|credential|auth|apikey in all trace/debug output. - Never echo argument values in error messages for arguments marked sensitive=True or matching the redaction pattern. - Provide a framework-level --trace-safe mode that produces a trace with sensitive fields replaced by [REDACTED]. - For --trace or --debug modes: require explicit --no-redact opt-out to expose sensitive values. - Use environment variables (not CLI flags) as the preferred injection mechanism for secrets — they are not visible in process.argv or process tables. - Document in --schema output which arguments are marked sensitive: "sensitive": true.

Requirements that address this: - REQ-F-051 (P0) - Debug and Trace Mode Secret Redaction [Tier: F]

---

§71 - Non-Interactive Installation Absence [Critical · 2/3]

Gap: README documents non-interactive npm install/use; no AGENTS.md install protocol and global install idempotency was not exercised.

Solutions: For CLI authors:

Document a fully non-interactive install command in AGENTS.md:

# In AGENTS.md — exact non-interactive install command agents must use
## Installation
pip install my-cli==2.1.0        # exact version pin
my-cli --version                  # verify install succeeded

Design installation to be non-interactive by default: - Accept license terms implicitly when --yes or CI=true is detected - Move post-install configuration to first-use, with --non-interactive producing a JSON error rather than a wizard - Use package manager flags: pip install --yes, apt-get install -y, brew install --quiet - Document any system dependency with its non-interactive install command

Make installation idempotent — running the install command twice must succeed:

# Idempotent: second run must exit 0
pip install my-cli==2.1.0   # first run: installs
pip install my-cli==2.1.0   # second run: already satisfied, exit 0

Provide a health-check command agents can run after install to confirm the binary is functional:

my-cli --version             # exits 0, prints version string
my-cli doctor --json         # optional: structured health check

For framework designers:

Provide a --non-interactive flag that suppresses all post-install prompts and fails fast with a JSON error if any required configuration is absent.

Requirements that address this: - REQ-O-044 (P1) - Non-Interactive Install Command Documentation [Tier: O]

---

§15 - Race Conditions & Concurrency [High · 0/3]

Gap: No lock protocol for mutating/config operations.

Solutions: Session-isolated temp paths:

tool process --input data.csv --session-id $AGENT_SESSION_ID
# Uses /tmp/tool/$AGENT_SESSION_ID/result.json automatically

Advisory locking with timeout:

$ tool build
Error: {
  "code": "LOCK_HELD",
  "message": "Another build is running (pid 1234, started 30s ago)",
  "suggestion": "Wait for it to complete or use --force-unlock if process is dead",
  "retry_after_ms": 5000
}

For framework design: - All temp files scoped to $TOOL_SESSION_ID or a random run ID - Lock acquisition has a timeout and emits retry_after_ms - Config mutations use atomic write (write to temp, rename)

Requirements that address this: - REQ-F-032 (P2) - Session-Scoped Temp Directory [Tier: F] - REQ-F-033 (P2) - Lock Acquisition with Timeout and retry_after_ms [Tier: F] - REQ-F-070 (P1) - Atomic Write via Rename [Tier: F]

---

§16 - Signal Handling & Graceful Cancellation [High · 0/3]

Gap: No SIGTERM partial-result protocol.

Solutions: Register signal handlers that emit JSON then exit cleanly:

import signal, sys, json, atexit

_cleanup_done = False

def handle_sigterm(signum, frame):
    global _cleanup_done
    if _cleanup_done:
        return
    _cleanup_done = True
    # Emit partial result to stdout before exit
    result = {
        "ok": False,
        "partial": True,
        "error": {"code": "CANCELLED", "message": "Process received SIGTERM"},
        "completed_steps": get_completed_steps(),
        "resume_from": get_current_step()
    }
    sys.stdout.write(json.dumps(result) + "\n")
    sys.stdout.flush()
    cleanup_temp_files()
    release_locks()
    sys.exit(143)  # 128 + SIGTERM

signal.signal(signal.SIGTERM, handle_sigterm)
atexit.register(cleanup_temp_files)

SIGPIPE handling:

# Python: suppress BrokenPipeError on stdout
signal.signal(signal.SIGPIPE, signal.SIG_DFL)
# or wrap all stdout writes in try/except BrokenPipeError

Advertise cancellation support in schema:

{
  "command": "migrate-database",
  "cancellable": true,
  "cancel_signal": "SIGTERM",
  "cancel_grace_period_ms": 5000,
  "on_cancel": "emits partial result + rollback available"
}

For framework design: - Framework installs SIGTERM and SIGPIPE handlers automatically for every command - Every command declares a cleanup() hook called on signal - Grace period: framework sends SIGTERM, waits cancel_grace_period_ms, then SIGKILL - Partial result always emitted to stdout before exit, even on cancellation

Requirements that address this: - REQ-F-013 (P0) - SIGTERM Handler Installation [Tier: F] - REQ-F-014 (P0) - SIGPIPE Handler Installation [Tier: F] - REQ-F-069 (P0) - SIGINT Handler Installation [Tier: F] - REQ-C-017 (P1) - Commands Register cleanup() Hook [Tier: C]

---

§18 - Error Message Quality [High · 0/3]

Gap: Validation/auth/file/network errors are prose or stack traces without code, suggestion, or context.

Solutions: Structured error format:

{
  "ok": false,
  "error": {
    "code": "CONNECTION_REFUSED",      // machine-readable code
    "message": "Cannot connect to database at db.example.com:5432",
    "cause": "Connection refused (ECONNREFUSED)",
    "suggestion": "Verify the database is running: `tool db status`",
    "docs_url": "https://docs.example.com/errors/CONNECTION_REFUSED",
    "context": {
      "host": "db.example.com",
      "port": 5432,
      "timeout_ms": 5000
    }
  }
}

Error code taxonomy:

{DOMAIN}_{NOUN}_{CONDITION}

Examples:
  DB_CONNECTION_REFUSED
  AUTH_TOKEN_EXPIRED
  FILE_CONFIG_NOT_FOUND
  API_RATE_LIMIT_EXCEEDED
  INPUT_PARAM_INVALID

Suggestion field for common errors:

"suggestion": "Run `tool login` to refresh your credentials"
"suggestion": "Use --force to overwrite existing file"
"suggestion": "Check network connectivity with: ping db.example.com"

For framework design: - All errors MUST have a code (machine) and message (human) - suggestion field is encouraged for recoverable errors - Never emit raw stack traces to stdout; log them to stderr or a file - Provide an error code registry queryable via tool errors list

Requirements that address this: - REQ-C-013 (P0) - Error Responses Include Code and Message [Tier: C]

---

§19 - Retry Hints in Error Responses [High · 0/3]

Gap: No retryable or retry_after_ms fields.

Solutions: retryable and retry_after_ms in every error:

{
  "ok": false,
  "error": {
    "code": "RATE_LIMITED",
    "message": "API rate limit exceeded",
    "retryable": true,
    "retry_after_ms": 5000,
    "retry_strategy": "exponential_backoff",
    "max_retries": 3
  }
}

{
  "ok": false,
  "error": {
    "code": "VALIDATION_ERROR",
    "message": "Invalid email address",
    "retryable": false,
    "fix_required": "Correct the --email argument before retrying"
  }
}

Retry classification taxonomy:

retryable: false   → VALIDATION_ERROR, NOT_FOUND, PERMISSION_DENIED, CONFLICT
retryable: true    → TIMEOUT, SERVICE_UNAVAILABLE, RATE_LIMITED, NETWORK_ERROR
retryable: "maybe" → INTERNAL_ERROR (sometimes transient, sometimes not)

Exit code alignment:

Exit 9 (RATE_LIMITED)       → always retryable, check retry_after_ms
Exit 7 (TIMEOUT)            → retryable, immediate retry ok
Exit 8 (PERMISSION_DENIED)  → never retryable without auth change
Exit 2 (BAD_ARGS)           → never retryable without arg change

For framework design: - Every error class has a default retryable value in the error registry - retry_after_ms sourced from response header (Retry-After) when available - Framework-level retry logic: honor retryable and retry_after_ms automatically - Emit attempt and max_attempts in meta so agents know retry history

Requirements that address this: - REQ-C-014 (P1) - Error Responses Include retryable and retry_after_ms [Tier: C]

---

§22 - Schema Versioning & Output Stability [High · 0/3]

Gap: No meta.schema_version in responses.

