container inspect: Add human-readable and yaml output formats

The container inspect command previously only supported JSON output.
This extends it to support human-readable output (now the default)
and YAML, matching the output format options available in other
bootc commands like status.

The --json flag provides backward compatibility for scripts that
expect JSON output, while --format allows explicit selection of
any supported format.

Assisted-by: OpenCode (Sonnet 4)
Signed-off-by: Colin Walters <walters@verbum.org>

Author: cgwalters

crates/lib/src/cli.rs

@@ -319,11 +319,22 @@ pub(crate) enum InstallOpts {
 /// Subcommands which can be executed as part of a container build.
 #[derive(Debug, clap::Subcommand, PartialEq, Eq)]
 pub(crate) enum ContainerOpts {
-    /// Output JSON to stdout containing the container image metadata.
+    /// Output information about the container image.
+    ///
+    /// By default, a human-readable summary is output. Use --json or --format
+    /// to change the output format.
     Inspect {
         /// Operate on the provided rootfs.
         #[clap(long, default_value = "/")]
         rootfs: Utf8PathBuf,
+
+        /// Output in JSON format.
+        #[clap(long)]
+        json: bool,
+
+        /// The output format.
+        #[clap(long, conflicts_with = "json")]
+        format: Option<OutputFormat>,
     },
     /// Perform relatively inexpensive static analysis checks as part of a container
     /// build.
@@ -1457,15 +1468,11 @@ async fn run_from_opt(opt: Opt) -> Result<()> {
             }
         }
         Opt::Container(opts) => match opts {
-            ContainerOpts::Inspect { rootfs } => {
-                let root = &Dir::open_ambient_dir(&rootfs, cap_std::ambient_authority())?;
-                let kargs = crate::bootc_kargs::get_kargs_in_root(root, std::env::consts::ARCH)?;
-                let kargs: Vec<String> = kargs.iter_str().map(|s| s.to_owned()).collect();
-                let kernel = crate::kernel::find_kernel(root)?;
-                let inspect = crate::spec::ContainerInspect { kargs, kernel };
-                serde_json::to_writer_pretty(std::io::stdout().lock(), &inspect)?;
-                Ok(())
-            }
+            ContainerOpts::Inspect {
+                rootfs,
+                json,
+                format,
+            } => crate::status::container_inspect(&rootfs, json, format),
             ContainerOpts::Lint {
                 rootfs,
                 fatal_warnings,

crates/lib/src/spec.rs

@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 //! The definition for host system state.
 
 use std::fmt::Display;
+
 use std::str::FromStr;
 
 use anyhow::Result;

crates/lib/src/status.rs

@@ -801,6 +801,77 @@ fn human_readable_output(mut out: impl Write, host: &Host, verbose: bool) -> Res
     Ok(())
 }
 
