Fix inspect defect check level at L3 and drop --check-level flag

CHANGELOG.md

@@ -15,6 +15,8 @@ and this project adheres to [Semantic Versioning](https://semver.org/spec/v2.0.0
 
 ### Changed
 
+- **Breaking**: `inspect` no longer accepts `--check-level`; the defect check
+  always runs at the deep L3 level
 - **Breaking**: tool schema uploads now emit the provider-neutral flat format
   `{name, description, parameters}` in both upload paths (push and inspect).
   The OpenAI `{type, function}` wrapper is stripped during packing; the

README.md

@@ -6,7 +6,7 @@ A command-line tool for static defect inspection of AI logical artifacts (System
 
 ## Features
 
-- **Multi-level inspection depth** — Choose between L1 (fast), L2 (standard), or L3 (deep) check levels
+- **Deep inspection** — Runs a comprehensive L3 defect check on every artifact by default
 - **Multiple artifact types** — Inspect System Prompts, Skills, and Tool Schemas
 - **CI/CD friendly** — Non-interactive runs, configuration via environment variables, dated markdown reports for pipeline artifacts
 - **Configurable rules** — Customize inspection behavior via YAML configuration
@@ -100,15 +100,9 @@ skills:
 ### 3. Run Inspection
 
 ```bash
-# Standard inspection (L2 depth)
+# Standard inspection (deep L3 defect check)
 sanityops-cli inspect
 
-# Fast inspection (L1 depth)
-sanityops-cli inspect --check-level L1
-
-# Deep inspection (L3 depth)
-sanityops-cli inspect --check-level L3
-
 # Skip defect check, only analyze artifacts
 sanityops-cli inspect --skip-defect-check
 
@@ -203,14 +197,6 @@ CLI flags (`--timeout`, `--token-budget`) override these values when explicitly
 
 All CLI operations are logged to `~/.sanityops/logs/sanityops-cli-<YYYY-MM-DD>.log`. Logs include timestamps, log levels, and redacted API keys for security.
 
-### Check Levels
-
-| Level | Description | Use Case |
-|-------|-------------|----------|
-| L1 | Fast | Quick validation during development |
-| L2 | Standard | Default, balanced depth for regular use |
-| L3 | Deep | Comprehensive analysis for production releases |
-
 ## Documentation
 
 Full documentation is available at [sanityops.org](https://sanityops.org).

src/sanityops_cli/commands/inspect.py

@@ -50,6 +50,9 @@
 #: URL users attach log files to when reporting issues.
 ISSUE_URL = "https://github.com/sanityops-org/sanityops-cli/issues"
 
+#: Defect check depth used for every inspection run (fixed, not user-configurable).
+DEFAULT_CHECK_LEVEL = "L3"
+
 
 def _load_agent_config(config_path: Path) -> dict:
     """Read the optional `agent:` section from inspect_config.yaml.
@@ -479,11 +482,6 @@ def inspect(
         help="Path to inspect_config.yaml. If omitted, looks for .sanityops/inspect_config.yaml in cwd.",
     ),
     verbose: bool = typer.Option(False, "--verbose", "-v", help="Enable verbose output"),
-    check_level: str = typer.Option(
-        "L2",
-        "--check-level",
-        help="Defect check level: L1 (fast), L2 (standard), L3 (deep).",
-    ),
     skip_defect_check: bool = typer.Option(
         False,
         "--skip-defect-check",
@@ -516,10 +514,6 @@ def inspect(
     if ctx.invoked_subcommand is not None:
         return
 
-    if check_level not in {"L1", "L2", "L3"}:
-        console.print(f"[red]✗ Invalid check level: {escape(check_level)} (must be L1/L2/L3)[/red]")
-        raise typer.Exit(code=EXIT_FAILURE)
-
     logger = Logger()
     tracker = ProgressTracker(console, logger, verbose=verbose)
 
@@ -674,7 +668,7 @@ def inspect(
 
     async def run_check():
         checker = DefectChecker(llm_config)
-        return await checker.check(result, check_level=check_level)
+        return await checker.check(result, check_level=DEFAULT_CHECK_LEVEL)
 
     try:
         with tracker.step("Running defect check..."):
@@ -693,7 +687,7 @@ async def run_check():
             response,
             report_dir,
             project_id=project_id,
-            check_level=check_level,
+            check_level=DEFAULT_CHECK_LEVEL,
             qc_result=qc_result,
         )
     except OSError as e:

src/sanityops_cli/defect_checker/checker.py

@@ -42,7 +42,7 @@ def __init__(self, llm_config: dict[str, str]):
     async def check(
         self,
         findings: FindingsResult,
-        check_level: str = "L2",
+        check_level: str = "L3",
     ) -> dict:
