Rename the default output format to “terminal”, and remove the discrete JSON output format flag

.github/workflows/ci.yml

@@ -137,7 +137,7 @@ jobs:
           $BINARY_PATH . --verbose --exclude-tests
 
           echo "=== Testing JSON Output ==="
-          $BINARY_PATH . --json --no-color --exclude-tests > output.json
+          $BINARY_PATH . --output-format json --no-color --exclude-tests > output.json
           cat output.json | python3 -m json.tool > /dev/null || (echo "❌ Invalid JSON output" && exit 1)
           echo "✅ JSON output is valid"
 

.github/workflows/release.yml

@@ -133,7 +133,7 @@ jobs:
           $BINARY_PATH . --verbose --exclude-tests
 
           echo "=== Testing JSON Output ==="
-          $BINARY_PATH . --json --no-color --exclude-tests > output.json
+          $BINARY_PATH . --output-format json --no-color --exclude-tests > output.json
           cat output.json | python3 -m json.tool > /dev/null || (echo "❌ Invalid JSON output" && exit 1)
           echo "✅ JSON output is valid"
 

CHANGELOG.md

@@ -7,6 +7,13 @@ and this project adheres to [Semantic Versioning](https://semver.org/spec/v2.0.0
 
 ## [Unreleased]
 
+### Changed
+- **CLI Interface Simplification**
+  - Removed redundant `--json` flag in favor of unified `--output-format json` option
+  - Consolidated output format selection into single `--output-format` parameter supporting `terminal`, `json`, `xcode`, and `github-actions`
+  - Renamed `default` output format to `terminal` for better clarity and descriptiveness
+  - Simplified CLI interface with consistent format selection pattern
+
 ### Added
 - **Multi-Platform Binary Target Distribution**
   - Cross-platform artifact bundles for Swift Package Manager with pre-compiled binaries

CLAUDE.md

@@ -110,7 +110,7 @@ swift run swift-dependency-audit /path/to/package
 swift run swift-dependency-audit --whitelist "Foundation,SwiftUI,AppKit,UIKit"
 
 # Options
-swift run swift-dependency-audit --no-color --verbose --json
+swift run swift-dependency-audit --no-color --verbose --output-format json
 swift run swift-dependency-audit --target MyTarget --exclude-tests
 ```
 
@@ -136,7 +136,7 @@ All core features have been implemented and tested:
 ```bash
 swift run swift-dependency-audit --help
 swift run swift-dependency-audit /path/to/package
-swift run swift-dependency-audit --verbose --json
+swift run swift-dependency-audit --verbose --output-format json
 swift run swift-dependency-audit --whitelist "Foundation,SwiftUI,AppKit"
 ```
 

PROJECT_PLAN.md

@@ -44,10 +44,9 @@ OPTIONS:
   --verbose, -v            Enable verbose output
   --target <name>          Analyze specific target only
   --exclude-tests          Skip test targets
-  --json                   Output results in JSON format
   --quiet, -q              Only show problems, suppress success messages
   --whitelist <list>       Comma-separated list of system imports to ignore (e.g., Foundation,SwiftUI,AppKit)
-  --output-format <format> Output format: default, xcode, or github-actions (default: default)
+  --output-format <format> Output format: terminal, JSON, xcode, or github-actions (default: terminal)
   --help, -h               Show help information
   --version                Show version
 ```

README.md

@@ -45,24 +45,21 @@ swift run swift-dependency-audit /path/to/package
 ### Command Line Options
 
 ```
-USAGE: swift-dependency-audit [<path>] [--no-color] [--verbose] [--target <target>] [--exclude-tests] [--json] [--quiet] [--whitelist <whitelist>] [--output-format <output-format>]
+USAGE: swift-dependency-audit [<path>] [--no-color] [--verbose] [--target <target>] [--exclude-tests] [--quiet] [--whitelist <whitelist>] [--output-format <output-format>]
 
 ARGUMENTS:
-  <path>                  Path to Package.swift or package directory (default: current directory)
+  <path>                    Path to Package.swift or package directory (default: current directory)
 
 OPTIONS:
-  --no-color              Disable colored output
-  -v, --verbose           Enable verbose output
-  --target <target>       Analyze specific target only
-  --exclude-tests         Skip test targets
-  --json                  Output results in JSON format
-  -q, --quiet             Only show problems, suppress success messages
-  --whitelist <whitelist> Comma-separated list of system imports to ignore
-                          (e.g., Foundation,SwiftUI,AppKit)
-  --output-format <format> Output format: default, xcode, or github-actions
-                          (default: default)
-  --version               Show the version.
-  -h, --help              Show help information.
+  --no-color                Disable colored output
+  -v, --verbose             Enable verbose output
+  --target <target>         Analyze specific target only
+  --exclude-tests           Skip test targets
+  -q, --quiet               Only show problems, suppress success messages
+  --whitelist <whitelist>   Comma-separated list of system imports to ignore (e.g., Foundation,SwiftUI,AppKit)
+  --output-format <format>  Output format: terminal, json, xcode, or github-actions (default: terminal)
+  --version                 Show the version.
+  -h, --help                Show help information.
 ```
 
