Output Formats

Release Agent supports multiple output formats for different use cases.

Available Formats

Format	Flag	Description
Human	(default)	Colored terminal output with symbols
JSON	--json --format=json	Standard JSON for programmatic use
TOON	--json --format=toon	Token-optimized format for LLMs
Team	--format team	Template-based box report (validate only)

Human-Readable (Default)

The default format provides colored terminal output with Unicode symbols:

=== Pre-push Checks ===

Detecting languages...
  Found: go in .

Running Go checks...

=== Summary ===
✓ Go: no local replace directives
✓ Go: mod tidy
✓ Go: build
✓ Go: gofmt
✓ Go: golangci-lint
✓ Go: tests
⚠ Go: untracked references (warning)

Passed: 6, Failed: 0, Skipped: 0, Warnings: 1

Pre-push checks passed with warnings.

Symbols

Symbol	Meaning
✓	Check passed
✗	Check failed
⚠	Warning
⊘	Skipped

JSON Format

Standard JSON output for programmatic consumption:

atrelease check --json --format=json

{
  "results": [
    {
      "name": "Go: build",
      "passed": true,
      "skipped": false,
      "warning": false,
      "output": ""
    },
    {
      "name": "Go: tests",
      "passed": true,
      "skipped": false,
      "warning": false,
      "output": "ok  \tgithub.com/example/project\t0.042s"
    }
  ],
  "summary": {
    "passed": 7,
    "failed": 0,
    "skipped": 0,
    "warnings": 1
  }
}

TOON Format

Token-Oriented Object Notation is approximately 8x more token-efficient than JSON, optimized for LLM consumption:

atrelease check --json --format=toon

RESULTS
name:Go: build|passed:true|skipped:false|warning:false
name:Go: tests|passed:true|output:ok github.com/example/project 0.042s
SUMMARY
passed:7|failed:0|skipped:0|warnings:1

When to Use TOON

• When integrating with Claude Code or other LLMs
• When token efficiency matters (API costs)
• When output will be parsed by AI assistants

Team Status Report

The team format provides a structured box report for release validation:

atrelease validate --format team --version=v1.0.0

╔════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╗
║                             TEAM STATUS REPORT                             ║
╠════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╣
║ Project: github.com/grokify/release-agent                                  ║
║ Target:  v1.0.0                                                            ║
╠════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╣
║ RELEASE VALIDATION                                                         ║
╠════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╣
║ qa-validation (qa)                                                         ║
║   build                    🟢 GO                                           ║
║   tests                    🟢 GO    42 tests passed                        ║
║   lint                     🟢 GO                                           ║
║   format                   🟢 GO                                           ║
╠════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╣
║ docs-validation (documentation)                                            ║
║   readme                   🟢 GO                                           ║
║   changelog                🟢 GO                                           ║
║   release-notes            🟢 GO                                           ║
╠════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╣
║ security-validation (security)                                             ║
║   license                  🟢 GO    MIT License                            ║
║   vulnerability-scan       🟡 WARN  1 deprecated                           ║
╠════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╣
║                         🚀 TEAM: GO for v1.0.0 🚀                          ║
╚════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╝

Status Icons

Icon	Status	Meaning
🟢	GO	Check passed
🟡	WARN	Warning (doesn't block)
🔴	NO-GO	Check failed
⚪	SKIP	Check skipped

When to Use Team Format

• Release readiness reviews
• Team status meetings
• Documentation of release decisions
• Audit trails

Combining Formats

Some flags can be combined:

# JSON output with TOON format
atrelease check --json --format=toon

# Verbose human-readable
atrelease check --verbose

# Team format with verbose details
atrelease validate --format team --verbose

Parsing Output

JSON in Shell

# Get pass/fail status
atrelease check --json --format=json | jq '.summary.failed'

# List failed checks
atrelease check --json --format=json | jq '.results[] | select(.passed == false)'

TOON in Python

def parse_toon(output):
    results = []
    for line in output.split('\n'):
        if '|' in line:
            fields = dict(f.split(':') for f in line.split('|'))
            results.append(fields)
    return results