JSON output

Commands that produce data support --json. JSON goes to stdout; status messages go to stderr. This separation makes piping safe — you never need to filter stderr from your JSON.

Print the machine-readable schema for any command's output:

arc schema status
arc schema submit
arc schema analyze

---

arc status --json

arc status --json

{
  "base": "main",
  "prefix": "feat",
  "current_branch": "feat/api",
  "branches": [
    {
      "name": "feat/auth",
      "index": 1,
      "pr_number": 42,
      "pr_url": "https://github.com/owner/repo/pull/42",
      "pr_state": "OPEN",
      "commits": 2,
      "revision": 3,
      "needs_rebase": false,
      "is_current": false,
      "is_merged": false
    },
    {
      "name": "feat/api",
      "index": 2,
      "pr_number": 43,
      "pr_url": "https://github.com/owner/repo/pull/43",
      "pr_state": "OPEN",
      "commits": 1,
      "revision": 3,
      "needs_rebase": false,
      "is_current": true,
      "is_merged": false
    }
  ]
}

Field reference

Field	Type	Description
base	string	Stack base branch
prefix	string | null	Branch name prefix, or null if none
current_branch	string	Currently checked-out branch
branches[].name	string	Branch name
branches[].index	integer	1-based position in the stack
branches[].pr_number	integer | null	PR number, or null if no PR
branches[].pr_url	string | null	PR URL, or null if no PR
branches[].pr_state	string | null	OPEN, MERGED, CLOSED, or null
branches[].commits	integer	Commits on this branch beyond its base
branches[].revision	integer	Push counter (increments on each arc push)
branches[].needs_rebase	boolean	True if the branch is out of date with its parent
branches[].is_current	boolean	True if this is the currently checked-out branch
branches[].is_merged	boolean	True if the PR is merged on GitHub

---

arc submit --json

arc submit --json

{
  "results": [
    {
      "branch": "feat/auth",
      "action": "update",
      "pr_number": 42,
      "pr_url": "https://github.com/owner/repo/pull/42"
    },
    {
      "branch": "feat/api",
      "action": "create",
      "pr_number": 43,
      "pr_url": "https://github.com/owner/repo/pull/43"
    }
  ]
}

action is "create" for new PRs, "update" for existing ones, "skip" if the branch was skipped (e.g. dry run with no changes), or "error" if the PR operation failed.

---

arc stack analyze --json

arc stack analyze --json

{
  "critical_path": ["feat/auth", "feat/api", "feat/ui"],
  "safe_to_land": ["feat/auth"],
  "blocked": [
    {
      "branch": "feat/api",
      "blocked_by": ["feat/auth"]
    }
  ]
}

Field reference

Field	Type	Description
critical_path	string[]	Longest chain of unmerged branches, bottom to top
safe_to_land	string[]	Branches that can be landed now (no unmerged dependencies)
blocked[].branch	string	Branch that cannot yet be landed
blocked[].blocked_by	string[]	Unmerged branches that must land first

---

Common patterns

# Check if the stack is clean
arc status --json | jq 'all(.branches[]; .needs_rebase == false)'

# Get all PR numbers
arc status --json | jq '[.branches[].pr_number | select(. != null)]'

# Find the current branch's PR
arc status --json | jq '.branches[] | select(.is_current) | .pr_url'

# Check for merged branches still in the stack
arc status --json | jq '.branches[] | select(.is_merged) | .name'