rclone CLI

Eight principles, scored

Behavioral and source checks. Every non-pass row carries a copy-paste remediation prompt.

1. P1
   Non-Interactive by Default

   no default-value annotations found in --help. SHOULD-tier — agents reading help text need to see what value a flag falls back to when omitted (`[default: <value>]` per clap convention).

   Remediation · P1⧉ copy prompt

   Make rclone satisfy P1 (Non-Interactive by Default) from the agent-native CLI standard. Address:
   - `--help` advertises default values for flags (no default-value annotations found in --help. SHOULD-tier — agents reading help text need to see what value a flag falls back to when omitted (`[default: <value>]` per clap convention).)
   Requirements: https://anc.dev/p1

   warn
2. P2
   Structured, Parseable Output

   --output/--format flag detected but could not validate JSON via safe probes (--help/--version override output flags in most CLIs) · 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.

   Remediation · P2⧉ copy prompt

   Make rclone satisfy P2 (Structured, Parseable Output) from the agent-native CLI standard. Address:
   - Structured output support (--output/--format flag detected but could not validate JSON via safe probes (--help/--version override output flags in most CLIs))
   - Structured-output CLI exposes its schema at runtime (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.)
   - --json / --jsonl short aliases for --output (no --json or --jsonl short alias found. Agents and pipelines benefit from short forms alongside the canonical `--output` enum.)
   - `--raw` flag for pipe-safe unformatted output (no `--raw` flag advertised. MAY-tier — useful for pipelines that want to strip formatting before piping to other tools.)
   Requirements: https://anc.dev/p2

   fail
3. P3
   Progressive Help Discovery

   no `examples` subcommand or `--examples` flag found. MAY-tier — a curated usage block keeps agents from hunting through long help text. · `-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.

   Remediation · P3⧉ copy prompt

   Make rclone satisfy P3 (Progressive Help Discovery) from the agent-native CLI standard. Address:
   - `examples` subcommand or `--examples` flag for curated usage patterns (no `examples` subcommand or `--examples` flag found. MAY-tier — a curated usage block keeps agents from hunting through long help text.)
   - Short `-h` summary differs from `--help` long form (`-h` and `--help` produce byte-identical output. SHOULD-tier — clap renders the short summary on `-h` and the full description on `--help` when `long_about` is set; collapsing them gives agents no concise list-level grep target.)
   Requirements: https://anc.dev/p3

   warn
4. P4
   Fail-Fast, Actionable Errors

   All 3 checks pass.

   pass
5. P5
   Safe Retries & Mutation Boundaries

   destructive subcommand(s) without `--force` or `--yes`: cleanup, deletefile, purge, rmdir, rmdirs. Irreversible operations must require explicit confirmation so they can't be invoked accidentally.

   Remediation · P5⧉ copy prompt

   Make rclone satisfy P5 (Safe Retries & Mutation Boundaries) from the agent-native CLI standard. Address:
   - Destructive subcommands require `--force` or `--yes` (destructive subcommand(s) without `--force` or `--yes`: cleanup, deletefile, purge, rmdir, rmdirs. Irreversible operations must require explicit confirmation so they can't be invoked accidentally.)
   Requirements: https://anc.dev/p5

   fail
6. P6
   Composable, Predictable Command Structure

   pager referenced in --help but no --no-pager escape hatch advertised · 9/56 subcommand(s) follow standard verb names. Non-standard: about, authorize, backend, bisync, cat, check, checksum, cleanup, completion, convmv, copy, copyto, copyurl, cryptcheck, cryptdecode, dedupe, deletefile, gendocs, gitannex, gui, hashsum, link, listremotes, lsd, lsf, lsjson, lsl, md5sum, mkdir, mount, move, moveto, ncdu, nfsmount, obscure, purge, rc, rcat, rcd, rmdir, rmdirs, selfupdate, settier, sha1sum, size, touch, tree. MAY-tier — community-standard verbs (get/list/create/update/delete) help agents predict subcommand behavior across CLIs.

   Remediation · P6⧉ copy prompt

   Make rclone satisfy P6 (Composable, Predictable Command Structure) from the agent-native CLI standard. Address:
   - Pager-using CLI ships --no-pager escape hatch (pager referenced in --help but no --no-pager escape hatch advertised)
   - Subcommand verbs follow community-standard names (9/56 subcommand(s) follow standard verb names. Non-standard: about, authorize, backend, bisync, cat, check, checksum, cleanup, completion, convmv, copy, copyto, copyurl, cryptcheck, cryptdecode, dedupe, deletefile, gendocs, gitannex, gui, hashsum, link, listremotes, lsd, lsf, lsjson, lsl, md5sum, mkdir, mount, move, moveto, ncdu, nfsmount, obscure, purge, rc, rcat, rcd, rmdir, rmdirs, selfupdate, settier, sha1sum, size, touch, tree. MAY-tier — community-standard verbs (get/list/create/update/delete) help agents predict subcommand behavior across CLIs.)
   - `--color` flag for explicit color control (no `--color` flag advertised. MAY-tier — `auto|always|never` lets agents and pipelines override the TTY-based default.)
   - Subcommand naming follows a consistent verb/noun convention (subcommand naming is inconsistent: 2 non-verb subcommand(s) (archive, config) 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.)
   Requirements: https://anc.dev/p6

   warn
7. P7
   Bounded, High-Signal Responses

   no --quiet/-q flag detected in --help output · no `--verbose` / `-v` flag advertised. SHOULD-tier — agents debugging failures need a way to escalate diagnostic detail.

   Remediation · P7⧉ copy prompt

   Make rclone satisfy P7 (Bounded, High-Signal Responses) from the agent-native CLI standard. Address:
   - Quiet mode available (no --quiet/-q flag detected in --help output)
   - `--verbose` flag for diagnostic escalation (no `--verbose` / `-v` flag advertised. SHOULD-tier — agents debugging failures need a way to escalate diagnostic detail.)
   - `--limit` / `--max-results` flag for list operations (list-style subcommand present but no limit flag advertised (looked for --limit, --max-results, --max, --top, -n). SHOULD-tier — callers should be able to bound response size directly rather than scrape-then-truncate.)
   - Cursor-based pagination flags for list traversal (list-style subcommand present but no cursor/page flag advertised (looked for --after, --before, --cursor, --page, --offset). MAY-tier — cursor pagination lets agents traverse large result sets without re-scanning earlier pages.)
   - `--timeout` flag for long-running operations (long-running subcommand present but no timeout flag advertised (looked for --timeout, --deadline, --max-time). SHOULD-tier — without a bound, agents that hit a hung operation have to enforce timeouts externally.)
   - Help text advertises TTY-aware verbosity behavior (no TTY-aware language found in `--help`. MAY-tier — automatic verbosity reduction when stdout is piped or redirected lets agents skip the explicit `--quiet` flag. Behavioral probes cannot simulate a real TTY without a pty crate, so this audit relies on documented intent.)
   Requirements: https://anc.dev/p7

   warn
8. P8
   Discoverable Through Agent Skill Bundles

   All 3 checks pass.

   pass