Usage

This tutorial will guide you through using the Packmind CLI to scan your codebase for best practice violations.

Getting Help

For complete command reference and options:

packmind-cli scan -h

Basic Usage

1. Scan Current Directory

packmind-cli scan

Scans all files in the current directory and subdirectories.

2. Scan Specific Files

packmind-cli scan src/main.js,src/utils.js

Scans only the specified files (comma-separated).

3. Scan Specific Directories

packmind-cli scan src,test

Scans all files in the src and test directories.

Glob Patterns 🌟

Important: Always quote glob patterns to prevent shell expansion!

Basic Patterns

# Scan all TypeScript files
packmind-cli scan "**/*.ts"

# Scan all JavaScript and TypeScript files
packmind-cli scan "**/*.{js,ts}"

# Scan all test files
packmind-cli scan "**/*.{test,spec}.{js,ts}"

Directory-Based Patterns

# Scan all files in any "src" directory
packmind-cli scan "**/src/**"

# Scan all files in "components" directories
packmind-cli scan "**/components/**"

# Scan all files in nested utility directories
packmind-cli scan "**/utils/**"

File-Specific Patterns

# Find all package.json files
packmind-cli scan "**/package.json"

# Find all pom.xml files (Maven projects)
packmind-cli scan "**/pom.xml"

# Find all Docker files
packmind-cli scan "**/Dockerfile"

Combining Multiple Patterns

# Scan source code AND configuration files
packmind-cli scan "**/src/**,**/pom.xml"

# Scan multiple file types across the project
packmind-cli scan "**/*.{js,ts},**/*.{java,kt},**/pom.xml"

# Scan source and test directories
packmind-cli scan "**/src/**,**/test/**,**/*.spec.*"

Filtering Options

Exclude Patterns

# Exclude specific patterns (default exclusions apply automatically)
packmind-cli scan "**/src/**" --exclude "node_modules,.git,dist"

# Exclude test files from analysis
packmind-cli scan "**/*.js" --exclude "test,spec,.test.,.spec."

Output Formats

Console Output (Default)

# Group results by files (default)
packmind-cli scan "**/src/**"

# Group results by practices
packmind-cli scan "**/src/**" --grouped practices

Raw Output (For CI/CD Environments)

The raw formatter provides plain text output without ANSI escape codes or clickable terminal links, perfect for CI/CD environments like GitHub Actions, GitLab CI, or other automated systems.

# Raw output grouped by files
packmind-cli scan "**/src/**" --formatters raw --grouped files

# Raw output grouped by practices
packmind-cli scan "**/src/**" --formatters raw --grouped practices

# Combine raw with other formatters
packmind-cli scan "**/src/**" \
  --formatters raw,sonarqube \
  --grouped files \
  --output analysis-report.json

When to use raw output:

• ✅ GitHub Actions workflows

• ✅ GitLab CI/CD pipelines

• ✅ Jenkins builds

• ✅ Any automated environment where terminal formatting isn't supported

• ✅ When you need clean, parseable text output

Export Results

# Export to SonarQube format
packmind-cli scan "**/src/**" \
  --formatters sonarqube \
  --output sonarqube-report.json

# Export to SARIF format (for GitHub, etc.)
packmind-cli scan "**/src/**" \
  --formatters sarif \
  --output sarif-report.json

# Export to Xcode format (for iOS/macOS development)
packmind-cli scan "**/src/**" \
  --formatters xcode

# Multiple formats
packmind-cli scan "**/src/**" \
  --formatters console,sonarqube \
  --output analysis-report.json

Available Formatters Summary

Formatter	Purpose	Output
console	Interactive terminal use	Formatted output with colors and clickable links
raw	CI/CD environments	Plain text without formatting
sonarqube	SonarQube integration	JSON format for SonarQube
sarif	Security analysis	SARIF format for GitHub, VS Code, etc.
xcode	iOS/macOS development	Xcode-compatible format

Advanced Usage

Scanning Changed Files Only

# Scan only files changed in Git
packmind-cli scan --mode onlyChanged

# Scan only files in GitLab Merge Request
packmind-cli scan --gitlabMR true

Space Filtering

# Scan using practices from specific spaces only
packmind-cli scan "**/src/**" --spaces "JavaScript,React"

# Multiple spaces
packmind-cli scan "**/src/**" --spaces "Java,Spring Boot,Security"

CI/CD Integration Examples

GitHub Actions

- name: Run Packmind Analysis
  run: |
    packmind-cli scan "**/*.{js,ts}" \
      --formatters raw \
      --grouped practices \
      --errorIfResults true

GitLab CI

packmind_scan:
  script:
    - packmind-cli scan "src/**" 
        --formatters raw,sarif 
        --output packmind-report.sarif
        --errorIfResults true
  artifacts:
    reports:
      sast: packmind-report.sarif

Debugging

# Enable debug logging
packmind-cli scan "**/src/**" --log debug

# See detailed information about pattern matching
packmind-cli scan "**/src/**" --log debug | grep "Expanding\|matched"