tool_diagnostics — Logtalk 3.100.1

# `tool_diagnostics`

This tool provides the shared `tool_diagnostics_protocol` protocol and the `tool_diagnostics_common` category used by developer tools such as `dead_code_scanner`, `lgtdoc`, `lgtunit`, and `linter_reporter` to expose machine-readable diagnostics.

The protocol is designed so that producer tools can keep their own internal semantics while still providing a common interface for querying diagnostics directly or for generating SARIF reports using the `sarif` tool.

## API documentation

This tool API documentation is available at:

../../apis/library_index.html#tool_diagnostics_protocol

## Loading

Load the protocol and common category definitions using:

    | ?- logtalk_load(tool_diagnostics(loader)).
    ...

## Protocol overview

The protocol defines predicates for reporting:

- tool metadata using `diagnostics_tool/5`

- supported target patterns using `diagnostic_target/1`

- rule descriptors using `diagnostic_rule/5` and `diagnostic_rules/1`

- diagnostics using `diagnostic/2-3` and `diagnostics/2-3`

- summaries using `diagnostics_summary/2-3`

- preflight issues using `diagnostics_preflight/2-3`

Common target terms include `all`, `file(File)`, `directory(Directory)`, `rdirectory(Directory)`, `library(Library)`, `rlibrary(Library)`, `entity(Entity)`, and `tests(Object)`.

Predicates taking an `Options` argument must accept the common option `explanations(Boolean)`. Tools may use it to include `explanation(Text)` properties when available, but implementations that do not provide additional explanation text must still accept the option as a no-op.

## Term conventions

Tool metadata uses terms of the form:

    diagnostics_tool(Id, Name, Version, InformationURI, Properties)

The `Id` and `Name` arguments identify the tool. The `Version` argument should be derived reflectively from the implementing object `info/1` metadata using `object_property/2` instead of being hardcoded. The `InformationURI` argument is a stable tool home or documentation URI and is exported by the `sarif` tool as the SARIF `tool.driver.informationUri` value.

The `Properties` list is intended for exporter and post-processing hints. The current `sarif` tool interprets the following entries:

- `guid(Guid)` sets the SARIF `tool.driver.guid` value when present.

- `fingerprint_algorithm(Algorithm)` sets the exported run `fingerprintAlgorithm` property and selects the canonical result fingerprint key. The current implementation distinguishes `canonical_finding_v1` from the default warning-oriented path and computes result identities from normalized relative locations instead of raw absolute file paths.

- `automation_id(target)` requests that the SARIF `run.automationDetails.id` value be derived from the queried target term, allowing different targets of the same tool to produce distinct run identities.

- `automation_id(tool)` denotes a tool-scoped automation identifier. In the current `sarif` implementation this is redundant because omitting `automation_id(target)` already falls back to the tool identifier.

- `include_invocations(true)` requests a SARIF `invocations` section, including `toolExecutionNotifications` when preflight issues exist.

- `include_git_metadata(true)` requests SARIF `gitBranch` and `gitCommitHash` run properties when a stable Git context can be inferred. When this succeeds, the `sarif` tool also normalizes artifact locations and fingerprint inputs relative to the repository root. The `gitBranch` value is descriptive metadata; the `gitCommitHash` value provides the stable revision identity used to disambiguate repository-relative paths.

- `include_version_control_provenance(true)` requests SARIF `versionControlProvenance` data when repository details can be inferred from diagnostic file paths.

- `count_key(Key)` selects the property name used for the exported count, e.g. `diagnosticsCount` or `totalWarnings`.

When `include_git_metadata(true)` is not present or a stable Git context cannot be inferred, the `sarif` tool falls back to application-root-relative artifact locations and fingerprint inputs instead.

Rule descriptors use terms of the form:

    diagnostic_rule(RuleId, ShortDescription, FullDescription, DefaultSeverity, Properties)

The `diagnostic_rules/1` predicate should return these descriptors in a stable order. Rule descriptor properties may contain terms such as `guid(Guid)`, `help(Text)`, `help_uri(URI)`, `tags(Tags)`, and `precision(Precision)`.

Diagnostics use terms of the form:

    diagnostic(RuleId, Severity, Confidence, Message, Context, File, Lines, Properties)

The `Context` argument is represented using the term `context(Kind, Identifier)` where `Kind` is a tool-defined atom such as `file`, `object`, `category`, `protocol`, or `test_set`. For file-scoped diagnostics, `Identifier` is the source file path when available and the empty atom otherwise. Diagnostics originating in an included file may still use an entity context when the `include/1` directive appears inside that entity; otherwise they are file-scoped.

The `File` argument is a source file path or the empty atom when unavailable. The `Lines` argument uses the `Start-End` notation. The value `0-0` means that no precise line information is available.

Supported severity values are `error`, `warning`, and `note`. Supported confidence values are `high`, `medium`, `low`, and `not_applicable`.

The `Properties` argument should include stable structured metadata such as `raw_term(Term)`, `explanation(Text)`, `flag(Flag)`, `directive(Directive)`, `indicator(Indicator)`, `key(Key)`, `test(Test)`, `option(Option)`, and any other tool-specific facts useful for post-processing.

Preflight issues use terms of the form:

    preflight_issue(Id, Severity, Message, Context, File, Lines, Properties)

Preflight issues describe prerequisites or analysis quality issues instead of findings.

Summaries use terms of the form:

    diagnostics_summary(Target, TotalContexts, TotalDiagnostics, Breakdown, ContextSummaries)

The `Breakdown` argument uses a `diagnostic_breakdown(RuleCounts, SeverityCounts, ConfidenceCounts)` term and `ContextSummaries` is a list of `context_summary(Context, DiagnosticsCount, Breakdown)` terms.

Rule counts use `rule_count(RuleId, Count)` terms, severity counts use `severity_count(Severity, Count)` terms, and confidence counts use `confidence_count(Confidence, Count)` terms.

## Usage

Tools implementing this protocol can be queried directly for diagnostics after compiling code that results in the production of diagnostics. For example:

    | ?- logtalk_load(dead_code_scanner(loader)).
    ...

    | ?- logtalk_load(my_library(loader)).
    ...

    | ?- dead_code_scanner::diagnostics(library(my_library), Diagnostics).
    ...

To serialize diagnostics as SARIF, load the standalone `sarif` tool and generate a report from a diagnostics producer:

    | ?- logtalk_load(sarif(loader)).
    ...

    | ?- sarif::generate(dead_code_scanner, entity(my_object), file('./report.sarif'), []).
    true.

To generate an explicit aggregate SARIF report with multiple diagnostics producers, pass a list of `tool_spec(Tool, Target, Options)` terms:

    | ?- sarif::generate([
    |        tool_spec(linter_reporter, all, []),
    |        tool_spec(dead_code_scanner, entity(my_object), [])
    |    ], file('./aggregate.sarif')).
    true.