Structured errors/warnings (with tips) in JSON output for agents

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Assessment

Difficulty
5/5
Estimated time
Over a week
Newbie friendliness
35/100
Issue type
Feature
Clarity
Mostly clear
Activity status
Quiet
Tech stack
typescript
Domain
backend-api-design, cli

Research direction

Start by reading the --agent and --format json-full handling, getSerializedGraph, and the diagnostics and visibility rules used for config; the issue does not name their files. Trace how warnings, tips, and locations are produced, then decide how opt-in diagnostics preserve the existing json-full output and avoid exposing sensitive values. Done means the chosen output is documented and tested, including item filtering and the guides mentioned in the issue.

Written by the indexing model from the issue text.

Description

Agents reading varlock load output as JSON currently can't see warnings or the actionable tips attached to errors and warnings.

  • --format json-full only carries errors, as errors.root (strings) and errors.configItems (item key -> ;-joined message string). No warnings, tips, or locations.
  • --agent (redacted key/value map) has no place for problems at all.
  • The pretty stderr output has everything, but it's meant for humans.

The tips are often the most useful part for an agent (e.g. "mark it @sensitive=false, or add @type=string"), and a location tells it exactly which line to edit.

Constraints

  • Plain json-full is consumed programmatically (framework integrations, and piped into __VARLOCK_ENV blobs in the sandbox guides), so it should stay lean and stable. We briefly added a warnings object to it in #1156 and reverted that for this reason.
  • getSerializedGraph also produces the injected __VARLOCK_ENV blob via run, so any additions there should be opt-in.

One possible shape

Gate a richer report on --agent, e.g. --agent --format json-full adds a flat diagnostics array:

{ "severity": "warning", "item": "FOO", "source": ".env.schema",
  "message": "sensitive, but a number is never redacted",
  "tip": "If it is not a secret, mark it `@sensitive=false`...",
  "location": { "file": ".env.schema", "line": 3, "column": 1 } }

A flat list is easier for an agent to filter than nested joined strings. It should follow the same item visibility rules as config (no @internal / filtered-out / _VARLOCK_* items), and messages/tips must never contain sensitive values.

Open questions

  • Behind --agent on json-full, a dedicated format, or something else (e.g. a varlock doctor/check --agent style command)?
  • Should errors in plain json-full stay as-is for back-compat even if agents get the richer form?
  • Include plugin warnings (currently only printed via showPluginWarnings)?
  • Update guides/ai-tools.mdx and the varlock skill to point agents at it.
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