fix(cli): keep stdout parseable in JSON mode - #257
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`--json` is documented as machine-readable output, but some commands wrote
human-facing progress text to stdout ahead of the JSON document, so piping
the output into a parser failed:
$ kudu --cli programs list --json
Loading installed programs...
{ "programs": [ ...
$ kudu --cli network scan --json
Scanning network...
{ "items": [ ...
The behaviour was inconsistent — `perf info` and `startup list` emitted clean
JSON while `programs list` and `network scan` did not.
Route `cliLog()` and `cliVerbose()` to stderr when `ctx.json` is set. Progress
is preserved (visible on stderr, or redirectable with `2>/dev/null`) while
stdout becomes a single parseable JSON document. Both helpers are fixed at the
source rather than at their ~116 call sites, so every command benefits.
`showProgress()` already suppressed carriage-return progress in JSON mode, so
that path was unaffected.
Adds tests covering both streams in JSON and human modes, and documents the
stdout/stderr split in CLI.md.
Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 5 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>
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Jul 26, 2026
CLI.md documented three commands (scan, clean, metrics) while the CLI dispatcher exposes twenty command groups. `kudu --cli --help` was already accurate; only the Markdown had gone stale. Rewrites CLI.md against the actual command surface, verified empirically on Windows 11: - All twenty command groups with subcommands, grouped by purpose (inventory/diagnostics, maintenance, security, config). - Per-command annotations for what works without elevation, and which commands are long-running filesystem walks. - The graceful-degradation contract: privileged operations return `needsAdmin: true` with exit code 0, so scripts must check the flag rather than infer from exit status. - Elevation behaviour, including that packaged Windows builds force UAC via `requestedExecutionLevel: requireAdministrator` while running from source does not — the code path for unelevated operation is fully supported. - That `network scan` reports entry counts rather than entries, and the platform layer's `getEstablishedConnections()` is not CLI-reachable. - That `metrics-server` binds 0.0.0.0 and needs no cloud API key, unlike `--daemon`. Fork-specific: the unelevated verification tables and source-route invocation notes reflect this fork's use as a system-data source for local agent tooling. Upstream received only the narrow stdout/stderr fix (AdventDevInc#257); this broader rewrite is deliberately kept here. Claims that could not be verified are marked as such rather than asserted: `malware scan` was not run to completion, and `disk analyze`/`disk file-types` exceeded a 180s timeout on a 2TB volume. Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 5 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>
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The --json stdout-purity guarantee didn't hold for `malware scan --json`: _initYaraEngine() and the engine's platform-skip line logged `[yara] ...` via console.log (stdout) before the JSON result, breaking `| jq`. Route both to stderr (console.error), matching the other [yara] diagnostics.
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Thank you @evolv3ai ! |
dbfx
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Jul 27, 2026
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What does this PR do?
Routes CLI progress output to stderr when
--jsonis passed, so stdout contains nothing but the JSON document.Why?
--jsonis documented as "Output results as JSON instead of human-readable text", but several commands print a progress line to stdout ahead of the JSON, which breaks any consumer that pipes stdout into a parser:The behaviour was inconsistent, which is what suggested an oversight rather than a deliberate choice —
perf infoandstartup listalready emitted clean JSON, whileprograms listandnetwork scandid not.cliLog()andcliVerbose()are fixed at the source instead of at their ~116 call sites, so every command benefits and no future call site can reintroduce it. Progress isn't lost — it moves to stderr, so it still shows in a terminal and can be captured (2>progress.log) or dropped (2>/dev/null).showProgress()already suppressed carriage-return progress in JSON mode, so that path was unaffected.How to test
Unit tests cover both streams across JSON/human/quiet modes in
src/main/cli.test.ts.Checklist
npm testpasses — 2167 tests, 93 filesnpm run buildsucceeds🤖 Generated with Claude Code