Documentationv0.2.0 / schema 1.1

CLI & metrics

Initialize a project, run a check without an MCP client, and inspect measured session behavior.

init

npx signalint-mcp init

Detects a root tsconfig.json, Oxlint configuration, and Biome configuration, then writes a matching signalint.config.json. It also looks for Claude Code, Cursor, and Antigravity MCP configuration. One unambiguous client can be updated after confirmation; ambiguous detection prints or offers the exact choices.

check

npx --no-install signalint check .

Runs the same project pipeline without an MCP client and prints the check response. The command exits with code 1 when issues are found; that exit status represents diagnostic findings rather than a CLI crash.

stats

npx --no-install signalint stats

Reads the active .signalint/session.jsonl log and its rotated .1 backup. Retained overlap is counted once, malformed or crash-truncated lines are skipped, and the skipped count remains visible.

Signalint session stats
Checks: 12
Average payload reduction: 86.5% (12 measured checks)
Engine-file cache hit rate: 76.2% (32 hits / 42 lookups)
Average check latency: 214.3ms (12 measured checks)
Max check latency: 486.0ms
Loop warnings triggered: 1
Malformed session lines skipped: 0

The values above illustrate the exact output format. The 86.5% payload value is the CLI's one-decimal rendering of the current fixture's 86.53% result; your project's statistics are computed from its retained session history.

Metric definitions

Metric	What it counts
Average payload reduction	Normalized raw JSON bytes versus clustered JSON bytes. Clean checks with zero raw payload are excluded.
Engine-file cache hit rate	Each enabled engine lookup separately—not unique files and not subprocess avoidance.
Average / max latency	Handler wall-clock time through validation, cache/engine work, clustering, and loop evaluation; excludes telemetry append and stdio transport.
Loop warnings	Distinct issue signatures that crossed the current oscillation threshold.

Local artifacts

.signalint/cache.sqlite — bounded diagnostic cache.
.signalint/cache/tsc.tsbuildinfo — TypeScript incremental state.
.signalint/session.jsonl — loop appearances and check metrics.
.signalint/session.jsonl.1 — one rotated history backup.

Keep the entire .signalint/ directory out of version control.