Reference

CLI reference

The full ledger of commands and flags for validating files, creating configs, and checking what you've got installed.

Commands

Command	Purpose
`dollarlint validate [path]`	Validate files under a path. Defaults to the current directory if you don't specify one.
`dollarlint init [path]`	Mint a starter `.dollarlint.toml` in the target directory.
`dollarlint serve mcp`	Start a Model Context Protocol server over stdio so agents can validate files with DollarLint.
`dollarlint version`	Print the installed version. Quick sanity check.
`dollarlint completion`	Generate shell completion scripts through Cobra.

Global flags

Flag	Description
`--config`	Use an explicit `.dollarlint.toml` path. Relative paths are resolved from the validation root, or beside an explicit file target.
`--version`, `-v`	Print the installed version.

Validate flags

Flag	Description
`--format`	Choose `text`, `json`, or `sarif`. Defaults to `text`.
`--output`, `-o`	Write output to a file instead of stdout. Use `-` or omit it for stdout.
`--locations`	Include line and column positions in text and JSON output. SARIF requests source locations automatically.
`--verbose`	Show expanded issue metadata in text output.
`--quiet`	Use terse success text output and omit the summary details from failing text output.
`--show-skipped`	Show files skipped because they do not declare or match a schema.
`--include`	Set discovery include globs. Repeatable; when provided, replaces config includes for this run. A glob without a slash can match a basename at any depth.
`--extend-exclude`	Add a discovery exclude glob on top of config and built-in default excludes. Repeatable. A glob without a slash can match a basename at any depth.
`--no-default-excludes`	Disable built-in discovery excludes.
`--no-gitignore`	Do not apply `.gitignore` patterns during discovery.
`--force-exclude`	Apply excludes even to explicitly passed files.
`--schema`	Associate a file glob with a schema as `glob=uri`. Repeatable. Association globs use the same slashless-basename behavior as discovery globs.
`--schema-store`	Match conventional filenames using the SchemaStore catalog.
`--schema-store-url`	Use a SchemaStore-format catalog URL or local path and enable catalog matching.
`--schema-store-failure`	Set catalog failure policy to `warn`, `error`, or `skip`.
`--max-depth`	Set maximum external schema reference depth.
`--fetch-remote`	Allow fetching HTTP schemas. Defaults to enabled; pass `--fetch-remote=false` to disable.
`--no-schema-cache`	Disable the disk cache for remote schemas and catalogs.
`--fetch-retries`	Set retries for transient remote schema fetch failures. Defaults to `2`.
`--allow-domain`	Allow remote schemas from a domain. Repeatable.
`--block-domain`	Block remote schemas from a domain. Repeatable.
`--fetch-timeout`	Set schema fetch timeout, such as `10s`.
`--compile-timeout`	Set schema compile timeout, such as `30s`.

Branch-error reporting is configured in .dollarlint.toml rather than a validate flag. Use output.branchErrors = "best" for focused oneOf/anyOf diagnostics, or "all" when debugging every failed schema branch.

Init flags

Flag	Description
`--output`, `-o`	Path to the `.dollarlint.toml` file to create.
`--force`	Overwrite an existing config file.
`--defaults`	Skip prompts and use defaults plus provided flags.
`--fetch-remote`	Allow fetching HTTP schemas in the generated config. Pass `--fetch-remote=false` to disable.
`--fetch-retries`	Set generated retry count for transient fetch failures. Defaults to `2`.
`--schema-store`	Enable the built-in SchemaStore catalog in the generated config. Defaults to enabled.
`--schema-store-failure`	Set generated catalog failure policy to `warn`, `error`, or `skip`.

MCP server

dollarlint serve mcp starts a stdio MCP server. It is meant to be launched by an MCP client, not run directly in a terminal session.

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "dollarlint": {
      "type": "local",
      "command": "dollarlint",
      "args": ["serve", "mcp"],
      "tools": ["*"]
    }
  }
}

The server exposes one tool, validate, with one optional argument: include. Pass file or glob patterns relative to the server working directory to narrow validation for a tool call, or omit it to use configured discovery. The tool includes source locations automatically and returns structured JSON with ok, message, and the regular DollarLint result payload.