# Reports and CI gates

Read findings in your terminal, send structured reports to another tool, or make instruction checks part of CI. Choose the report format and failure threshold separately.

## Understand the result

A finding includes a rule code, severity, source location when available, and repair guidance. Start with the most severe findings, then inspect the surrounding instructions before making a change.

| Verdict | Meaning |
| --- | --- |
| FAIL | HIGH or CRITICAL findings remain. |
| REVIEW | MEDIUM findings remain, with no HIGH/CRITICAL findings. |
| PASS | No MEDIUM-or-higher findings remain; LOW/INFO can still appear. |
| SKIPPED | The file was readable but contained no recognized content to inspect. |
| ERROR | An input could not be inspected. |

The `Inspected` line tells you what the result covers. See [coverage and limitations](/docs/concepts) for interpretation.

## Set a CI threshold

```sh
lintlang scan --discover . --fail-on fail
```

`--fail-on fail` returns exit **1** for HIGH/CRITICAL findings. `--fail-on review` also includes MEDIUM. Without either threshold, findings are advisory. Input errors are nonzero even in advisory mode; invalid arguments return **2**.

The first-party GitHub Action uses `fail` by default. Follow the [GitHub](/integrations/github) or [GitLab](/integrations/gitlab) guide for a complete job.

## Choose a report format

| Format | Best for | Option |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Terminal | Local review, with a concise finding list | Default |
| Markdown | Readable reports and artifacts | `--format markdown` |
| JSON | Scripts and custom tooling | `--format json` |
| SARIF 2.1.0 | Code-scanning tools | `--format sarif` |
| GitLab Code Quality | Merge-request findings | `--format gitlab` |

```sh
lintlang scan --discover . --format json
lintlang scan --discover . --format sarif > lintlang.sarif
```

Terminal and Markdown show up to five findings per code by default; use `--show-all` to expand them. JSON and SARIF retain all findings. GitLab reports require source-backed locations; unsupported findings can be omitted while causing a nonzero exit. Read the [GitLab reporting guide](/integrations/gitlab) before adding that output to CI.

## Work with source locations

Locations may point to an instruction, tool, schema, or enclosing construct. Parsed YAML/JSON values and transformed multiline strings do not always map to an exact token. Use the finding’s evidence and source context together.

[JSON and SARIF field reference](/docs/reference#json-and-sarif) · [Input extraction details](/docs/reference#supported-formats-and-extraction).

## Share reports deliberately

Reports can contain text from the scanned source. Review an artifact before uploading it. `--no-suggestions` changes supported presentation output; it does not redact source evidence or remove JSON suggestion fields.