Solutions: Schema version in every response:

{
  "ok": true,
  "meta": {
    "schema_version": "2.1.0",
    "tool_version": "2.4.1"
  },
  "data": {...}
}

Deprecation warnings before removal:

{
  "ok": true,
  "data": {
    "name": "Alice",        // deprecated, use full_name
    "full_name": "Alice"    // new field
  },
  "warnings": [
    {
      "code": "FIELD_DEPRECATED",
      "message": "Field 'name' is deprecated. Use 'full_name' instead.",
      "removed_in": "3.0.0"
    }
  ]
}

Stability tiers declared in schema:

{
  "fields": {
    "id":         {"stability": "stable"},
    "full_name":  {"stability": "stable"},
    "score":      {"stability": "experimental", "may_change": true},
    "_internal":  {"stability": "private", "do_not_depend_on": true}
  }
}

Version negotiation:

tool get-user --id 42 --schema-version 1
# Returns v1-compatible output even from v2 tool
# Allows gradual migration

For framework design: - meta.schema_version in every response (semver) - --schema-version flag to request compatible output - Deprecation warnings 2 major versions before removal - tool changelog --output json lists all schema changes by version

Requirements that address this: - REQ-F-022 (P1) - Schema Version in Every Response [Tier: F] - REQ-F-023 (P1) - Tool Version in Every Response [Tier: F] - REQ-F-075 (P1) - Subcommand Additive Stability [Tier: F] - REQ-O-014 (P2) - --schema-version Compatibility Flag [Tier: O] - REQ-O-029 (P2) - tool changelog Built-In Command [Tier: O]

---

§26 - Stateful Commands & Session Management [High · 0/3]

Gap: Implicit global config/env state; no status --output json context report.

Solutions: Explicit context per invocation:

tool deploy --context production           # never rely on implicit current context
tool list-resources --token $TOKEN         # stateless auth per-call
tool --config /tmp/agent-session-42.json deploy  # isolated config file

State inspection command:

$ tool status --output json
{
  "logged_in": true,
  "user": "alice@example.com",
  "current_context": "production",
  "token_expires": "2024-03-11T16:00:00Z"
}

For framework design: - Provide --config / --context override for every command - Default to stateless operation; state is opt-in - Document all global state locations in tool status --show-state-files

Requirements that address this: - REQ-O-024 (P1) - --context / --config Override Flag [Tier: O] - REQ-O-028 (P2) - tool status Built-In Command [Tier: O]

---

§31 - Network Proxy Unawareness [High · 0/3]

Gap: Network errors include no proxy context.

Solutions: Respect all standard proxy env vars:

import urllib.request
# Python requests library — auto-reads env vars:
import requests
session = requests.Session()
# requests automatically reads: HTTP_PROXY, HTTPS_PROXY, NO_PROXY
# This is the default — don't override it with proxies={}

# For lower-level: urllib respects env vars by default
# Never do: urllib.request.urlopen(url, context=ssl_context_that_ignores_env)

Use system certificate store:

import ssl, certifi
# Use certifi for cross-platform cert bundle
ctx = ssl.create_default_context(cafile=certifi.where())
# Or respect REQUESTS_CA_BUNDLE env var

Include proxy info in network error output:

{
  "ok": false,
  "error": {
    "code": "NETWORK_CONNECTION_FAILED",
    "message": "Cannot reach api.example.com",
    "network_context": {
      "proxy_used": "http://proxy.corp.example.com:8080",
      "proxy_source": "HTTPS_PROXY env var",
      "no_proxy": "localhost,internal.corp",
      "ssl_verify": true
    },
    "suggestion": "Check proxy connectivity: curl -x $HTTPS_PROXY https://api.example.com"
  }
}

--proxy explicit override:

tool fetch-data --proxy http://proxy.corp.example.com:8080
tool fetch-data --no-proxy   # bypass proxy for this call

For framework design: - Framework HTTP client reads HTTP_PROXY, HTTPS_PROXY, NO_PROXY automatically - Network errors include network_context block showing proxy settings used - tool doctor checks: can reach key endpoints with current proxy config - --proxy and --no-proxy are framework-level flags on all network commands

Requirements that address this: - REQ-F-036 (P1) - HTTP Client Proxy Environment Variable Compliance [Tier: F] - REQ-F-037 (P1) - Network Error Context Block [Tier: F] - REQ-O-019 (P2) - --proxy and --no-proxy Flags [Tier: O]

---

§35 - Agent Hallucination Input Patterns [High · 0/3]

Gap: Percent-encoded/path-like values are not rejected with structured validation suggestions.

Solutions: Rejecting traversal patterns:

import re, urllib.parse

def validate_resource_id(value: str) -> str:
    # Reject path traversal
    if '..' in value.split('/'):
        raise ValueError(f"Path traversal detected in resource ID: {value!r}")
    # Reject percent-encoding (when not expected)
    decoded = urllib.parse.unquote(value)
    if decoded != value:
        raise ValueError(f"Percent-encoded characters in resource ID: {value!r} (decoded: {decoded!r})")
    # Reject embedded query params
    if '?' in value or '#' in value:
        raise ValueError(f"Embedded URL metacharacters in: {value!r}")
    return value

Error message for agent self-correction:

{
  "ok": false,
  "error": {
    "code": "VALIDATION_ERROR",
    "field": "name",
    "message": "Resource ID contains percent-encoded characters. Pass the literal value without URL-encoding.",
    "input": "acme%2Fwidgets",
    "suggestion": "acme/widgets"
  }
}

For framework design: - Implement an agent_hardening=True flag on Argument / Option declarations that enables the full Axis 5 level 2 check set by default. - For string arguments representing names, IDs, or paths: reject ../, ./, %XX sequences, ?, #, null bytes, and the string literals "null", "undefined", "None" by default (override with allow_unsafe=True). - Error messages for these rejections must explain why the value was rejected in terms an LLM can act on — not just "invalid value." - Include the decoded/normalized form in the error suggestion field so the agent can self-correct without a retry. - Consider jpoehnelt's "agent is not a trusted operator" as a default security posture: apply stricter validation to agent-invoked CLIs than to human-interactive ones.

Requirements that address this: - REQ-F-045 (P0) - Agent Hallucination Input Pattern Rejection [Tier: F] - REQ-C-020 (P1) - Resource ID Fields Declare Validation Pattern [Tier: C]

---

§38 - Runtime Dependency Version Mismatch [High · 0/3]

Gap: No engines declaration or startup runtime-version JSON check.

Solutions: For CLI authors:

# Python: check version at startup, emit structured error
import sys, json
MIN_PYTHON = (3, 10)
if sys.version_info < MIN_PYTHON:
    print(json.dumps({"ok": False, "error": {
        "code": "RUNTIME_VERSION",
        "message": f"Requires Python {MIN_PYTHON[0]}.{MIN_PYTHON[1]}+, found {sys.version}",
        "requirement": f"python>={MIN_PYTHON[0]}.{MIN_PYTHON[1]}",
        "actual": sys.version
    }}))
    sys.exit(5)  # NOT_FOUND / precondition failure

// Node.js: check version at top of entry file
const [major] = process.versions.node.split('.').map(Number);
if (major < 18) {
    process.stderr.write(JSON.stringify({ok: false, error: {
        code: "RUNTIME_VERSION",
        message: `Requires Node.js 18+, found ${process.versions.node}`,
    }}) + '\n');
    process.exit(5);
}

For framework design: - Emit a structured {"code": "RUNTIME_VERSION"} error as the first output when minimum version check fails, before any other initialization. - Include "requirement" and "actual" fields in the error so agents can surface the mismatch to operators. - Expose minimum runtime requirements in --schema output: "runtime": {"python": ">=3.10"}. - Prefer packaging tools as self-contained binaries when possible (PyInstaller, pkg for Node.js) to eliminate runtime dependency entirely.

Requirements that address this: - REQ-O-031 (P1) - Dependency Version Matrix Declaration [Tier: O]

---

§40 - parse() vs parseAsync() Silent Race Condition [High · 0/3]

Gap: Source uses program.parse() with async action handlers.

