Summary

Add --limit and --force flags to improve shell scripting composability. These were originally planned for PR #14 but deferred due to codebase restructuring in PR #10.

Background

PR #14 added exit codes for shell scripting. The --limit and --force flags were part of the original scope but required modifying 8+ files in the new internal/cmd/ structure. To keep PR #14 focused, these were deferred.

What

--limit/-l Flag

Add a --limit flag to all list commands to cap the number of results returned. This enables efficient shell pipelines without fetching all data.

# Get first 5 apps
newrelic-cli apps list --limit 5

# Get first app ID
newrelic-cli apps list --limit 1 -o plain | cut -f1

--force/-f Flag

Add a --force flag to destructive commands (delete operations) to skip confirmation prompts. This enables non-interactive automation.

# Delete without confirmation (for scripts)
newrelic-cli dashboards delete 12345 --force

# Safe interactive mode (default)
newrelic-cli dashboards delete 12345
# Are you sure? [y/N]

Where

Files needing --limit flag:

• internal/cmd/apps/list.go
• internal/cmd/alerts/list.go
• internal/cmd/users/users.go (list subcommand)
• internal/cmd/dashboards/dashboards.go (list subcommand)
• internal/cmd/synthetics/synthetics.go (list subcommand)
• internal/cmd/logs/logs.go (query subcommand - if applicable)

Files needing --force flag:

• internal/cmd/dashboards/dashboards.go (delete subcommand)
• internal/cmd/deployments/deployments.go (delete subcommand)
• internal/cmd/synthetics/synthetics.go (delete subcommand)

Implementation Pattern

--limit flag

var limit int

func newListCmd(opts *root.Options) *cobra.Command {
    cmd := &cobra.Command{
        Use:   "list",
        Short: "List resources",
        RunE: func(cmd *cobra.Command, args []string) error {
            return runList(opts, limit)
        },
    }
    cmd.Flags().IntVarP(&limit, "limit", "l", 0, "Limit number of results (0 = no limit)")
    return cmd
}

func runList(opts *root.Options, limit int) error {
    // ... fetch items ...
    if limit > 0 && len(items) > limit {
        items = items[:limit]
    }
    // ... render items ...
}

--force flag

var force bool

func newDeleteCmd(opts *root.Options) *cobra.Command {
    cmd := &cobra.Command{
        Use:   "delete <id>",
        Short: "Delete a resource",
        RunE: func(cmd *cobra.Command, args []string) error {
            return runDelete(opts, args[0], force)
        },
    }
    cmd.Flags().BoolVarP(&force, "force", "f", false, "Skip confirmation prompt")
    return cmd
}

func runDelete(opts *root.Options, id string, force bool) error {
    if !force {
        fmt.Fprintf(opts.Stderr, "Delete resource %s? [y/N]: ", id)
        // read confirmation or return error
    }
    // ... perform delete ...
}

Acceptance Criteria

• --limit flag works on all list commands
• --force flag works on all delete commands
• Flags are documented in --help output
• Unit tests cover limit truncation logic
• Unit tests cover force flag behavior

Related

• Closes the deferred scope from PR feat: Add shell scripting composability #14
• Part of shell scripting composability (feat: Improve composability for shell scripting #5)