An opt-in --brief flag is a reasonable proposal: keep the existing JSON output by default, and have the flag return only identity fields that are present in the response. Issue identity and comment identity should be distinguished; a comment should not be assigned an issue number or reference of its own. This is a design recommendation, not a commitment that the feature will be accepted.

Currently neither command has a compact-output option; both print the server response unchanged. You can already keep the full text out of the agent context by filtering stdout in the same shell invocation, for example in Bash with jq installed:

set -o pipefail
tod issue create 'Example title' --description 'Example description' |
  jq -c '{id, number, reference, link} | with_entries(select(.value != null))'

tod issue add-comment TOD-23 'Example comment' |
  jq -c '{id, number, reference, link} | with_entries(select(.value != null))'

This retains whichever of those identity fields the server actually supplies and omits the description/comment text. pipefail preserves a failure from tod. If no response fields are needed, redirect stdout to /dev/null; errors on stderr remain visible.

Does this address your token-cost concern, or do you specifically need a built-in option?

Thanks – the jq filter works, and it is what we do for now. We would still like the built-in option: an agent pays the token cost by default on every create and add-comment, and avoiding it requires knowing the trick in advance. An opt-in --brief with exactly the semantics you describe – identity fields only, and no number or reference for a comment – would cover it. Please keep this as an enhancement request.

Reclassified this as an enhancement request and kept it open. The requested behavior is an opt-in --brief for tod issue create and tod issue add-comment, returning only available identity fields while preserving the existing default output. A comment must not receive an issue number or reference of its own.

@robin, please review this request for acceptance. skudr confirms the jq workaround works but still needs a built-in option for agents.

State changed as build TOD-239 (4.4.0) is successful