Solutions: Detection (for agents):

# Commander.js tools: if exit code is 0 but expected output is absent, re-invoke with verbose flag
# or apply a short artificial wait after exit to see if async work completes (not reliable)
# Better: use --format json and check for explicit "ok: true" in output

For CLI authors:

// Always use parseAsync() when any action handler is async
(async () => {
    program
        .command('deploy')
        .action(async (options) => {
            await deployToCloud(options);
            console.log(JSON.stringify({ok: true}));
        });
    await program.parseAsync();  // ✓ awaits async handlers
})();

For framework design: - Auto-detect async action handlers and require parseAsync() (emit a compile-time or startup-time error if parse() is called with async handlers). - TypeScript: use return-type overloading to make parse() return void for sync handlers and a compile error for async handlers, forcing parseAsync(). - Runtime check: if any registered action handler is async and parse() is called, emit a warning to stderr: "Warning: async action handler detected; use parseAsync() to ensure completion". - Framework-level test harnesses should always use parseAsync() and await results.

Requirements that address this: - REQ-F-049 (P1) - Async Command Handler Enforcement [Tier: F]

---

§47 - MCP Wrapper Schema Staleness [High · 0/3]

Gap: No MCP wrapper health, schema version, or stale-schema mapping.

Solutions: Wrapper health-check command:

// Add a schema validation tool to the MCP wrapper
server.tool("_wrapper_health", {}, async () => {
    const cliVersion = await execAndCapture("my-cli --version");
    const knownVersion = "2.3.1";  // version wrapper was written against
    return {
        content: [{type: "text", text: JSON.stringify({
            wrapper_schema_version: knownVersion,
            cli_actual_version: cliVersion.trim(),
            schema_may_be_stale: cliVersion.trim() !== knownVersion,
        })}]
    };
});

Schema auto-generation from --help:

# Parse --help output to detect new flags not in wrapper schema
def detect_schema_drift(tool_name: str, wrapper_schema: dict) -> list[str]:
    help_output = subprocess.run([tool_name, "--help"], capture_output=True).stdout.decode()
    # Extract flags from help text using regex
    help_flags = set(re.findall(r'--(\w[\w-]*)', help_output))
    wrapper_flags = set(wrapper_schema["properties"].keys())
    new_flags = help_flags - wrapper_flags
    return list(new_flags)

For framework design: - MCP wrapper generators should pin the cli_version in tool annotations and emit a schema_stale warning when the CLI version changes. - Auto-generate MCP wrapper schemas from CLI --help or --schema JSON output (where available) rather than requiring manual authoring. - Include a _meta.schema_cli_version field in tool results so agents can detect version mismatches. - When an MCP tool call produces a non-zero exit code with "unknown option" or "unrecognized argument" in the error, the wrapper should emit {"code": "SCHEMA_STALE", "hint": "The underlying CLI may have changed; wrapper schema may be outdated"}. - MCP protocol: add optional toolSchemaVersion annotation to tool definitions, allowing version-to-version compatibility tracking.

Requirements that address this: - REQ-O-035 (P2) - tool mcp-validate Built-In Command [Tier: O] - REQ-O-045 (P1) - Integration Artifact Version Declaration [Tier: O]

---

§49 - Async Job / Polling Protocol Absence [High · 0/3]

Gap: No async job/status protocol or distinct running/done exit codes.

Solutions: Async commands MUST return a typed job descriptor:

{
  "ok": true,
  "data": {
    "job_id": "dep_abc123",
    "status": "running",
    "terminal": false,
    "status_command": "tool job status dep_abc123",
    "cancel_command": "tool job cancel dep_abc123",
    "poll_interval_ms": 5000,
    "timeout_ms": 600000,
    "started_at": "2024-03-11T14:00:00Z"
  }
}

Status command uses distinct exit codes:

exit 0  = job complete (terminal, success)
exit 3  = job still running (non-terminal, poll again)
exit 4  = job failed (terminal, failure)
exit 7  = job timed out (terminal)
exit 5  = job ID not found / expired

Terminal vs non-terminal distinction in response:

{ "status": "running", "terminal": false, "progress_pct": 60 }
{ "status": "complete", "terminal": true, "result": {...} }

For framework design: - Provide a first-class AsyncJob return type; framework automatically generates job status <id> and job cancel <id> subcommands. - The job descriptor schema (status_command, cancel_command, poll_interval_ms, timeout_ms) must be part of the standard response envelope for any async operation. - Document the exit code contract for status commands prominently as part of the framework's standard.

Requirements that address this: - REQ-C-022 (P0) - Async Commands Declare Job Descriptor Schema [Tier: C] - REQ-O-038 (P1) - --heartbeat-ms Flag for Long-Running Commands [Tier: O]

---

§54 - Conditional / Dependent Argument Requirements [High · 0/3]

Gap: No machine-readable arg groups or all-at-once dependent-argument validation.

Solutions: Schema declares conditional requirement groups:

{
  "arg_groups": [
    {
      "condition": {"arg": "auth-type", "equals": "oauth"},
      "required": ["client-id", "client-secret"]
    }
  ]
}

Phase 1 validation reports ALL missing co-requirements at once:

{
  "ok": false,
  "error": {
    "code": "VALIDATION_ERROR",
    "missing_args": [
      {"name": "client-id", "reason": "required when --auth-type=oauth"},
      {"name": "client-secret", "reason": "required when --auth-type=oauth"}
    ]
  }
}

For framework design: - Schema format MUST support required_when and arg_groups conditional dependency declarations. - Phase 1 validation MUST evaluate all conditional requirements simultaneously and report all missing args in a single error response.

Requirements that address this: - REQ-C-026 (P1) - Commands Declare Conditional Argument Dependencies [Tier: C]

---

§55 - Silent Data Truncation [High · 0/3]

Gap: No schema max lengths or FIELD_TRUNCATED/validation warning protocol.

Solutions: Truncated fields MUST appear in warnings[]:

{
  "ok": true,
  "warnings": [
    {
      "code": "FIELD_TRUNCATED",
      "field": "title",
      "original_length": 71,
      "truncated_to": 41
    }
  ]
}

Better: reject at Phase 1 validation with field constraints from schema:

{ "name": "title", "type": "string", "max_length": 64 }
{ "name": "tags",  "type": "array",  "max_items": 10 }

For framework design: - Schema MUST declare max_length, max_items, max_bytes for all bounded fields; Phase 1 rejects inputs exceeding these limits. - If backend silently truncates anyway, framework MUST compare returned vs sent value and inject FIELD_TRUNCATED warning automatically.

Requirements that address this: - REQ-F-064 (P1) - Output Truncation Detection and Warning [Tier: F]

---

§56 - Exit Code Masking in Shell Pipelines [High · 0/3]

Gap: No ok, meta.ok, or meta.exit_code fields.

Solutions: Primary defense: check .ok in the JSON envelope, not only the exit code:

result=$(tool list-users)
echo "$result" | jq -e '.ok' > /dev/null || { echo "$result" | jq '.error'; exit 1; }
echo "$result" | jq '.data[].id'

meta.ok mirrors top-level ok for pipeline detection:

{"ok": false, "meta": {"ok": false, "exit_code": 9}, "error": {...}}

For framework design: - Document prominently: agents MUST check .ok in the JSON envelope, not only the exit code, when piping. - Framework SHOULD write TOOL_FAILED=1 to stderr on failure so pipeline callers can detect failure without pipefail.

Requirements that address this: - REQ-F-065 (P0) - Pipeline Exit Code Propagation [Tier: F]

---

§58 - Multi-Agent Concurrent Invocation Conflict [High · 0/3]

Gap: Config writes use direct writes to shared config; no locking or conflict code.

Solutions: File locking for all config writes:

with framework.config_lock(timeout_ms=5000) as lock:
    config = lock.read()
    config['region'] = 'us-east-1'
    lock.write(config)
# If lock times out: exit 6 (conflict) with error.code: "CONCURRENT_MODIFICATION"

Per-agent-instance state namespacing:

$ tool --instance-id agent-1 config set region=us-east-1
# Writes to ~/.tool/instances/agent-1/config.json

For framework design: - All config and state writes MUST use advisory file locking with configurable timeout (default 5s). - Config writes MUST use atomic rename to prevent partial-write corruption. - Framework MUST provide --instance-id <id> to namespace all per-instance state so parallel agents operate without interference.