+/// Output container inspection in human-readable format
+fn container_inspect_print_human(
+    inspect: &crate::spec::ContainerInspect,
+    mut out: impl Write,
+) -> Result<()> {
+    // Collect rows to determine the max label width
+    let mut rows: Vec<(&str, String)> = Vec::new();
+
+    if let Some(kernel) = &inspect.kernel {
+        rows.push(("Kernel", kernel.version.clone()));
+        let kernel_type = if kernel.unified { "UKI" } else { "vmlinuz" };
+        rows.push(("Type", kernel_type.to_string()));
+    } else {
+        rows.push(("Kernel", "<none>".to_string()));
+    }
+
+    let kargs = if inspect.kargs.is_empty() {
+        "<none>".to_string()
+    } else {
+        inspect.kargs.join(" ")
+    };
+    rows.push(("Kargs", kargs));
+
+    // Find the max label width for right-alignment
+    let max_label_len = rows.iter().map(|(label, _)| label.len()).max().unwrap_or(0);
+
+    for (label, value) in rows {
+        write_row_name(&mut out, label, max_label_len)?;
+        writeln!(out, "{value}")?;
+    }
+
+    Ok(())
+}
+
+/// Inspect a container image and output information about it.
+pub(crate) fn container_inspect(
+    rootfs: &camino::Utf8Path,
+    json: bool,
+    format: Option<OutputFormat>,
+) -> Result<()> {
+    let root = cap_std_ext::cap_std::fs::Dir::open_ambient_dir(
+        rootfs,
+        cap_std_ext::cap_std::ambient_authority(),
+    )?;
+    let kargs = crate::bootc_kargs::get_kargs_in_root(&root, std::env::consts::ARCH)?;
+    let kargs: Vec<String> = kargs.iter_str().map(|s| s.to_owned()).collect();
+    let kernel = crate::kernel::find_kernel(&root)?;
+    let inspect = crate::spec::ContainerInspect { kargs, kernel };
+
+    // Determine output format: explicit --format wins, then --json, then default to human-readable
+    let format = format.unwrap_or(if json {
+        OutputFormat::Json
+    } else {
+        OutputFormat::HumanReadable
+    });
+
+    let mut out = std::io::stdout().lock();
+    match format {
+        OutputFormat::Json => {
+            serde_json::to_writer_pretty(&mut out, &inspect)?;
+        }
+        OutputFormat::Yaml => {
+            serde_yaml::to_writer(&mut out, &inspect)?;
+        }
+        OutputFormat::HumanReadable => {
+            container_inspect_print_human(&inspect, &mut out)?;
+        }
+    }
+    Ok(())
+}
+
 #[cfg(test)]
 mod tests {
     use super::*;
@@ -1007,4 +1078,60 @@ mod tests {
         // Verbose output should include download-only status as "no" for normal staged deployments
         assert!(w.contains("Download-only: no"));
     }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn test_container_inspect_human_readable() {
+        let inspect = crate::spec::ContainerInspect {
+            kargs: vec!["console=ttyS0".into(), "quiet".into()],
+            kernel: Some(crate::kernel::Kernel {
+                version: "6.12.0-100.fc41.x86_64".into(),
+                unified: false,
+            }),
+        };
+        let mut w = Vec::new();
+        container_inspect_print_human(&inspect, &mut w).unwrap();
+        let output = String::from_utf8(w).unwrap();
+        let expected = indoc::indoc! { r"
+            Kernel: 6.12.0-100.fc41.x86_64
+              Type: vmlinuz
+             Kargs: console=ttyS0 quiet
+        "};
+        similar_asserts::assert_eq!(output, expected);
+    }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn test_container_inspect_human_readable_uki() {
+        let inspect = crate::spec::ContainerInspect {
+            kargs: vec![],
+            kernel: Some(crate::kernel::Kernel {
+                version: "6.12.0-100.fc41.x86_64".into(),
+                unified: true,
+            }),
+        };
+        let mut w = Vec::new();
+        container_inspect_print_human(&inspect, &mut w).unwrap();
+        let output = String::from_utf8(w).unwrap();
+        let expected = indoc::indoc! { r"
+            Kernel: 6.12.0-100.fc41.x86_64
+              Type: UKI
+             Kargs: <none>
+        "};
+        similar_asserts::assert_eq!(output, expected);
+    }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn test_container_inspect_human_readable_no_kernel() {
+        let inspect = crate::spec::ContainerInspect {
+            kargs: vec!["console=ttyS0".into()],
+            kernel: None,
+        };
+        let mut w = Vec::new();
+        container_inspect_print_human(&inspect, &mut w).unwrap();
+        let output = String::from_utf8(w).unwrap();
+        let expected = indoc::indoc! { r"
+            Kernel: <none>
+             Kargs: console=ttyS0
+        "};
+        similar_asserts::assert_eq!(output, expected);
+    }
 }

crates/tests-integration/src/container.rs

@@ -24,7 +24,7 @@ pub(crate) fn test_bootc_status() -> Result<()> {
 pub(crate) fn test_bootc_container_inspect() -> Result<()> {
     let sh = Shell::new()?;
     let inspect: serde_json::Value =
-        serde_json::from_str(&cmd!(sh, "bootc container inspect").read()?)?;
+        serde_json::from_str(&cmd!(sh, "bootc container inspect --json").read()?)?;
 
     // check kargs processing
     let kargs = inspect.get("kargs").unwrap().as_array().unwrap();

docs/src/man/bootc-container-inspect.8.md

@@ -16,7 +16,7 @@ The command outputs a JSON object with the following fields:
 
 - `kargs`: An array of kernel arguments embedded in the container image.
 - `kernel`: An object containing kernel information (or `null` if no kernel is found):
-  - `version`: The kernel version identifier. For traditional kernels, this is derived from the `/usr/lib/modules/<version>` directory name (equivalent to `uname -r`). For UKI images, this is is the UKI filename without the `.efi` extension - which should usually be the same as the uname.
+  - `version`: The kernel version identifier. For vmlinuz kernels, this is derived from the `/usr/lib/modules/<version>` directory name (equivalent to `uname -r`). For UKI images, this is the UKI filename without the `.efi` extension - which should usually be the same as the uname.
   - `unified`: A boolean indicating whether the kernel is packaged as a UKI (Unified Kernel Image).
 
 # OPTIONS
@@ -28,6 +28,19 @@ The command outputs a JSON object with the following fields:
 
     Default: /
 
+**--json**
+
+    Output in JSON format
+
+**--format**=*FORMAT*
+
+    The output format
+
+    Possible values:
+    - humanreadable
+    - yaml
+    - json
+
 <!-- END GENERATED OPTIONS -->
 
 # EXAMPLES
@@ -36,7 +49,7 @@ Inspect container image metadata:
 
     bootc container inspect
 
-Example output (traditional kernel):
+Example output (vmlinuz kernel):
 
 ```json
 {

docs/src/man/bootc-container.8.md

@@ -19,7 +19,7 @@ Operations which can be executed as part of a container build
 <!-- BEGIN GENERATED SUBCOMMANDS -->
 | Command | Description |
 |---------|-------------|
-| **bootc container inspect** | Output JSON to stdout containing the container image metadata |
+| **bootc container inspect** | Output information about the container image |
 | **bootc container lint** | Perform relatively inexpensive static analysis checks as part of a container build |
 
 <!-- END GENERATED SUBCOMMANDS -->