Output Formats

codecharter analyze --output <format> supports four formats.

console (Default)

Human-readable console output with ANSI colors on TTYs.

src/Domain/PricingEngine.cs:42
    [warn] DateTime-Direct-Usage
    Direct call to DateTime.UtcNow.
    Inject TimeProvider via constructor and call GetUtcNow()

Colors are automatically disabled in pipes. Disable manually with --no-color.

json

Structured JSON file with metadata and a findings array.

codecharter analyze MySolution.sln --output json --output-file findings.json

Good for scripting and custom reporting.

sarif

SARIF v2.1, the standard for static analysis tools, consumed natively by GitHub Code Scanning, GitLab SAST, and many IDEs.

codecharter analyze MySolution.sln --output sarif --output-file codecharter.sarif

Example upload to GitHub Code Scanning:

- name: Analyze
  run: codecharter analyze MySolution.sln --output sarif --output-file codecharter.sarif

- name: Upload SARIF
  uses: github/codeql-action/upload-sarif@v3
  with:
    sarif_file: codecharter.sarif

github-annotations

GitHub annotation format. GitHub Actions runners understand this natively and render findings as inline comments on the PR diff line.

codecharter analyze MySolution.sln --output github-annotations

Output looks like this:

::warning file=src/Domain/PricingEngine.cs,line=42::DateTime-Direct-Usage: Direct call to DateTime.UtcNow
::error file=src/Web/Controllers/ProductsController.cs,line=88::Async-Method-Without-CancellationToken: ...

Use --workspace-root to strip a path prefix if the solution lives in a subdirectory of the workspace.

The official GitHub Action uses this format internally as the default.

Multiple outputs in one run

--output is repeatable and accepts an optional destination as format:path, so a single analysis can emit several formats at once — no second run needed:

codecharter analyze MySolution.sln \
  --output github-annotations \
  --output json:codecharter.json \
  --output sarif:codecharter.sarif

Rules:

• stdout formats (console, github-annotations) take no path and write to stdout; at most one stdout format per run.
• file formats (json, sarif) require a path when combined.
• The single-output form is unchanged: --output <format> (to stdout) and --output <format> --output-file <path> keep working. --output-file is only for the single-output form and cannot be mixed with the format:path syntax.

This is what the official GitHub Action uses to render inline annotations while also producing the JSON it parses for the PR comment and its findings-* outputs (and SARIF when requested) — all from one analysis.

Which format to use when

Scenario	Format
Locally in the console	console
GitHub Actions PR annotations	github-annotations
GitHub Code Scanning security tab	sarif
GitLab SAST	sarif
Custom dashboard or script	json
Archiving as a CI artifact	json or sarif