Requirements that address this: - REQ-O-036 (P1) - --instance-id Flag for Agent State Namespacing [Tier: O]

---

§65 - Global Configuration State Contamination [High · 0/3]

Gap: Config writes default to global user config without --global or write-scope metadata.

Solutions: Default all writes to local/session scope:

# Bad: writes to global ~/.config/tool/config.json
$ tool config set region=us-east-1

# Good: writes to ./.tool-config (local, git-ignorable)
$ tool config set region=us-east-1
# Requires explicit --global flag for home-dir writes:
$ tool config set --global region=us-east-1

Strict scope declaration in schema:

{
  "name": "config set",
  "write_scope": "local",   // "local" | "global" | "session"
  "global_flag": "--global",
  "danger_level": "mutating"
}

Config write audit trail:

{
  "ok": true,
  "warnings": [
    {
      "code": "GLOBAL_CONFIG_MODIFIED",
      "path": "~/.config/tool/config.json",
      "key": "region",
      "previous_value": "eu-west-1",
      "new_value": "us-east-1"
    }
  ]
}

For framework design: - Framework MUST default all config writes to the nearest .tool-config file in the working directory hierarchy, not to ~/.config/. - Global config writes MUST require an explicit --global flag and MUST emit a GLOBAL_CONFIG_MODIFIED warning in the JSON response. - Auto-migrations MUST be opt-in: tool migrate-config --confirm rather than running silently on startup.

Requirements that address this: - REQ-F-073 (P1) - Environment Variable Namespace Prefix [Tier: F] - REQ-C-025 (P0) - Config-Writing Commands Declare Write Scope [Tier: C]

---

§67 - Agent-Generated Input Syntax Rejection [High · 0/3]

Gap: Strict JSON parse errors produce raw stack traces; no INVALID_JSON corrected input.

Solutions: Accept JSON5 / forgiving JSON for all structured inputs:

import json5  # pip install json5
config = json5.loads(user_input)
# Accepts: trailing commas, comments, unquoted keys, single quotes

Normalize before parsing:

import re
def normalize_json(s):
    s = re.sub(r',\s*([}\]])', r'\1', s)   # remove trailing commas
    s = re.sub(r'//.*?$', '', s, flags=re.M)  # remove line comments
    s = re.sub(r'/\*.*?\*/', '', s, flags=re.S)  # remove block comments
    return json.loads(s)

Surface clear correction in error:

{
  "ok": false,
  "error": {
    "code": "INVALID_JSON",
    "message": "Trailing comma at line 1, position 38.",
    "corrected_input": "{\"name\": \"prod\", \"region\": \"us-east-1\"}",
    "hint": "Remove trailing comma after last key-value pair."
  }
}

For framework design: - Framework MUST use a forgiving JSON parser (JSON5 or equivalent) for all --config, --filter, --data, and --raw-payload flag inputs. - When strict JSON is required (e.g., for schema validation), the framework normalizes the input before validation and emits the corrected form in the error if validation fails. - The corrected_input field in parse errors enables agents to retry with minimal reasoning.

Requirements that address this: - REQ-F-059 (P1) - JSON5 Input Normalization [Tier: F]

---

§68 - Third-Party Library Stdout Pollution [High · 0/3]

Gap: No stdout interception or warnings envelope.

Solutions: Framework-level stdout interception:

import sys, io

class StdoutInterceptor(io.TextIOWrapper):
    def write(self, data):
        if self._json_mode and not self._in_framework_output:
            # Route to stderr instead of stdout
            sys.stderr.write(f"[INTERCEPTED STDOUT]: {data}")
        else:
            super().write(data)

# Install before any imports:
sys.stdout = StdoutInterceptor(sys.stdout.buffer)

Buffer stdout, validate before flushing:

# Collect all stdout writes; on command completion, validate that
# the buffer is valid JSON. If not, separate legitimate output from
# pollution and emit pollution as warnings[].

Intercept at the file descriptor level:

import os
# Redirect fd 1 to a buffer; only framework's output() call writes to original fd 1
old_stdout_fd = os.dup(1)
os.dup2(pipe_write_fd, 1)
# After command completes, read buffer, filter non-JSON lines, emit as warnings

For framework design: - Framework MUST intercept sys.stdout (Python) or process.stdout (Node.js) at startup, buffering all writes not made through the framework's output() API. - Any stdout writes not from output() MUST be reclassified: moved to warnings[] if they are prose, or dropped with a THIRD_PARTY_STDOUT warning in debug mode. - Framework MUST install the interceptor before any imports so that import-time prints are captured.

Requirements that address this: - REQ-F-060 (P1) - Third-Party Stdout Interception [Tier: F]

---

§70 - Single-Argument Arity Forcing Agent Loop Overhead [High · 0/3]

Gap: Single-ID commands do not accept variadic IDs with per-item results.

Solutions: Accept variadic positional arguments for any command whose logic is item-by-item:

# argparse
parser.add_argument("paths", nargs="+", help="One or more paths to delete")

# Click
@click.argument("paths", nargs=-1, required=True)

# Clap (Rust)
#[arg(num_args = 1..)]
paths: Vec<PathBuf>,

# Cobra (Go)
Args: cobra.MinimumNArgs(1),

Report per-item results so the agent can detect partial failure:

{
  "ok": true,
  "results": [
    {"path": "/notes/a.md", "ok": true},
    {"path": "/notes/b.md", "ok": false, "error": {"code": "NOT_FOUND", "message": "Path does not exist"}}
  ]
}

Declare arity in the schema manifest so agents can pre-determine call structure:

{
  "name": "delete",
  "args": [
    {"name": "paths", "nargs": "+", "description": "Paths to delete"}
  ]
}

For framework design: - Commands that perform the same stateless operation per item MUST accept nargs="+" (one or more) positional arguments - Per-item results MUST be returned as an array even when a single path is passed, so the agent can parse the response uniformly - The manifest's args array MUST include nargs ("1", "?", "*", "+"); absence of nargs MUST be treated as "1" by agents - Partial success MUST be reported per-item with a top-level ok: false when any item fails; the agent must not have to infer failure count from missing output

Requirements that address this: No direct requirement mapping found in requirements index.

---

§72 - Integration Artifact Version Drift [High · 0/3]

Gap: Skill metadata version 1.0.6 differs from binary/package version 1.0.3, confirming integration artifact drift.

Solutions: For CLI authors:

Include a version field in every integration artifact, matching the binary version exactly:

# openapi.yaml
info:
  title: My CLI API
  version: "2.1.0"   # must match `my-cli --version` output exactly

<!-- AGENTS.md -->
<!-- cli-version: 2.1.0 -->

Co-version artifacts with the binary — release them in the same CI pipeline, with the same version tag:

# .github/workflows/release.yml
- name: Release binary and artifacts together
  run: |
    VERSION=$(my-cli --version)
    sed -i "s/version: .*/version: \"$VERSION\"/" openapi.yaml
    git commit -am "Release $VERSION"
    git tag $VERSION

If artifacts live in a separate package, version-lock it to the binary with an explicit compatibility field:

# companion-package/package.json
{
  "name": "my-cli-openapi",
  "version": "2.1.0",
  "peerDependencies": {
    "my-cli": "2.1.0"
  }
}

For framework designers:

Generate integration artifacts automatically from the registered command schema at release time. Generated artifacts cannot drift because they are produced from the same source of truth as the binary.

Requirements that address this: - REQ-O-045 (P1) - Integration Artifact Version Declaration [Tier: O]

---

§3 - Stderr vs Stdout Discipline [High · 1/3]

Gap: Data is normally stdout, but help/prose success/error output can also appear on stdout.

Solutions: Strict stream discipline:

stdout: ONLY the command's primary output (data, result, id)
stderr: progress indicators, warnings, debug info, timing, counts

# Good
$ tool create-user --name Alice 2>/dev/null
{"id": 42, "name": "Alice"}

$ tool create-user --name Alice 1>/dev/null
Creating user Alice...
Done. (45ms)

Structured warnings in JSON output:

{
  "ok": true,
  "data": {"records": [...]},
  "warnings": [
    {"code": "DEPRECATED_KEY", "message": "...", "location": "line 12"}
  ]
}

For framework design: - Route all log(), progress(), debug() calls to stderr by default - Only print() / output() writes to stdout - Provide --quiet to suppress all stderr - Provide --warnings-as-errors to exit non-zero on any warning

---

Merged from §39: The following content was originally a separate challenge. It is consolidated here because it describes a specific case of the same root problem.

