watchexec

Execute commands in response to file modifications

88% pass rate

5/8 principles met

Spec Coverage

How many of the spec's requirements were verified for this tool. See /coverage for the full matrix.

Level	Total	Verified	Unverified
MUST	28	19	9
SHOULD	21	13	8
MAY	10	10	0

WARN Pager-using CLI ships --no-pager escape hatch Composable, Predictable Command Structure pager referenced in --help but no --no-pager escape hatch advertised
WARN --json / --jsonl short aliases for --output Structured, Parseable Output no --json or --jsonl short alias found. Agents and pipelines benefit from short forms alongside the canonical `--output` enum.
WARN `--raw` flag for pipe-safe unformatted output Structured, Parseable Output no `--raw` flag advertised. MAY-tier — useful for pipelines that want to strip formatting before piping to other tools.

PASS	Non-interactive by default
SKIP	Non-interactive gate flag advertised in --help	target satisfies P1 via alternative gate (help-on-bare or stdin-primary)
PASS	Flags advertise env-var bindings in --help
PASS	Secret-bearing flags expose stdin or *-file companion
PASS	`--help` advertises default values for flags
PASS	Rich-TUI affordance for TTY contexts

OPT-OUT	Structured output support	no --output/--format flag detected — tool does not ship structured output. Schema-discovery requirements (p2-must-schema-print, p2-should-schema-file) collapse to n/a via antecedent propagation.
N/A	Structured-output CLI exposes its schema at runtime	antecedent `p2-json-output` is opt_out: no --output/--format flag detected — tool does not ship structured output. Schema-discovery requirements (p2-must-schema-print, p2-should-schema-file) collapse to n/a via antecedent propagation.
WARN	--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.
WARN	`--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.
SKIP	`--output` advertises additional formats beyond text/json	no `--output` or `--format` flag advertised; vacuous skip for MAY-tier extra formats.
PASS	Bad invocation exits with structured usage-error code (2)
SKIP	Errors emit JSON envelope with `error`/`kind`/`message` under `--output json`	binary does not advertise `--output json` in --help; MUST applies only to CLIs that opt into the JSON contract.
SKIP	JSON success and error envelopes share their non-payload key set	binary does not advertise `--output json` in --help; envelope-consistency only applies to CLIs that opt into the JSON contract.

PASS	Help flag produces useful output
PASS	Version flag works (`--version` plus short alias)
PASS	Version flag works (`--version` plus short alias)
WARN	`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.
PASS	Short `-h` summary differs from `--help` long form
SKIP	Each subcommand's `--help` ships at least one invocation example	binary has no subcommands; MUST applies conditionally to CLIs that use them.
WARN	Help text pairs human and `--output json` example invocations	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	Rejects invalid arguments
PASS	Error messages include a hint or remediation phrase
SKIP	`--output json` produces JSON-formatted errors	binary does not advertise `--output json` in --help; SHOULD applies only to CLIs that opt into the JSON contract.

SKIP	Destructive subcommands require `--force` or `--yes`	no destructive subcommands detected; MUST applies conditionally to CLIs with destructive operations.
SKIP	Read and write surfaces are both visible in subcommand list	no recognizable read or write subcommand verbs; the read/write distinction is unobservable from the help surface alone.

PASS	Handles SIGPIPE gracefully
WARN	Pager-using CLI ships --no-pager escape hatch	pager referenced in --help but no --no-pager escape hatch advertised
PASS	Respects NO_COLOR
SKIP	Subcommand verbs follow community-standard names	no subcommands parsed from --help
PASS	`--color` flag for explicit color control
SKIP	Input-accepting commands read from stdin when no file is given	no input-accepting subcommand detected (process/parse/convert/transform/analyze/validate/format/lint/audit); vacuous skip for the conditional SHOULD.
SKIP	Subcommand naming follows a consistent verb/noun convention	fewer than 2 user-defined subcommands; vacuous skip for the conditional SHOULD.
PASS	Operations are subcommands, not verb-shaped flags

PASS	Quiet mode available
PASS	`--verbose` flag for diagnostic escalation
SKIP	`--limit` / `--max-results` flag for list operations	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	no list-style subcommand detected; vacuous skip for the list-only MAY.
SKIP	`--timeout` flag for long-running operations	no long-running subcommand detected (serve/daemon/watch/tail/monitor/follow/run/start/stream); vacuous skip for the conditional SHOULD.
PASS	Help text advertises TTY-aware verbosity behavior

PASS	Skill bundle has install path (`tool skill install [<host>]`)
PASS	`skill install --all` for multi-runtime install
PASS	`skill update` / `skill upgrade` for bundle refresh

This score (88%) clears the badge floor (70%). Copy this into your README:

[![agent-native](https://anc.dev/badge/watchexec.svg)](https://anc.dev/score/watchexec)

Preview:

Reproduce this scorecard for watchexec locally and inspect the failing audits:

anc audit --command watchexec --output json

Install anc first if you don't have it. Add --output json to get the same JSON shape committed under scorecards/.