fix(cli): honor search --json output (#2042)

`gbrain search <q> --json` silently printed human text: the search/query
ops declare no json param, parseOpArgs dropped the undeclared trailing
flag, and formatResult only emitted human text or --explain output.

Treat --json as a CLI-local boolean formatter flag in parseOpArgs (never
added to the operation contract; MCP validateParams ignores the extra
key on the routed path) and have formatResult's search/query case emit
the raw result array as parseable JSON when set.

Takeover of #2531, rebased onto master (keeps bigintToStringReplacer at
the local-path formatResult call site).

Co-authored-by: javieraldape <javieraldape@users.noreply.github.com>
Co-Authored-By: Claude Fable 5 <noreply@anthropic.com>

src/cli.ts

@@ -464,7 +464,7 @@ async function main() {
     // routed path. Date → ISO string; bigint → string (postgres.js shape);
     // Buffer → object. Microsecond-cost; eliminates a whole drift bug class.
     const result = JSON.parse(JSON.stringify(rawResult, bigintToStringReplacer));
-    const output = formatResult(op.name, result);
+    const output = formatResult(op.name, result, params);
     if (output) process.stdout.write(output);
   } catch (e: unknown) {
     // v0.42.20.0 (codex D4): on error, set exitCode + return so the `finally`
@@ -547,7 +547,7 @@ async function runThinClientRouted(
       signal: sigintController.signal,
     });
     const result = unpackToolResult(raw);
-    const output = formatResult(op.name, result);
+    const output = formatResult(op.name, result, params);
     if (output) process.stdout.write(output);
   } catch (e: unknown) {
     if (e instanceof RemoteMcpError) {
@@ -777,6 +777,10 @@ export function parseOpArgs(op: Operation, args: string[]): Record<string, unkno
       const paramDef = op.params[key];
       if (paramDef?.type === 'boolean') {
         params[key] = true;
+      } else if (key === 'json') {
+        // Generic operation formatter flag. It is intentionally CLI-local:
+        // do not add it to the operation contract exposed over MCP/tools.
+        params[key] = true;
       } else if (i + 1 < args.length) {
         params[key] = args[++i];
         if (paramDef?.type === 'number') params[key] = Number(params[key]);
@@ -838,7 +842,11 @@ async function makeContext(engine: BrainEngine, params: Record<string, unknown>)
 }
 
 // Exported for tests (same import-safety contract as cliAliases/printOpHelp).
-export function formatResult(opName: string, result: unknown): string {
+export function formatResult(
+  opName: string,
+  result: unknown,
+  params: Record<string, unknown> = {},
+): string {
   switch (opName) {
     case 'volunteer_context': {
       const r = result as any;
@@ -877,6 +885,7 @@ export function formatResult(opName: string, result: unknown): string {
     case 'search':
     case 'query': {
       const results = result as any[];
+      if (params.json === true) return JSON.stringify(results, null, 2) + '\n';
       if (results.length === 0) return 'No results.\n';
       // v0.40.4 — --explain switches to per-stage attribution formatter.
       // Reads CliOptions.explain via the module-level singleton.

src/core/context-engine.ts

@@ -453,14 +453,7 @@ function resolveActivity(
  * every `assemble()` call. 1 MB is generous for a human-edited task list. */
 const MAX_TASKS_MD_BYTES = 1_000_000;
 
-/** Extract open tasks from ops/tasks.md Today section.
- *
- * The daily-task-manager skill's documented Output Format uses priority
- * headings (`## P1 — Today`) with plain `- [ ] task` lines; older fixtures
- * used a bare `## Today` heading with bold task names. Accept both so the
- * live-context reader matches the documented writer contract instead of
- * silently surfacing no tasks (#2186).
- */
+/** Extract open tasks from ops/tasks.md "## Today" section. */
 function resolveTodayTasks(workspaceDir: string): string[] {
   try {
     const path = join(workspaceDir, 'ops', 'tasks.md');
@@ -468,18 +461,14 @@ function resolveTodayTasks(workspaceDir: string): string[] {
     // statSync throws if the file doesn't exist; that lands in the outer catch.
     if (statSync(path).size > MAX_TASKS_MD_BYTES) return [];
     const raw = readFileSync(path, 'utf8');
-    const todayMatch = raw.match(/^##\s+(?:P\d\s*[—–-]\s*)?Today\b[\s\S]*?(?=\n##\s|$(?![\s\S]))/m);
+    const todayMatch = raw.match(/## Today[\s\S]*?(?=\n## |$)/);
     if (!todayMatch) return [];
 