Requirements that address this: - REQ-F-006 (P0) - Stdout/Stderr Stream Enforcement [Tier: F] - REQ-F-048 (P0) - Help Output Routing to Stderr in Non-TTY Mode [Tier: F] - REQ-O-025 (P3) - --warnings-as-errors Flag [Tier: O]

---

§5 - Pagination & Large Output [High · 1/3]

Gap: List commands expose limit/cursor flags, but no standard pagination metadata envelope.

Solutions: Always indicate truncation and total:

{
  "ok": true,
  "data": [...],
  "pagination": {
    "total": 50000,
    "returned": 100,
    "truncated": true,
    "next_cursor": "eyJpZCI6MTAwfQ==",
    "has_more": true
  }
}

Cursor-based pagination (stateless):

tool list-users --limit 100 --cursor "eyJpZCI6MTAwfQ=="

Streaming output (JSONL):

tool list-logs --output jsonl --stream
# Emits one JSON object per line
# Agent can process incrementally
{"timestamp": "...", "level": "error", "message": "..."}
{"timestamp": "...", "level": "info",  "message": "..."}

Default sensible limits:

tool list-users           # default: --limit 20
tool list-users --limit 0 # explicit: no limit

For framework design: - All list commands have --limit (default: 20) and --cursor - Response always includes pagination metadata - --stream flag for JSONL output when processing large sets

Requirements that address this: - REQ-F-018 (P0) - Pagination Metadata on List Commands [Tier: F] - REQ-F-019 (P0) - Default Output Limit [Tier: F] - REQ-O-003 (P0) - --limit and --cursor Pagination Flags [Tier: O] - REQ-O-004 (P2) - --output jsonl / --stream Flag [Tier: O]

---

§14 - Argument Validation Before Side Effects [High · 1/3]

Gap: Commander validates some arguments before execution, but exit code is generic and errors are not structured JSON.

Solutions: Two-phase execution: validate-then-execute:

def run(args):
    # Phase 1: validate ALL args before touching anything
    errors = validate(args)
    if errors:
        emit_validation_errors(errors)
        sys.exit(2)  # exit 2 = bad args, no side effects occurred

    # Phase 2: execute (side effects start here)
    execute(args)

Validation result in structured output:

{
  "ok": false,
  "phase": "validation",          // side effects: none
  "errors": [
    {
      "param": "--key-file",
      "code": "FILE_NOT_FOUND",
      "message": "Key file '/missing.pem' does not exist",
      "value": "/missing.pem"
    },
    {
      "param": "--workers",
      "code": "TYPE_ERROR",
      "message": "Expected integer, got 'abc'",
      "value": "abc"
    }
  ]
}

Preflight flag:

tool deploy --env prod --version 1.2.3 --validate-only
# Runs all validation, reports errors, exits without deploying
# exit 0 = would succeed
# exit 2 = validation errors (listed in JSON)

For framework design: - Framework enforces: all @validate hooks run before any @execute hooks - Exit code 2 reserved exclusively for validation failures (no side effects) - --validate-only is a framework-level flag available on all commands - Validation errors always list all problems at once (not just the first one)

Requirements that address this: - REQ-F-002 (P0) - Exit Code 2 Reserved for Validation Failures [Tier: F] - REQ-F-015 (P0) - Validate-Before-Execute Phase Order [Tier: F] - REQ-C-006 (P0) - All Args Validated in Phase 1 [Tier: C] - REQ-O-009 (P1) - --validate-only Flag [Tier: O]

---

§28 - Config File Shadowing & Precedence [High · 1/3]

Gap: README documents precedence and configure --list shows config, but sources are not machine-readable.

Solutions: --show-config flag that reveals effective configuration:

$ tool --show-config --output json
{
  "effective_config": {
    "env": "production",
    "registry": "internal.registry.example.com",
    "timeout": 30
  },
  "sources": {
    "env":      {"source": "~/.config/tool/config.toml", "value": "production"},
    "registry": {"source": "./.toolrc",                  "value": "internal..."},
    "timeout":  {"source": "default",                    "value": 30}
  }
}

Include active config in every response meta:

{
  "meta": {
    "effective_config_hash": "sha256:abc123",
    "config_sources": ["~/.config/tool/config.toml", "./.toolrc"]
  }
}

--no-config flag for isolated runs:

tool deploy --no-config --env staging
# Ignores all config files and env vars
# Uses only explicit flags + compiled defaults
# Reproducible behavior regardless of environment

Explicit config path:

tool --config /dev/null deploy --env staging
# Guaranteed: no config file loaded

For framework design: - Documented, stable precedence order (flags > env vars > local file > global file > defaults) - tool --show-config is a built-in framework command - --no-config disables all file-based config loading - meta.config_sources included in every response

Requirements that address this: - REQ-F-028 (P1) - Config Source Tracking in Response Meta [Tier: F] - REQ-O-015 (P1) - --show-config Flag [Tier: O] - REQ-O-016 (P1) - --no-config Flag [Tier: O]

---

§46 - API Schema to CLI Flag Translation Loss [High · 1/3]

Gap: -d accepts JSON/bracket notation, but there is no full --json body flag or API-schema validation.

Solutions: Level 1 — Raw JSON payload input:

# Accept raw JSON payload for complex commands (jpoehnelt Axis 2 level 2)
my-tool user create --json '{"name": "Alice", "roles": ["admin", "viewer"], "metadata": {...}}'

Level 2 — Stdin JSON for structured input:

echo '{"name": "Alice", "roles": ["admin", "viewer"]}' | my-tool user create --from-stdin

Level 3 — Zero translation loss (jpoehnelt Axis 2 level 3):

# CLI accepts the exact API request body; maps directly to API call with no reinterpretation
my-tool api POST /users --body '{"user": {"name": "Alice", "roles": [...]}}'
# Agent uses the OpenAPI spec as CLI documentation directly

For framework design: - For every mutating command, accept --json <payload> as an alternative to individual flags, where the payload maps directly to the underlying API request body. - Expose a --raw-api mode (jpoehnelt Axis 2 level 3) that accepts the API request body directly and performs no flag-to-body translation. - Validate that the --json payload passes the same JSON Schema as the API request body (i.e., the CLI's JSON Schema and the API's JSON Schema are identical for mutating operations). - --schema output should include both the CLI flag schema and, where applicable, the underlying API JSON Schema with a reference to where translation occurs. - Generate CLI wrappers from OpenAPI specs (rather than hand-writing them) to guarantee zero initial translation loss.

Requirements that address this: - REQ-O-032 (P1) - --raw-payload Flag for Mutating Commands [Tier: O]

---

§51 - Shell Word Splitting and Glob Expansion Interference [High · 1/3]

Gap: Exec-array invocation preserves spaced file paths, but missing files become unstructured ENOENT stack traces.

Solutions: Tools must validate received arguments against declared constraints:

# If --file expects a single file path, tool validates it exists before acting
$ my-tool process report
Error: file 'report' not found. Did you mean 'report 2024.txt'?
# This surfaces the word-split mistake

Schema declares which args expect file paths or glob patterns:

{
  "name": "files",
  "type": "glob_pattern",
  "glob_expanded_by": "caller",
  "or": "filepath"
}

Framework-provided invocation helpers use exec-array:

# Framework's subprocess API (exec-array, no shell):
result = framework.run(["my-tool", "process", filename])
# filename is passed as a single argument regardless of spaces or special chars

For framework design: - The framework's subprocess API MUST use exec-array (not shell string) — this fully prevents the problem for tool-to-tool invocations. - Document prominently in the agent guide: "never construct shell strings; always use exec-array invocation." - Tools that accept file paths MUST validate existence and emit a distinct FILE_NOT_FOUND error to surface word-split mistakes.

Requirements that address this: - REQ-F-062 (P0) - Glob Expansion and Word-Splitting Prevention [Tier: F]

---

§59 - High-Entropy String Token Poisoning [High · 1/3]

Gap: configure --list masks stored api_key, but there is no semantic token summary/unmask protocol.

