Dry run

Criterion

A command that changes state accepts --dry-run and, under it, reports exactly what it would do without performing the change.

Rationale

An agent or operator needs to preview a destructive or expensive action before committing to it. A dry run shows the planned change and lets automation gate on the preview. For destructive actions, the tool performs the change only after explicit confirmation, and refuses instead of blocking when confirmation is not available non-interactively.

Testable assertions

• dryrun.accepted (required): a mutating command accepts --dry-run and exits 0.
• dryrun.no-side-effects (required): under --dry-run the command emits a preview and states that no change was made, rather than reporting a completed mutation.
• dryrun.destructive-preview (required): a destructive command under --dry-run previews the action without requiring confirmation and without performing it.
• dryrun.destructive-confirm-required (required): outside --dry-run, a destructive command performs the action only after explicit confirmation, and in non-interactive mode (--json, --no-prompt, or no terminal) it refuses and exits 1 when confirmation is absent.