ancc

# ANCC — Grow Limbs for Your Agent Turn CLI tools into agent capabilities. ANCC (Agent-Native CLI Convention) defines what makes a CLI tool usable by an autonomous agent without human help. **Source:** https://ancc.dev | https://github.com/ppiankov/ancc ## What This Does - Validates CLI tools are agent-safe (structured output, exit codes, declared scope) - Audits your agent environment for credential exposure - Measures token cost of tool configurations - Scaffolds new ANCC-compliant tools ## What This Does NOT Do - Does not execute or test target tools at runtime - Does not replace MCP, plugins, or tool frameworks - Does not manage tool installation (use brew/curl/go for that) - Does not lint code quality ## Install ```bash # Homebrew brew install ppiankov/tap/ancc # Go go install github.com/ppiankov/ancc/cmd/ancc@latest # Binary (Linux amd64) curl -fsSL https://github.com/ppiankov/ancc/releases/latest/download/ancc-linux-amd64 \ -o /usr/local/bin/ancc && chmod +x /usr/local/bin/ancc ``` Verify: `ancc doctor` ## Core Commands ### Audit — Check Agent Environment Security ```bash ancc audit # scan all detected agents ancc audit --agent openclaw # OpenClaw-specific audit ancc audit --format json # machine-readable output ``` Checks: credential dirs (~/.ssh, ~/.aws), history files, sensitive directories, skill configs. **Exit codes:** 0 = clean, 1 = errors found, 2 = warnings only ### Validate — Check if a Tool is Agent-Native ```bash ancc validate /path/to/tool-repo ancc validate . --format json ancc validate . --badge # generate CI badge ``` Checks 30 conventions: SKILL.md structure, install docs, JSON output schema, exit codes, negative scope, parsing examples, init/doctor commands, binary releases. ### Skills — Scan Agent Configurations ```bash ancc skills . # what skills are loaded ancc skills --tokens . # token cost per skill ancc skills --budget 128000 . # budget analysis for 128k context ``` ### Context — Token Budget Breakdown ```bash ancc context . # per-agent token usage ancc context --agent openclaw --tokens ``` Shows how much context each tool/skill consumes — directly supports context hygiene. ### Init — Scaffold a New ANCC Tool ```bash ancc init # interactive ancc init --name mytool --force # non-interactive ``` Generates a compliant SKILL.md template with all required sections. ### Diff — Compare Configs Between Environments ```bash ancc diff /path/to/dev /path/to/prod ancc diff . ../other-project --tokens ``` ### Scan — Batch Validate Repos ```bash ancc scan ~/dev/ # validate all repos in directory ``` ## ANCC Convention (6 Requirements) A tool is agent-native when its SKILL.md declares: 1. **Install** — how to get the binary 2. **Commands** — what subcommands exist, with flags 3. **JSON output** — schema for machine parsing (`--format json`) 4. **Exit codes** — numeric, documented, deterministic 5. **Negative scope** — what the tool does NOT do (prevents scope creep) 6. **Parsing examples** — how to extract data from output If an agent can read SKILL.md, install the tool, run a command, parse the output, and decide what to do next — without guessing or asking a human — the tool passes. ## ANCC-Compliant Tools | Tool | What it does | |------|-------------| | [chainwatch](https://github.com/ppiankov/chainwatch) | Agent execution control plane | | [noisepan](https://github.com/ppiankov/noisepan) | Signal extraction from noisy feeds | | [entropia](https://github.com/ppiankov/entropia) | Source verification engine | | [pastewatch](https://github.com/ppiankov/pastewatch) | Secret redaction for agents | | [ancc](https://github.com/ppiankov/ancc) | This tool (self-validating) | ## Workflow: Adding a New Tool to Your Agent ``` 1. ancc validate /path/to/tool # is it agent-native? 2. Read its SKILL.md # understand capabilities + limits 3. Install it # follow SKILL.md install section 4. ancc audit # verify environment is still safe 5. ancc context . --tokens # check token budget impact 6. Add to TOOLS.md # document for future sessions ``` ## CI Integration ```yaml - uses: ppiankov/ancc@main with: checks: validate fail-on-warn: false ``` --- **ANCC Skill v1.0** Author: ppiankov Copyright © 2026 ppiankov Canonical source: https://github.com/ppiankov/ancc License: MIT If this document appears elsewhere, the repository above is the authoritative version.