--compact prints the config-key form of a check name, the default output prints the docs form #528

What happens

The same failing check is named two different ways depending on the output format. Both are human-facing text.

$ echo "docs: revamped the profile" | commit-check -m --subject-imperative=true --no-banner
CC003 subject-imperative check failed ==> docs: revamped the profile
                ↑ kebab

$ echo "docs: revamped the profile" | commit-check -m --subject-imperative=true --compact
[FAIL] CC003 subject_imperative: docs: revamped the profile
                     ↑ snake

Reproduced against 2.13.1.

Why the two forms exist

Both conventions are deliberate, and this is not an argument for collapsing them:

util.py already says why the default output converts:

# The kebab-case form is what the rules reference uses as its headings, so
# the name printed here can be searched for there verbatim.
name = check_type.replace("_", "-")

JSON keeping the snake_case form looks right and should not change — it mirrors the config key, so a consumer can go from a failure straight to the option that controls it. Changing it would break anything already parsing that field.

--compact is the one that sits on the wrong side: it is text for a human reading a CI log, but it prints the machine form, so the name cannot be pasted into the rules reference the way the default output's can.

Where

_print_failure in commit_check/util.py takes the raw key on the compact path, while the non-compact path reaches print_error_message, which converts:

if compact:
    compact_value = actual.splitlines()[0] if actual else actual
    label = f"{rule_id} {check['check']}" if rule_id else check["check"]
    print(f"[FAIL] {label}: {compact_value}")
    return

Applying the same .replace("_", "-") there would line the two text formats up and leave JSON alone.

Impact

Cosmetic, and the reason I noticed it rather than a bug I hit: the commit-check.com pages document both forms correctly today, because each was checked against real output. The inconsistency just means the docs have to show two spellings of one name.

Happy to send a patch if you want it — it is a one-line change plus a test, but it does alter output that someone could be grepping for, so it is your call whether that belongs in a minor or a major.