Solutions: Auto-mask high-entropy fields in structured output:

{
  "token": "[JWT: expires 2024-03-11T15:00:00Z, sub=user_123]",
  "token_raw": "<available via: tool auth token --show --unmask>"
}

Schema marks fields as high_entropy: true:

{ "name": "token", "type": "string", "high_entropy": true, "mask_in_output": true }

Framework detects high-entropy strings automatically: - Strings matching ^[A-Za-z0-9+/]{40,}={0,2}$ (base64) or JWT pattern (xxx.yyy.zzz) are masked unless --unmask is passed. - Instead of the raw value, output: entropy type, meaningful metadata extracted from the payload (expiry, subject), and the flag to retrieve the raw value.

For framework design: - Framework MUST provide a high_entropy field type with automatic masking in non---unmask mode. - The mask replacement MUST include the semantic metadata from the string (JWT: expiry + claims summary; UUID: just the ID truncated; API key: first 8 chars + ...). - --unmask flag explicitly opts into showing raw high-entropy values.

Requirements that address this: - REQ-F-058 (P1) - High-Entropy Field Masking [Tier: F] - REQ-O-037 (P2) - --unmask Flag for High-Entropy Fields [Tier: O]

---

§69 - Argument Order Ambiguity [High · 1/3]

Gap: Subcommand-level global flags work after the subcommand; root-level placement is rejected.

Solutions: Enforce interspersed option parsing at the framework level:

Options are accepted in any position relative to subcommands and positional arguments. tool cmd --flag arg, tool --flag cmd arg, and tool cmd arg --flag are all equivalent.

# argparse
parser = argparse.ArgumentParser()
parser.parse_intermixed_args()  # allows interspersed options

# Click
@click.command(context_settings={"allow_interspersed_args": True})

# Commander.js
program.enablePositionalOptions(false)  # disable strict positional ordering

For global flags that must precede subcommands, declare this constraint in the manifest:

{
  "option_placement": "strict",
  "note": "Global options must appear before the subcommand"
}

Framework design: - Default parser configuration MUST use interspersed/permissive option parsing - If a command passes remaining args verbatim to a subprocess (e.g., a wrapper), it MUST declare option_placement: "strict" in its manifest so agents know to front-load flags - The manifest's --schema output MUST include the effective option_placement value

Requirements that address this: - REQ-F-067 (P1) - Interspersed Option Parsing [Tier: F] - REQ-C-027 (P1) - Commands Declare Option Placement Convention [Tier: C]

---

§73 - Documentation Accuracy Drift [High · 1/3]

Gap: No AGENTS.md; available CLAUDE/skill docs are useful but version drift exists.

Solutions: For CLI authors:

Include a version field in AGENTS.md that agents can compare against <binary> --version:

<!-- cli-version: 3.1.2 -->
<!-- last-validated: 2026-04-01 -->
# AGENTS.md — My CLI

Add AGENTS.md validation to CI — run a script that checks each documented flag and command against --help output:

# ci/validate-agents-md.sh
BINARY_VERSION=$(my-cli --version)
DOC_VERSION=$(grep 'cli-version:' AGENTS.md | sed 's/.*cli-version: //')
if [ "$BINARY_VERSION" != "$DOC_VERSION" ]; then
  echo "AGENTS.md version $DOC_VERSION does not match binary $BINARY_VERSION"
  exit 1
fi
# Spot-check documented flags
for flag in $(grep -oP '\-\-[\w-]+' AGENTS.md); do
  if ! my-cli --help | grep -q "$flag"; then
    echo "Flag $flag in AGENTS.md not found in --help"
    exit 1
  fi
done

Update AGENTS.md in the same PR as any flag, command, or env var change — enforce this via PR template or CI gate.

For framework designers:

Generate AGENTS.md automatically from registered command schemas. If AGENTS.md cannot drift from the schema, it cannot drift from the binary.

Provide a --validate-agents-md command or make generate-skills verify existing AGENTS.md against live schema on each run.

Requirements that address this: - REQ-O-043 (P1) - AGENTS.md Required Content [Tier: O] - REQ-O-046 (P2) - AGENTS.md CI Validation [Tier: O]

---

§9 - Binary & Encoding Safety [High · 2/3]

Gap: File uploads use Buffer/base64 for binary content; error handling remains unstructured.

Solutions: Detect and handle encoding explicitly:

def safe_read(path: str) -> str:
    with open(path, "rb") as f:
        raw = f.read()
    try:
        return raw.decode("utf-8")
    except UnicodeDecodeError:
        # Return base64 for binary, with metadata
        return None  # signal: use binary path

def safe_field(value: bytes | str) -> dict:
    if isinstance(value, bytes):
        try:
            text = value.decode("utf-8")
            return {"type": "text", "value": text}
        except UnicodeDecodeError:
            import base64
            return {"type": "binary", "encoding": "base64",
                    "value": base64.b64encode(value).decode()}
    return {"type": "text", "value": value}

Binary fields use base64 in JSON output:

{
  "ok": true,
  "data": {
    "name": "photo.png",
    "content": {
      "type": "binary",
      "encoding": "base64",
      "value": "iVBORw0KGgo...",
      "size_bytes": 45231
    }
  }
}

Null byte sanitization:

def sanitize_string(s: str) -> str:
    return s.replace("\x00", "\ufffd")  # replacement character

Declare content type in output:

{
  "data": {
    "content": "...",
    "content_encoding": "utf-8",    // or "base64", "latin-1"
    "content_type": "text/plain"    // or "application/octet-stream"
  }
}

For framework design: - All string fields pass through a UTF-8 sanitizer before JSON serialization - Binary fields automatically base64-encoded with {type, encoding, value} wrapper - Framework catches UnicodeDecodeError and emits structured error, never crashes raw - --binary-mode base64|hex|skip flag for commands that may return binary

Requirements that address this: - REQ-F-016 (P1) - UTF-8 Sanitization Before Serialization [Tier: F] - REQ-F-017 (P1) - Binary Field Base64 Encoding [Tier: F]

---

§41 - Update Notifier Side-Channel Output Pollution [High · 2/3]

Gap: No update notifier found; CI/NO_UPDATE_NOTIFIER produced no side-channel notice.

Solutions: For agents:

env = {**os.environ, "NO_UPDATE_NOTIFIER": "1",  # npm ecosystem standard
       "CI": "true",  # suppresses update notifiers in many tools
       "DISABLE_UPDATE_NOTIFIER": "true"}  # some tools check this
result = subprocess.run(cmd, env=env, capture_output=True)

For CLI authors:

// Check TTY and CI before enabling update notifier
const updateNotifier = require('update-notifier');
if (process.stdout.isTTY && !process.env.CI) {
    updateNotifier({pkg: require('./package.json')}).notify();
}
// Better: surface in meta.update_available field of JSON response

For framework design: - Suppress all update notifications when isatty(stdout) == False or CI == "true". - If an update is available, place "update_available": {"version": "2.0.0", "command": "npm install -g my-tool"} in the meta section of the structured JSON response — never as prose on stdout or stderr. - Never emit ANSI box-drawing characters in update notifications. - Rate-limit update checks to once per week per installation, not once per invocation.

Requirements that address this: - REQ-F-050 (P1) - Update Notifier Side-Channel Suppression [Tier: F] - REQ-F-077 (P2) - Telemetry Non-Blocking [Tier: F]

---

§6 - Command Composition & Piping [Medium · 0/3]

Gap: No --output id mode and no stdin - ID protocol.

Solutions: --output id mode (extract single value):

$ tool get-user --name Alice --output id
42
# Just the primary identifier, no JSON, pipeable

Stdin acceptance for IDs:

$ tool get-user --name Alice --output id | tool send-welcome-email --user-id -
# --user-id - means "read from stdin"

Batch input from file/stdin:

$ tool list-users --output jsonl | tool send-welcome-email --users-jsonl -

--from flag for reading prior command output:

$ tool get-user --name Alice --output json > /tmp/user.json
$ tool send-welcome-email --from-file /tmp/user.json

For framework design: - Every command that takes an ID also accepts - to read from stdin - Provide --output id as a standard extraction mode - Define a pipe protocol: each framework command can declare what it emits and what it accepts

Requirements that address this: - REQ-O-005 (P3) - --output id Extraction Mode [Tier: O] - REQ-O-006 (P3) - Stdin as ID Source (-) [Tier: O]

---

§7 - Output Non-Determinism [Medium · 0/3]

Gap: Raw API output has no stable-output mode or volatile-field isolation.