 ### Examples
@@ -72,7 +69,7 @@ OPTIONS:
 swift run swift-dependency-audit --verbose --whitelist "Foundation,SwiftUI,AppKit,UIKit"
 
 # JSON output for CI/automation
-swift run swift-dependency-audit --json --no-color
+swift run swift-dependency-audit --output-format json --no-color
 
 # Analyze only a specific target
 swift run swift-dependency-audit --target MyLibrary

Sources/SwiftDependencyAudit/DependentImportScanner.swift

@@ -50,7 +50,8 @@ private func getGitVersion() -> String? {
 }
 
 public enum OutputFormat: String, CaseIterable, ExpressibleByArgument {
-    case `default` = "default"
+    case terminal = "terminal"
+    case json = "json"
     case xcode = "xcode"
     case githubActions = "github-actions"
 }
@@ -84,8 +85,6 @@ public struct SwiftDependencyAudit: AsyncParsableCommand {
     @Flag(name: .long, help: "Skip test targets")
     public var excludeTests = false
 
-    @Flag(name: .long, help: "Output results in JSON format")
-    public var json = false
 
     @Flag(name: [.short, .long], help: "Only show problems, suppress success messages")
     public var quiet = false
@@ -97,8 +96,8 @@ public struct SwiftDependencyAudit: AsyncParsableCommand {
 
     @Option(
         name: .long,
-        help: "Output format: default, xcode, or github-actions")
-    public var outputFormat: OutputFormat = .default
+        help: "Output format: terminal, json, xcode, or github-actions")
+    public var outputFormat: OutputFormat = .terminal
 
     public func run() async throws {
         // Configure color output
@@ -114,15 +113,15 @@ public struct SwiftDependencyAudit: AsyncParsableCommand {
             let analyzer = DependencyAnalyzer()
             let processor = ParallelProcessor()
 
-            if verbose && !json {
+            if verbose && outputFormat != .json {
                 let message = ColorOutput.info("Parsing package at: \(path)")
                 print(message)
             }
 
             // Parse package
             let packageInfo = try await parser.parsePackage(at: path)
 
-            if verbose && !json {
+            if verbose && outputFormat != .json {
                 let message = ColorOutput.info(
                     "Found \(packageInfo.targets.count) target(s) in package '\(packageInfo.name)'")
                 print(message)
@@ -144,7 +143,7 @@ public struct SwiftDependencyAudit: AsyncParsableCommand {
                 targetsToAnalyze = targetsToAnalyze.filter { $0.type != .test }
             }
 
-            if verbose && !json {
+            if verbose && outputFormat != .json {
                 let message = ColorOutput.info(
                     "Analyzing \(targetsToAnalyze.count) target(s)")
                 print(message)
@@ -156,26 +155,25 @@ public struct SwiftDependencyAudit: AsyncParsableCommand {
                 customWhitelist: customWhitelist)
 
             // Generate and output report
-            if json {
-                let jsonReport = try await analyzer.generateJSONReport(
+            let report: String
+            switch outputFormat {
+            case .terminal:
+                report = await analyzer.generateReport(
+                    for: results, packageName: packageInfo.name, verbose: verbose, quiet: quiet)
+            case .json:
+                report = try await analyzer.generateJSONReport(
                     for: results, packageName: packageInfo.name, quiet: quiet)
-                print(jsonReport)
-            } else {
-                let report: String
-                switch outputFormat {
-                case .default:
-                    report = await analyzer.generateReport(
-                        for: results, packageName: packageInfo.name, verbose: verbose, quiet: quiet)
-                case .xcode:
-                    report = await analyzer.generateXcodeReport(
-                        for: results, packagePath: path)
-                case .githubActions:
-                    report = await analyzer.generateGitHubActionsReport(
-                        for: results, packagePath: path)
-                }
-                print(report)
+            case .xcode:
+                report = await analyzer.generateXcodeReport(
+                    for: results, packagePath: path)
+            case .githubActions:
+                report = await analyzer.generateGitHubActionsReport(
+                    for: results, packagePath: path)
+            }
+            print(report)
 
-                // Exit with error code if issues found
+            // Exit with error code if issues found (except for JSON format)
+            if outputFormat != .json {
                 let hasIssues = results.contains { $0.hasIssues }
                 if hasIssues {
                     throw ExitCode.failure