--- target: "claude-code" lane: cli tier: registry scorecard_url: "https://anc.dev/score/claude-code" markdown_url: "https://anc.dev/score/claude-code/md" json_url: "https://anc.dev/score/claude-code/json" negotiate: "Accept: text/markdown or Accept: application/json on https://anc.dev/score/claude-code serve the twin and the JSON" --- # claude-code Anthropic's agentic coding tool for the terminal **Score:** 68% pass rate **Principles:** 2/8 met ## Embed the badge The [badge floor](https://anc.dev/badge) is 70%; this scorecard is at 68% (2 points below). Once the score clears the floor, the embed snippet will appear here. | Status | Audit | Principle | Evidence | |--------|-------|-----------|----------| | PASS | Help flag produces useful output | [P3](https://anc.dev/p3) | | | PASS | Version flag works (`--version` plus short alias) | [P3](https://anc.dev/p3) | | | PASS | Version flag works (`--version` plus short alias) | [P3](https://anc.dev/p3) | | | WARN | Structured output support | [P2](https://anc.dev/p2) | --output/--format flag detected but could not validate JSON via safe probes (--help/--version override output flags in most CLIs) | | PASS | Rejects invalid arguments | [P4](https://anc.dev/p4) | | | WARN | Quiet mode available | [P7](https://anc.dev/p7) | no --quiet/-q flag detected in --help output | | PASS | Handles SIGPIPE gracefully | [P6](https://anc.dev/p6) | | | PASS | Non-interactive by default | [P1](https://anc.dev/p1) | | | SKIP | Non-interactive gate flag advertised in --help | [P1](https://anc.dev/p1) | target satisfies P1 via alternative gate (help-on-bare or stdin-primary) | | PASS | Flags advertise env-var bindings in --help | [P1](https://anc.dev/p1) | | | WARN | Pager-using CLI ships --no-pager escape hatch | [P6](https://anc.dev/p6) | pager referenced in --help but no --no-pager escape hatch advertised | | PASS | Respects NO_COLOR | [P6](https://anc.dev/p6) | | | PASS | Secret-bearing flags expose stdin or *-file companion | [P1](https://anc.dev/p1) | | | FAIL | Structured-output CLI exposes its schema at runtime | [P2](https://anc.dev/p2) | CLI emits structured output but exposes no `schema` subcommand or `--schema` flag at top level or nested one level deep. Agents need a runtime-discoverable schema to pin against shape changes. | | WARN | --json / --jsonl short aliases for --output | [P2](https://anc.dev/p2) | no --json or --jsonl short alias found. Agents and pipelines benefit from short forms alongside the canonical `--output` enum. | | WARN | Subcommand verbs follow community-standard names | [P6](https://anc.dev/p6) | 5/15 subcommand(s) follow standard verb names. Non-standard: agents, attach, auto-mode, gateway, import, mcp, purge, respawn, setup-token, ultrareview. MAY-tier — community-standard verbs (get/list/create/update/delete) help agents predict subcommand behavior across CLIs. | | PASS | Skill bundle has install path (`tool skill install []`) | [P8](https://anc.dev/p8) | | | PASS | `skill install --all` for multi-runtime install | [P8](https://anc.dev/p8) | | | PASS | `skill update` / `skill upgrade` for bundle refresh | [P8](https://anc.dev/p8) | | | WARN | `--raw` flag for pipe-safe unformatted output | [P2](https://anc.dev/p2) | no `--raw` flag advertised. MAY-tier — useful for pipelines that want to strip formatting before piping to other tools. | | SKIP | `--output` advertises additional formats beyond text/json | [P2](https://anc.dev/p2) | no `--output` or `--format` flag advertised; vacuous skip for MAY-tier extra formats. | | WARN | `examples` subcommand or `--examples` flag for curated usage patterns | [P3](https://anc.dev/p3) | no `examples` subcommand or `--examples` flag found. MAY-tier — a curated usage block keeps agents from hunting through long help text. | | WARN | `--color` flag for explicit color control | [P6](https://anc.dev/p6) | no `--color` flag advertised. MAY-tier — `auto\|always\|never` lets agents and pipelines override the TTY-based default. | | PASS | `--verbose` flag for diagnostic escalation | [P7](https://anc.dev/p7) | | | SKIP | `--limit` / `--max-results` flag for list operations | [P7](https://anc.dev/p7) | no list-style subcommand detected (list/ls/search/query/find/show/get); vacuous skip for the list-only SHOULD. | | SKIP | Cursor-based pagination flags for list traversal | [P7](https://anc.dev/p7) | no list-style subcommand detected; vacuous skip for the list-only MAY. | | PASS | `--help` advertises default values for flags | [P1](https://anc.dev/p1) | | | PASS | Rich-TUI affordance for TTY contexts | [P1](https://anc.dev/p1) | | | WARN | Short `-h` summary differs from `--help` long form | [P3](https://anc.dev/p3) | `-h` and `--help` produce byte-identical output. SHOULD-tier — clap renders the short summary on `-h` and the full description on `--help` when `long_about` is set; collapsing them gives agents no concise list-level grep target. | | SKIP | Input-accepting commands read from stdin when no file is given | [P6](https://anc.dev/p6) | no input-accepting subcommand detected (process/parse/convert/transform/analyze/validate/format/lint/audit); vacuous skip for the conditional SHOULD. | | WARN | Subcommand naming follows a consistent verb/noun convention | [P6](https://anc.dev/p6) | subcommand naming is inconsistent: 1 non-verb subcommand(s) (auth) mix verb and non-verb children at the second level, so an agent cannot predict where the action lives. SHOULD-tier: pick a consistent shape (all verb-first, all noun-verb hierarchy, or any combination where each non-verb group's children are uniformly verbs). The verb list is a heuristic; inspect `--help` to confirm. | | SKIP | `--timeout` flag for long-running operations | [P7](https://anc.dev/p7) | no long-running subcommand detected (serve/daemon/watch/tail/monitor/follow/run/start/stream); vacuous skip for the conditional SHOULD. | | WARN | Bad invocation exits with structured usage-error code (2) | [P2](https://anc.dev/p2) | bad invocation exited with code 1. The 0/1/2/77/78 convention reserves code 2 for usage errors; using a different non-zero code (often 1) blurs the distinction between usage errors and general failure. | | FAIL | Error messages include a hint or remediation phrase | [P4](https://anc.dev/p4) | stderr lacks a hint phrase. Looked for one of: try , use , expected , did you mean, see , run , for more, tip:, help:, hint:, suggestion:, available . Error messages must name what to do next, not just the symptom. | | FAIL | Errors emit JSON envelope with discriminant + type id + message roles under `--output json` | [P2](https://anc.dev/p2) | bad invocation under `--output json` produced no parseable JSON on stderr or stdout. JSON mode must emit a JSON error envelope, not plain text. | | WARN | `--output json` produces JSON-formatted errors | [P4](https://anc.dev/p4) | errors under `--output json` are not JSON-formatted. Consumers parsing stdout-as-JSON cannot recover the failure without a separate text-parsing path; switch the error writer to honor the active output mode. | | SKIP | JSON success and error envelopes share their non-payload key set | [P2](https://anc.dev/p2) | success-mode probe (`--help --output json`) produced no parseable JSON; cannot compare envelope shapes. | | FAIL | Each subcommand's `--help` ships at least one invocation example | [P3](https://anc.dev/p3) | subcommands missing example invocations in their `--help`: agents, attach, auth, auto-mode, doctor, gateway, import, install, logs, purge, respawn, rm, setup-token, ultrareview. Examples teach agents the call shape faster than option tables; use clap's `after_help` or a dedicated `Examples:` block. | | WARN | Help text pairs human and `--output json` example invocations | [P3](https://anc.dev/p3) | no paired text + `--output json` example found within 5 lines in top-level or any subcommand `--help`. Pairing keeps agents from reverse-engineering the JSON invocation from the text one. | | PASS | Command-list entries name the command without repeating the binary name | [P3](https://anc.dev/p3) | | | PASS | Operations are subcommands, not verb-shaped flags | [P6](https://anc.dev/p6) | | | FAIL | Destructive subcommands require `--force` or `--yes` | [P5](https://anc.dev/p5) | destructive subcommand(s) without `--force` or `--yes`: rm. Irreversible operations must require explicit confirmation so they can't be invoked accidentally. | | WARN | Read and write surfaces are both visible in subcommand list | [P5](https://anc.dev/p5) | write-pattern subcommand(s) present (purge, rm) but no read-pattern surface detected. If the CLI is write-only by design the MUST is satisfied vacuously; otherwise expose the read surface with agent-recognizable verbs (list/get/show/query/find/search). | | PASS | Help text advertises TTY-aware verbosity behavior | [P7](https://anc.dev/p7) | | **Repo:** [anthropics/claude-code](https://github.com/anthropics/claude-code) **Language:** TypeScript **Version scored:** 2.1.289 **Audit date:** 2026-10-05 18:43:56 UTC **Duration:** 2.1s **Platform:** `linux/x86_64` **Mode:** command **Anc build:** 0.6.0 **Install:** `bun add -g @anthropic-ai/claude-code` ## Reproduce locally ```bash anc audit --command claude --output json ```