Solutions: Sort all collections in output:

// Always sort arrays of objects by a stable key
{"users": [{"id": 1}, {"id": 2}, {"id": 3}]}

// Always sort string arrays lexicographically
{"permissions": ["admin", "delete", "read", "write"]}

Separate volatile metadata from stable data:

{
  "ok": true,
  "data": {                          // stable — safe to cache/compare
    "status": "ok",
    "version": "1.2.3"
  },
  "meta": {                          // volatile — do not compare
    "checked_at": "2024-03-11T14:30:01Z",
    "duration_ms": 45,
    "request_id": "req-abc"
  }
}

Deterministic dry-run IDs:

# Dry-run preview ID derived from inputs, not random
preview_id = sha256(command + args + timestamp_truncated_to_minute)
# Same args within the same minute → same preview ID

--stable-output flag:

tool list-users --stable-output
# Sorts all collections, omits volatile fields (timestamps, durations)
# Output is deterministic for identical inputs

For framework design: - All array fields sorted by default in --output json mode - data and meta are top-level siblings; agents compare data only - Dry-run IDs are content-addressed, not random - Document which fields are volatile in the output schema ("volatile": true)

Requirements that address this: - REQ-F-020 (P2) - Stable Array Sorting in JSON Output [Tier: F] - REQ-F-021 (P1) - Data/Meta Separation in Response Envelope [Tier: F] - REQ-O-007 (P3) - --stable-output Flag [Tier: O]

---

§20 - Environment & Dependency Discovery [Medium · 0/3]

Gap: No doctor --output json or structured dependency preflight.

Solutions: Preflight check command:

$ tool doctor --output json
{
  "ok": false,
  "checks": [
    {"name": "docker",   "ok": true,  "version": "24.0.5", "required": ">=20.0"},
    {"name": "kubectl",  "ok": false, "found": "1.18.0", "required": ">=1.24",
     "fix": "brew upgrade kubectl"},
    {"name": "db_conn",  "ok": true},
    {"name": "redis",    "ok": false, "error": "connection refused at localhost:6379",
     "fix": "docker run -d redis"}
  ]
}

Dependency declaration in help:

$ tool build --show-requirements --output json
{
  "required": [
    {"name": "docker", "version": ">=20.0", "install": "https://docs.docker.com/..."},
    {"name": "DOCKER_BUILDX_BUILDER", "type": "env_var", "optional": true}
  ]
}

For framework design: - Framework provides a preflight() hook for each command - tool doctor runs all preflight checks without executing any commands - Each failed check includes a fix field with the exact command to run

Requirements that address this: - REQ-O-026 (P1) - tool doctor Built-In Command [Tier: O]

---

§21 - Schema & Help Discoverability [Medium · 0/3]

Gap: No --schema --output json; help is prose only.

Solutions: Machine-readable command manifest:

$ tool --schema --output json
{
  "commands": [
    {
      "name": "deploy",
      "description": "Deploy the application to an environment",
      "danger_level": "mutating",
      "parameters": [
        {"name": "env", "type": "string", "required": true,
         "enum": ["staging", "prod"], "description": "Target environment"},
        {"name": "version", "type": "string", "required": false,
         "description": "Version tag to deploy (default: latest)"},
        {"name": "dry-run", "type": "boolean", "default": false}
      ],
      "output_schema": {
        "type": "object",
        "properties": {
          "ok": {"type": "boolean"},
          "effect": {"type": "string", "enum": ["deployed", "noop"]},
          "data": {
            "deployment_id": {"type": "string"},
            "version": {"type": "string"}
          }
        }
      },
      "exit_codes": {
        "0": "success",
        "1": "deployment failed",
        "4": "environment not found",
        "7": "deployment timed out"
      }
    }
  ]
}

For framework design: - Every command auto-generates its schema from its parameter declarations - tool --schema outputs the full manifest - Output schema is declared alongside input schema, not separate - Schema versioning: tool --schema-version to track evolution

Requirements that address this: - REQ-C-015 (P1) - Commands Declare Input and Output Schema [Tier: C] - REQ-O-013 (P1) - --schema / --output-schema Flag [Tier: O]

---

§29 - Working Directory Sensitivity [Medium · 0/3]

Gap: File paths are resolved relative to CWD with no meta.cwd or framework --cwd.

Solutions: Always output absolute paths:

{
  "files": [
    "/project/src/index.ts",
    "/project/src/utils.ts"
  ]
}

Include CWD used in meta:

{
  "meta": {
    "cwd": "/project",
    "project_root": "/project"
  }
}

Explicit --cwd / --root flag:

tool build --cwd /project
tool validate --root /project
# CWD-independent: agent always passes explicit path

Never mutate CWD of the calling process:

# Bad: os.chdir(target_dir)
# Good: use absolute paths internally; never change process CWD
import os
old_cwd = os.getcwd()
# operate with absolute paths throughout

For framework design: - All path outputs are absolute by default - meta.cwd included in every response - --cwd flag available on all commands as a framework standard - Framework never calls os.chdir() / process.chdir()

Requirements that address this: - REQ-F-027 (P2) - CWD in Response Meta [Tier: F] - REQ-F-040 (P2) - Absolute Path Output Enforcement [Tier: F] - REQ-F-041 (P2) - Process CWD Immutability [Tier: F] - REQ-O-017 (P2) - --cwd / --root Flag [Tier: O]

---

§30 - Undeclared Filesystem Side Effects [Medium · 0/3]

Gap: Config filesystem side effects are not declared or inventoried.

Solutions: Declare all side effect locations in schema:

{
  "command": "fetch-schema",
  "filesystem_side_effects": [
    {
      "path": "~/.cache/tool/schemas/",
      "type": "cache",
      "ttl_seconds": 3600,
      "clearable_with": "tool cache clear --scope schemas"
    }
  ]
}

--no-cache and --cache-ttl flags:

tool fetch-schema --url ... --no-cache
tool fetch-schema --url ... --cache-ttl 0

Temp files registered for cleanup:

{
  "ok": true,
  "data": {"path": "/tmp/tool-export-abc123.xlsx"},
  "cleanup": {
    "command": "tool cleanup --file /tmp/tool-export-abc123.xlsx",
    "auto_cleanup_after_seconds": 3600
  }
}

tool status --show-side-effects inventory:

$ tool status --show-side-effects --output json
{
  "cache": {"path": "~/.cache/tool/", "size_bytes": 45000000},
  "logs":  {"path": "~/.local/share/tool/logs/", "size_bytes": 524000000},
  "temp":  {"path": "/tmp/tool-*/", "count": 14, "size_bytes": 2000000}
}

For framework design: - Every command declares filesystem_side_effects in its schema - Framework provides tool cleanup that removes all known side effect paths - Temp files use a session-scoped directory, auto-cleaned when session ends - Log rotation built into framework (max size, max age)

Requirements that address this: - REQ-F-042 (P3) - Log Rotation in Framework Logger [Tier: F] - REQ-F-043 (P2) - Temp File Session-Scoped Auto-Cleanup [Tier: F] - REQ-C-011 (P3) - Commands Declare Filesystem Side Effects [Tier: C] - REQ-O-018 (P3) - --no-cache and --cache-ttl Flags [Tier: O] - REQ-O-027 (P2) - tool cleanup Built-In Command [Tier: O] - REQ-O-028 (P2) - tool status Built-In Command [Tier: O]

---

§33 - Observability & Audit Trail [Medium · 0/3]

Gap: No request_id, duration_ms, trace propagation, or audit log.

