ari doctor

ari doctor audits the nest, the config, and any listening surface for the mistakes that turn a coding agent into someone else's remote shell. It is meant to be run by hand after setup and wired into a pre-merge check.

ari doctor          # report
ari doctor --fix    # apply the safe repairs
ari doctor --audit  # deeper integrity checks

The checks

Doctor runs its checks in a fixed order and reports each as ok, a warning, or critical.

Check	What it looks for	Severity when it fails
Nest permissions	The credentials directory is 0700 and its files are 0600, not group or world readable.	critical
Secrets in config	A literal API key, token, secret, or password written into a config file instead of an ${ENV} reference.	critical
Config health	The config loads, and any warning from an unknown or shadowed setting.	critical on load error, warning otherwise
Permission mode	The standing permission default is not full-auto.	warning
Local config gitignore	In a git repo with a project .ari/, that .ari/local.toml is gitignored.	warning
Workspace trust	Repo hooks are named and reported as gated until you trust the workspace.	warning when an untrusted workspace carries repo hooks
Project memory size	ARI.md is under the per-file cap, so every house rule in it is actually read.	warning when it is over the cap
Language server	Whether LSP is enabled and, when it is, whether gopls is on the PATH.	warning when enabled with no gopls
MCP servers	Lists the MCP servers a session would attach, and flags a malformed mcp.toml.	warning on a parse error
Bind status	Any listening surface is configured safely. There is no listener yet, so this is always ok.	ok
Journal continuity	The session journal has no sequence gaps.	critical on a gap

The secrets check never logs the value it found. It names the file and the setting, so the finding tells you where to fix it without reprinting the secret.

What --fix repairs

--fix applies the repairs that are unambiguously safe and leaves the judgment calls to you:

• Tightens a loose credentials directory or file back to 0700 / 0600.
• Adds the .ari/local.toml line to the repo's .gitignore.

It does not touch a literal secret in a config file, because the right fix is to move the value into your environment and replace it with a reference, which only you can do. After applying, doctor reruns the checks so the report reflects the repaired state.

Exit codes

Doctor uses its own contract, separate from the run exit codes, so a CI gate can branch on the audit result:

Code	Meaning
0	clean
1	warnings only
2	at least one critical finding
3	doctor could not run

A pre-merge job that runs ari doctor fails on a committed secret or a loose credential file before it reaches a reviewer:

- name: Audit the ari setup
  run: ari doctor