kanon import should summarize discovered source files before the YAML preview

[kelos-bot]

Problem

On a fresh kanon init, running kanon import prints warnings and a synthesized kanon.yaml, but it does not tell the user which agent files were discovered or where the imported content came from. In the first-run case I tested, the output included warnings and YAML only, with no discovery summary or source-path header.

That makes the import result hard to trust: a new user cannot easily tell whether the data came from Codex, Claude, or project files, or whether the command found anything meaningful before it started emitting warnings.

Repro

./bin/kanon --home "$HOME/.config/kanon" init
./bin/kanon --home "$HOME/.config/kanon" import

Suggested fix

Add a short summary before the YAML preview that names the discovered source files/units and counts what will be imported, for example:

• instructions from ~/.codex/AGENTS.md
• skills from ~/.claude/skills/...
• MCP servers / hooks from their source files

Even a compact header would make the preview much easier to understand on first run.

[kelos-bot]

🤖 Kelos Task Status

Task kanon-triage-issues-95a4a7962f12 has succeeded. ✅

[kelos-bot]

🤖 Kelos Agent @gjkim42

Kanon Triage Report

Kind: kind/api
Priority: priority/important-longterm — Improves first-run import trust and clarity, but it is a quality-of-life/API-output change rather than an urgent breakage.
Actor: actor/human — The suggested header would change kanon import stdout before the YAML preview, which could affect scripted consumers and should be reviewed by a maintainer.

Status: STILL VALID

Evidence:

• No merged PRs referencing kanon import should summarize discovered source files before the YAML preview #90 were found via gh pr list --state merged --search "90", and recent git log searches for kanon import should summarize discovered source files before the YAML preview #90 / import summary terms found no matching commits.
• The current CLI still prints warnings, then writes only core.ImportPreview(result) to stdout for bare import:

  kanon/internal/cli/root.go

  Lines 373 to 387 in ed22fa0

  	for _, warning := range result.Warnings {
  	fmt.Fprintf(cmd.ErrOrStderr(), "warning: %s\n", warning)
  	}
  	if opts.write {
  	if err := core.WriteImport(target.KanonHome, result, opts.force); err != nil {
  	return err
  	}
  	fmt.Fprintf(cmd.OutOrStdout(), "Wrote imported config to %s\n", filepath.Join(target.KanonHome, "kanon.yaml"))
  	return nil
  	}
  	data, err := core.ImportPreview(result)
  	if err != nil {
  	return err
  	}
  	fmt.Fprint(cmd.OutOrStdout(), string(data))

• ImportPreview currently returns only marshaled kanon.yaml config, with no discovery summary/header:

  kanon/internal/core/import.go

  Lines 90 to 97 in ed22fa0

  	func ImportPreview(result *ImportResult) ([]byte, error) {
  	if result == nil || result.Config == nil {
  	return nil, errors.New("missing import result")
  	}
  	cfg := *result.Config
  	cfg.Skills = append([]Skill(nil), result.Config.Skills...)
  	compactImplicitLocalSkills(&cfg)
  	return configToYAML(&cfg)

• Import discovery reads Codex/Claude instruction and skill paths, but the result model does not preserve source-path provenance for CLI preview output:

  kanon/internal/core/import_assets.go

  Lines 14 to 49 in ed22fa0

  	func importInstructions(result *ImportResult, opts ImportOptions) error {
  	if opts.InstructionPolicy == InstructionPolicySkip {
  	return nil
  	}
  	codexPath := filepath.Join(opts.UserHome, ".codex", "AGENTS.md")
  	claudePath := filepath.Join(opts.UserHome, ".claude", "CLAUDE.md")
  	if opts.Project != "" {
  	codexPath = filepath.Join(opts.Project, "AGENTS.md")
  	claudePath = filepath.Join(opts.Project, "CLAUDE.md")
  	}
  	var codex, claude []byte
  	var err error
  	if opts.Agent == AgentAll || opts.Agent == AgentCodex {
  	codex, err = readIfExists(codexPath)
  	if err != nil {
  	return err
  	}
  	}
  	if opts.Agent == AgentAll || opts.Agent == AgentClaude {
  	claude, err = readIfExists(claudePath)
  	if err != nil {
  	return err
  	}
  	}
  	content, err := chooseInstructionContent(codex, claude, opts.InstructionPolicy)
  	if err != nil {
  	return err
  	}
  	if len(content) == 0 {
  	return nil
  	}
  	rel := filepath.Join("instructions", "imported.md")
  	result.Config.Instructions.Files = []string{rel}
  	result.Files[rel] = content
  	return nil
  	}

  and

  kanon/internal/core/types.go

  Lines 112 to 116 in ed22fa0

  	type ImportOptions struct {
  	TargetOptions `yaml:",inline"`
  	SecretPolicy SecretPolicy
  	InstructionPolicy InstructionPolicy
  	}

• Related open issues exist around import UX (Document default kanon import stdout preview #60, kanon import should tell users when no agent settings were found #83), but they cover documenting preview mode or empty-import feedback rather than summarizing discovered source files before the YAML preview.

Duplicates found: None found

Recommendation: KEEP OPEN