         """Run defect check and return the raw SDK response dict."""
         tools = self._convert_tools(findings.tools)

src/sanityops_cli/defect_checker/markdown_reporter.py

@@ -380,7 +380,7 @@ def save_markdown_report(
     output_dir: Path,
     *,
     project_id: str | None = None,
-    check_level: str = "L2",
+    check_level: str = "L3",
     qc_result: QCInspectionResult | None = None,
 ) -> Path:
     """Persist a full markdown report and return the written file path.

tests/unit/commands/test_inspect.py

@@ -335,3 +335,70 @@ def analyze_files_sync(self, prompts, tools, skills):
         i for i, line in enumerate(lines) if f"sanityops-cli v{__version__}" in line
     )
     assert "Project ID: not set" in lines[banner_line_idx + 1]
+
+
+def test_inspect_check_level_flag_removed(monkeypatch, tmp_path):
+    """--check-level is no longer an accepted option (fixed at L3)."""
+    monkeypatch.setenv("HOME", str(tmp_path))
+    skill_file = tmp_path / "skill.md"
+    skill_file.write_text("---\nname: s\ndescription: d\n---\n# X\n")
+    cfg = tmp_path / "inspect_config.yaml"
+    cfg.write_text(
+        "project:\n  id: 00000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000000\n"
+        f"skills:\n  - file: {skill_file}\n"
+    )
+
+    class FakeAgent:
+        def analyze_files_sync(self, prompts, tools, skills):
+            return _findings()
+
+    monkeypatch.setattr(
+        "sanityops_cli.commands.inspect.ScannerAgent",
+        lambda *a, **k: FakeAgent(),
+    )
+
+    result = runner.invoke(app, ["inspect", "--config", str(cfg), "--check-level", "L1"])
+    assert result.exit_code != 0
+    combined = result.stdout + (result.stderr or "")
+    assert "no such option" in combined.lower()
+
+
+def test_inspect_runs_defect_check_at_l3(monkeypatch, tmp_path):
+    """The defect check always runs at the fixed L3 level and reports it."""
+    monkeypatch.setenv("HOME", str(tmp_path))
+    skill_file = tmp_path / "skill.md"
+    skill_file.write_text("---\nname: s\ndescription: d\n---\n# X\n")
+    cfg = tmp_path / "inspect_config.yaml"
+    cfg.write_text(
+        "project:\n  id: 00000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000000\n"
+        f"skills:\n  - file: {skill_file}\n"
+    )
+
+    class FakeAgent:
+        def analyze_files_sync(self, prompts, tools, skills):
+            return _findings()
+
+    monkeypatch.setattr(
+        "sanityops_cli.commands.inspect.ScannerAgent",
+        lambda *a, **k: FakeAgent(),
+    )
+
+    captured = {}
+
+    async def fake_check(self, findings, check_level="L2"):
+        captured["check_level"] = check_level
+        return {
+            "status": "completed",
+            "summary": {"total_defects": 0, "p0_count": 0, "p1_count": 0, "p2_count": 0, "gate_result": "PASS"},
+            "results": [],
+            "errors": [],
+            "metadata": {},
+        }
+
+    monkeypatch.setattr(
+        "sanityops_cli.defect_checker.checker.DefectChecker.check", fake_check
+    )
+
+    result = runner.invoke(app, ["inspect", "--config", str(cfg)])
+    assert result.exit_code == 0
+    assert captured["check_level"] == "L3"

tests/unit/defect_checker/test_checker.py

@@ -132,12 +132,12 @@ async def fake_check(tools, prompts, skills, **kwargs):
                 "llm_base_url": "",
             }
         )
-        await checker.check(result, check_level="L2")
+        await checker.check(result, check_level="L3")
 
         assert captured["skills"] == [{"id": str(skill_dir), "name": "s", "content": ""}]
         assert captured["tools"] == []
         assert captured["prompts"] == []
-        assert captured["kwargs"]["check_level"] == "L2"
+        assert captured["kwargs"]["check_level"] == "L3"
         assert captured["kwargs"]["llm_provider"] == "anthropic"
         assert captured["kwargs"]["llm_api_key"] == "k"
         assert captured["kwargs"]["llm_model_id"] == "m"

tests/unit/defect_checker/test_markdown_reporter.py

@@ -94,7 +94,7 @@ def test_report_contains_summary_table(self, tmp_path):
                 "gate_result": "FAIL",
             },
         )
-        path = save_markdown_report(response, tmp_path, check_level="L2")
+        path = save_markdown_report(response, tmp_path, check_level="L3")
         content = path.read_text(encoding="utf-8")
         assert "## Summary" in content
         assert "| Total defects | 5 |" in content