Ironlint Review

IronLint Review

Audit the check set against telemetry. Surface candidates for removal, scope adjustment, or a source fix.

Source of truth

.ironlint/log.jsonl — one record per check invocation, with a per-check breakdown. Each line:

{
  "type": "check",
  "ts": "2026-06-15T00:00:00Z",
  "file": "src/foo.rs",
  "status": "block",
  "elapsed_ms": 42,
  "checks": [
    {"check": "no-debug", "status": "block", "elapsed_ms": 30},
    {"check": "no-todo",  "status": "pass",  "elapsed_ms": 12}
  ]
}

• The top-level status is the most severe of the checks that ran (block > internal_error > pass). There is no warn tier.
• checks[] attributes the outcome to each check by id, so you can recommend on specific checks, not just files. checks is empty when no check matched the file.
• A check with status: "internal_error" carries a reason (timeout, not_found, …) — it couldn't run, which is a broken check, not a finding.

Process

1. Read .ironlint/log.jsonl.
2. Aggregate over the last N entries (default last 1000, or all if fewer), grouping by checks[].check (and cross-referencing file).
3. Surface concerning patterns per check:
   • High block rate (>50% of the files a check ran on): the check may be too strict, or the code it covers genuinely needs fixing at the source.
   • Zero blocks across many runs: the check may be dead — its files scope never matches anything dirty, or it never fires. Confirm it still earns its keep.
   • Recurring internal_error: the check is broken (read its reason) — fix or remove it; a check that can't run protects nothing.
   • Slow checks (high elapsed_ms): flag for optimization or a narrower scope.

Recommendations

For each concerning check, propose ONE of:

• Investigate source: a high block rate may be a real codebase problem to fix in code, not in the check.
• Tighten the files scope: narrow the glob so a noisy check fires only where it should.
• Remove the check: a check that never blocks (and isn't meant as a tripwire) is noise in the config.
• Fix a broken check: for recurring internal_error, repair the run command or the tool it shells out to.

Never apply recommendations silently. Present each one and ask the user. To re-confirm what a check does on a file, run ironlint check --file <path> --check <id> --format json and read the verdict.

Output format

Reviewed N entries from .ironlint/log.jsonl (date range A → B).

Per-check health:

| Check           | Runs | pass | block | error | Note / recommendation                                  |
|-----------------|------|------|-------|-------|--------------------------------------------------------|
| no-debug        | 31   | 24   | 7     | 0     | High block rate (23%) — investigate src/api or tighten |
| no-todo         | 84   | 84   | 0     | 0     | No blocks — confirm it still earns its keep            |
| eslint-check    | 12   | 9    | 0     | 3     | Broken (reason: not_found) — eslint missing on PATH    |

To re-confirm a check on a file:
  ironlint check --file <path> --check <id> --format json

Notes

• Records are per check invocation with a per-check breakdown; group by checks[].check to attribute outcomes to a specific check.
• Statuses are pass, block, and internal_error — there is no warn.