Language-agnostic linter for repository structure, existence, naming, and content rules
Usage: alint[EXE] [OPTIONS] [COMMAND]
Commands:
check Run linters against the current (or given) directory. Default command
list List all rules loaded from the effective config
explain Show a rule's definition
fix Apply automatic fixes for violations whose rules declare one
facts Evaluate every `facts:` entry in the effective config and print the resolved value. Debugging aid for `when:` clauses
init Scaffold a starter `.alint.yml` based on the repo's detected ecosystem (and optionally workspace shape). Refuses to overwrite an existing config — delete the existing one first if you really mean it
export-agents-md Generate (or maintain a section of) `AGENTS.md` from the active rule set, so the agent's pre-prompt directives stay in sync with the lint config. Outputs to stdout by default; use `--output PATH` to write a file or `--inline --output PATH` to splice between `<!-- alint:start -->` / `<!-- alint:end -->` markers
suggest Scan the repo for known antipatterns and propose rules that would catch them. Prints proposals to stdout for review — never edits the user's config. Pairs naturally with `alint init` for a smarter cold-start adoption flow
validate-config Parse-validate an `.alint.yml` (resolves `extends:`, builds every rule, parses every `when:`) and report any errors — without walking the tree. For editor LSP, pre-commit hooks, and fail-fast CI steps that just want to know "is the config loadable?". Exit 0 on success; exit 1 on validation failure
help Print this message or the help of the given subcommand(s)
Options:
-c, --config <CONFIG> Path to a config file (repeatable; later overrides earlier)
-f, --format <FORMAT> Output format [default: human]
--no-gitignore Disable .gitignore handling (overrides config)
--fail-on-warning Treat warnings as errors for exit-code purposes
--color <WHEN> When to emit ANSI color codes in human output. `auto` (the default) inspects TTY + `NO_COLOR` + `CLICOLOR_FORCE`. Only affects the `human` format; `json` / `sarif` / `github` / `markdown` / `junit` / `gitlab` / `agent` are always plain bytes [default: auto] [possible values: auto, always, never]
--ascii Force ASCII glyphs in human output (e.g. `x` instead of `✗`). Auto-enabled when `TERM=dumb`
--compact Compact one-line-per-violation human output, suitable for piping into editors / grep / `wc -l`. Format: `path:line:col: level: rule-id: message`
--width <COLS> Override the human-output column width. Default: detected terminal width (TTY only) or 80. Useful for reproducible captures (asciinema/screen recordings) and for piping into fixed-width log viewers. Clamped to [40, 120]
--no-docs Suppress per-violation `docs:` URLs in human output. Useful for narrow terminals, screen recordings, and CI logs where long URLs disrupt visual alignment. URLs remain in JSON / SARIF / GitHub / markdown output regardless
--progress <WHEN> When to render progress on stderr for slow operations (currently `alint suggest`). `auto` (the default) renders when stderr is a TTY; `always` forces; `never` silences. Progress always lives on stderr — `--format` JSON / YAML output on stdout stays byte-clean [default: auto] [possible values: auto, always, never]
-q, --quiet Suppress progress and any stderr summary lines. Alias for `--progress=never` plus suppression of the "found N proposals in Ts" footer that `suggest` prints
-h, --help Print help
-V, --version Print version