Solutions: Request/trace ID in every response:

{
  "ok": true,
  "meta": {
    "request_id": "req-abc123",
    "trace_id": "trace-xyz789",
    "duration_ms": 4521,
    "timestamp": "2024-03-11T14:30:00Z",
    "command": "deploy",
    "version": "1.2.3"
  }
}

Correlation ID propagation:

TOOL_TRACE_ID=agent-session-42-step-7 tool deploy
# All log entries for this call include the trace ID

Structured audit log:

$ tool audit-log --since 1h --output jsonl
{"timestamp": "...", "command": "deploy", "params": {...},
 "exit_code": 0, "duration_ms": 4521, "operator": "agent-session-42"}

For framework design: - Every response includes meta.request_id (server-assigned) and meta.trace_id (caller-supplied) - TOOL_TRACE_ID env var propagated automatically - Framework writes append-only audit log to ~/.local/share/tool/audit.jsonl

Requirements that address this: - REQ-F-024 (P2) - Request ID and Trace ID in Every Response [Tier: F] - REQ-F-025 (P2) - TOOL_TRACE_ID Environment Variable Propagation [Tier: F] - REQ-F-026 (P2) - Append-Only Audit Log [Tier: F] - REQ-F-039 (P1) - Duration Tracking in Response Meta [Tier: F] - REQ-O-030 (P2) - tool audit-log Built-In Command [Tier: O]

---

§52 - Recursive Command Tree Discovery Cost [Medium · 0/3]

Gap: No --schema command tree; agents must recurse through help text.

Solutions: Single-call full tree export:

$ tool --schema --full

{
  "tool": "my-tool",
  "version": "1.2.3",
  "schema_version": "1.0",
  "commands": [
    {
      "name": "create",
      "description": "Create a new resource",
      "args": [],
      "flags": [],
      "subcommands": []
    },
    {
      "name": "config",
      "subcommands": [
        { "name": "get", "args": [] },
        { "name": "set", "args": [] }
      ]
    }
  ]
}

For framework design: - tool --schema (REQ-O-013) MUST return the full command tree by default, not just the top-level command. - Each command node in the tree includes: name, description, args with types and constraints, flags, required/optional status, subcommands. - The full schema export must be a single synchronous call completing in under 500ms regardless of command count.

Requirements that address this: - REQ-O-041 (P1) - tool manifest Built-In Command [Tier: O]

---

§57 - Locale-Dependent Error Messages [Medium · 0/3]

Gap: OS/file errors surface as raw stack traces, not normalized structured errors.

Solutions: Separate machine-readable code from locale message:

{
  "error": {
    "code": "PERMISSION_DENIED",
    "message": "Permission denied: '/etc/hosts'",
    "locale_message": "Permission refusée: '/etc/hosts'",
    "locale": "fr_FR"
  }
}

Framework normalizes OS errors to English (LC_MESSAGES=C) before serialization.

For framework design: - The framework's exception handler MUST normalize all OS/runtime error messages to English before placing them in error.message. - error.code is the ONLY field agents should use for error classification; error.message is human-readable context only.

Requirements that address this: - REQ-F-066 (P1) - Subprocess Locale Normalization [Tier: F]

---

§63 - Terminal Column Width Output Corruption [Medium · 0/3]

Gap: No JSON mode; help prose wraps at terminal width.

Solutions: Disable hard-wrapping in non-TTY mode:

# Python: don't wrap when stdout is not a TTY
import shutil, sys
columns = shutil.get_terminal_size().columns if sys.stdout.isatty() else 0
# columns=0 means "no wrap"

--width=0 flag disables all hard-wrapping:

$ tool describe resource --width=0 --output json
# All strings output as single lines regardless of length

JSON output mode MUST never hard-wrap string values: - In JSON output mode, the framework serializes all strings without newline injection. - Table/human output mode may wrap; JSON output mode MUST NOT.

For framework design: - Framework MUST disable all terminal-width-based formatting when JSON output mode is active. - Framework MUST NOT inject newlines into string field values during serialization regardless of $COLUMNS value. - The --width flag (default: 0 in non-TTY, terminal width in TTY) MUST be respected by all formatting functions.

Requirements that address this: - REQ-F-056 (P0) - Terminal Width Wrapping Disabled in JSON Mode [Tier: F]

---

§4 - Verbosity & Token Cost [Medium · 1/3]

Gap: No progress spam observed, but there is no quiet/fields control and CI does not activate structured mode.

Solutions: Tiered verbosity:

tool deploy --quiet          # only emit final JSON result, no prose
tool deploy                  # default: minimal human output + JSON
tool deploy --verbose        # progress to stderr, JSON to stdout
tool deploy --debug          # full debug trace to stderr

CI environment auto-detection:

# When CI=true, behave as --quiet automatically
if [ "$CI" = "true" ]; then
  VERBOSITY=quiet
fi

Minimal JSON output by default:

// Bad default: everything
{"id": 42, "name": "Alice", "email": "alice@example.com", "created_at": "...",
 "updated_at": "...", "role": "user", "preferences": {...}, "metadata": {...}}

// Good default: just what was asked for
{"id": 42, "name": "Alice"}

// With --full flag: everything

--fields selector:

tool list-users --fields id,name --output json
# Returns only requested fields

For framework design: - Default verbosity is --quiet when stdout is not a TTY - JSON output never includes prose, only structured data - Provide --fields filtering at framework level - Track and log token-approximate output sizes for monitoring

Requirements that address this: - REQ-F-038 (P2) - Verbosity Auto-Quiet in Non-TTY Context [Tier: F] - REQ-O-002 (P2) - --fields Selector [Tier: O] - REQ-O-008 (P1) - --quiet / --verbose / --debug Verbosity Flags [Tier: O]

---

§27 - Platform & Shell Portability [Medium · 1/3]

Gap: Node CLI is portable in principle, but there is no doctor command and failures are raw.

Solutions: Portable shebang and runtime detection:

#!/usr/bin/env -S python3 -u
# -S: allows arguments after env command (GNU env >=8.30 / macOS 12+)

Explicit shell and version requirements:

{
  "requires": {
    "shell": "bash>=4.0",
    "platform": ["linux", "darwin"],
    "tools": ["curl>=7.0", "jq>=1.6"]
  }
}

For framework design: - tool doctor checks platform compatibility - Framework abstracts platform differences (dates, paths, colors) - All paths use forward slashes, never backslash (for cross-platform scripts)

Requirements that address this: - REQ-C-018 (P3) - Commands Declare Platform Requirements [Tier: C]

---

§44 - Agent Knowledge Packaging Absence [Medium · 1/3]

Gap: Repository ships CLAUDE.md and a skill, but no AGENTS.md/CONTEXT.md and no --schema danger/requires fields.

Solutions: Minimum viable AGENTS.md:

# AGENTS.md

## Quick Reference
- Deploy: `my-tool deploy --env <staging|production> --dry-run` (always dry-run first)
- Auth: `my-tool auth login` must be run before any other command; tokens expire in 8 hours
- Status check: `my-tool status --json` returns current system health

## Known Gotchas
- If you see "invalid token", run `my-tool auth refresh` (tokens expire every 8 hours)
- `deploy` to production requires `--confirm` flag; staging does not
- The `--region` flag defaults to us-east-1 in CI, eu-west-1 locally

## Safe Operations
Read-only: `list`, `get`, `status`, `logs`
Mutating: `deploy`, `delete`, `update` (run with --dry-run first)
Irreversible: `delete --permanent` (no dry-run available)

OpenClaw skill file with machine-readable metadata:

---
name: my-tool
version: "1.0.0"
triggers:
  - "deploy to production"
  - "my-tool"
tools: [bash]
---
[Skill body with agent-specific guidance]

For framework design: - Auto-generate a minimal AGENTS.md template from schema metadata at my-tool --generate-agents-md. - Include in --schema output: "danger_level", "requires" (prerequisite commands), "read_only", and "docs_url" fields. - Provide a CLI hook to load and display skill files: my-tool --skill returns the tool's OpenClaw skill. - Score frameworks against Axis 7 and require at least level 1 (CONTEXT.md or AGENTS.md present) before an "agent-ready" designation.

Requirements that address this: - REQ-O-034 (P2) - tool generate-skills Built-In Command [Tier: O] - REQ-O-043 (P1) - AGENTS.md Required Content [Tier: O] - REQ-O-046 (P2) - AGENTS.md CI Validation [Tier: O]

---

Already Passing

§37, §50, §61, §62, §64, §66, §17, §8, §32 (score 3/3 - no action needed)

Could Not Verify

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