config-audit/commands/drift.md

name	description	argument-hint	allowed-tools	model
config-audit:drift	Compare current configuration against a saved baseline — shows new, resolved, and changed findings	[path] [--baseline name] [--save]	Read, Write, Glob, Grep, Bash	sonnet

Config-Audit: Drift Detection

Compare current configuration against a saved baseline to see what changed.

Arguments

• $ARGUMENTS may contain:
  • A target path (default: current working directory)
  • --save: Save current state as baseline
  • --baseline <name>: Compare against a specific named baseline (default: "default")
  • --raw: Pass-through to the scanner; produces v5.0.0 verbatim diff output (bypasses the humanizer). Use when piping into v5.0.0-baseline diff tooling that depends on byte-stable output.

Implementation

Save a baseline

If --save is present:

Tell the user: "Saving current configuration as baseline..."

RAW_FLAG=""
if echo "$ARGUMENTS" | grep -q -- "--raw"; then RAW_FLAG="--raw"; fi
node ${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/scanners/drift-cli.mjs <path> --save --name <baseline-name> --json $RAW_FLAG 2>/dev/null

--save writes its human confirmation to stderr, which 2>/dev/null discards — pass --json so the {saved, name, path} object lands on stdout. Read stdout for confirmation. Tell the user:

### Baseline Saved

Captured current state as baseline "{name}".
Run `/config-audit drift` anytime to see what changed since this point.

Compare against baseline

Without --save:

Tell the user: "Comparing current configuration against baseline..."

RAW_FLAG=""
if echo "$ARGUMENTS" | grep -q -- "--raw"; then RAW_FLAG="--raw"; fi
node ${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/scanners/drift-cli.mjs <path> --baseline <name> --output-file /tmp/config-audit-drift.json $RAW_FLAG 2>/dev/null; echo $?

Exit codes: 0 = stable/improving, 1 = degrading (both normal — present the result either way), 3 = a real error.

Then read /tmp/config-audit-drift.json with the Read tool. The default-mode report itself goes to stderr, so --output-file is the only way this command sees the diff at all.

Check _baselineAnchor first. If the baseline was saved from a different directory than the one being scanned, the diff is not a drift signal — every baseline finding shows as "resolved" and every current finding as "new", which renders as a falsely reassuring "improving" trend. When the anchor differs, say so plainly and offer to re-anchor with /config-audit drift --save instead of presenting the numbers as drift.

In default mode the diff sections are humanized — finding titles, descriptions, and recommendations have already been replaced with plain-language equivalents. New/resolved/changed finding lists carry userImpactCategory, userActionLanguage, and relevanceContext so you can group and prioritize without re-deriving severity prose. If --raw was passed, the v5.0.0 diff is verbatim — present it in a code block as-is.

If baseline not found, tell the user:

No baseline found. Save one first with:
  /config-audit drift --save

Otherwise, parse and present the drift report. Use the Read tool on the captured stdout (or pipe it into a tmpfile first if you prefer):

### Configuration Drift

**Trend:** {Improving|Degrading|Stable}
**Score:** {before} → {after} ({+/-delta} points)

{If new findings:}
#### New Issues ({count})
| ID | Action | Description |
|----|--------|-------------|
| {id} | {userActionLanguage — "Fix this now", "Fix soon", etc.} | {humanized title} |

{If resolved findings:}
#### Resolved ({count})
| ID | Description |
|----|-------------|
| {id} | {humanized title} |

{If area changes:}
#### Area Changes
| Area | Before | After | Change |
|------|--------|-------|--------|
| ... | ... | ... | ... |

When iterating new/resolved findings, prefer userActionLanguage over raw severity for the "Action" column — the humanizer already mapped severity to plain-language phrasing, and surfacing it consistently keeps the toolchain coherent. Mention relevanceContext when it isn't affects-everyone (the user wants to know if a fix touches shared config or just their machine).

List baselines

If $ARGUMENTS contains --list:

node ${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/scanners/drift-cli.mjs --list 2>/dev/null

What's next

After viewing drift:

• /config-audit fix — Auto-fix new findings
• /config-audit posture — Full posture assessment
• /config-audit drift --save — Update the baseline to current state