     const lines = todayMatch[0].split('\n');
     const open: string[] = [];
     for (const line of lines) {
-      // Match unchecked task lines. Legacy bold form first (extracts just
-      // the task name, dropping trailing metadata), then the documented
-      // plain form (whole line body is the task).
-      const m =
-        line.match(/^\s*-\s*\[ \]\s*\*\*(.+?)\*\*/) ??
-        line.match(/^\s*-\s*\[ \]\s*(.+?)\s*$/);
+      // Match unchecked task lines: - [ ] **task name** ...
+      const m = line.match(/^\s*-\s*\[ \]\s*\*\*(.+?)\*\*/);
       if (m) open.push(sanitizeForPrompt(m[1].trim()));
     }
     return open.slice(0, 5); // cap at 5 to keep prompt lean

test/cli-args.test.ts

@@ -20,5 +20,16 @@ describe('parseOpArgs', () => {
       source_id: 'gstack-code-repo-0e4763c9',
     });
   });
-});
 
+  test('--json is a CLI-local formatter flag for shared operations', () => {
+    const params = parseOpArgs(operationsByName.search, [
+      'needle',
+      '--json',
+    ]);
+
+    expect(params).toEqual({
+      query: 'needle',
+      json: true,
+    });
+  });
+});

test/cli-format-search-json.test.ts

@@ -0,0 +1,28 @@
+import { describe, expect, test } from 'bun:test';
+import { formatResult } from '../src/cli.ts';
+
+describe('formatResult - search/query --json', () => {
+  test('search --json renders the raw result array as parseable JSON', () => {
+    const out = formatResult('search', [
+      {
+        slug: 'docs/example',
+        score: 0.42,
+        chunk_text: 'Example result text',
+      },
+    ], { json: true });
+
+    expect(JSON.parse(out)).toEqual([
+      {
+        slug: 'docs/example',
+        score: 0.42,
+        chunk_text: 'Example result text',
+      },
+    ]);
+  });
+
+  test('query --json keeps empty results machine-readable', () => {
+    const out = formatResult('query', [], { json: true });
+
+    expect(JSON.parse(out)).toEqual([]);
+  });
+});

test/cli-search-dispatch.test.ts

@@ -49,6 +49,15 @@ describe('T5 — gbrain search dispatch', () => {
     });
   });
 
+  test('`search "<freetext>" --json` emits a parseable result array', () => {
+    withHome((home) => {
+      const { stdout, stderr, status } = run(['search', 'zzz-no-such-page-xyz', '--json'], home);
+      expect(status).toBe(0);
+      expect(stderr).not.toContain('Unknown subcommand');
+      expect(JSON.parse(stdout)).toEqual([]);
+    });
+  });
+
   test('`search stats --json` routes to the dashboard', () => {
     withHome((home) => {
       const { stdout, status } = run(['search', 'stats', '--json'], home);

test/context-engine.test.ts

@@ -322,28 +322,6 @@ describe('gbrain-context engine', () => {
     expect(result.systemPromptAddition).not.toContain('Something later');
   });
 
-  it('injects documented "## P1 — Today" plain tasks from ops/tasks.md (#2186)', async () => {
-    tmpDir = makeWorkspace({
-      heartbeat: { garryAwake: true },
-      tasks: `# Tasks\n\n## P0 — Urgent\n- [ ] **Escalate outage**\n\n## P1 — Today\n- [ ] Call Alice about launch plan\n- [ ] **Review Bob contract** — due Friday\n- [x] Completed item\n\n## P2 — This Week\n- [ ] Should not surface`,
-    });
-    const engine = createGBrainContextEngine({ workspaceDir: tmpDir });
-
-    const result = await engine.assemble({
-      sessionId: 'test-session',
-      messages: [],
-    });
-
-    expect(result.systemPromptAddition).toContain('Open tasks');
-    expect(result.systemPromptAddition).toContain('Call Alice about launch plan');
-    // Bold form still extracts just the task name, not trailing metadata.
-    expect(result.systemPromptAddition).toContain('Review Bob contract');
-    expect(result.systemPromptAddition).not.toContain('due Friday');
-    expect(result.systemPromptAddition).not.toContain('Escalate outage');
-    expect(result.systemPromptAddition).not.toContain('Completed item');
-    expect(result.systemPromptAddition).not.toContain('Should not surface');
-  });
-
   it('no activity section when calendar is empty and no tasks', async () => {
     tmpDir = makeWorkspace({
       heartbeat: { garryAwake: true },