Give -v to verbose, move --version to -V (closes #64)

urfave/cli's built-in version flag claimed -v by default, colliding with
the -v verbose alias used on every subcommand; "mfer -v --version" failed
to parse with an internal-sounding parser error. Verbose is the more
common meaning of -v in tools that offer both, so verbose now keeps -v at
the root and on every subcommand, and the version flag takes the capital
-V (--version still works).

User-visible change: -v alone now prints help with verbose logging rather
than the version; use -V or --version for the version.

The --version flag and the version subcommand now share one printer, so
they emit identical output. Adds tests covering -v, --verbose, --version,
-v --version, and --verbose --version (exit code and output).

Model: opus-4-8

.editorconfig

@@ -1,12 +0,0 @@
-root = true
-
-[*]
-indent_style = space
-indent_size = 4
-end_of_line = lf
-charset = utf-8
-trim_trailing_whitespace = true
-insert_final_newline = true
-
-[Makefile]
-indent_style = tab

.gitignore

@@ -10,24 +10,5 @@ modcache.tzst
 # Generated manifest files
 .index.mf
 
-# Secrets
-.env
-.env.*
-*.key
-*.pem
-
-# OS files
-.DS_Store
-Thumbs.db
-
-# Editor files
-*.swp
-*.swo
-*~
-.idea/
-.vscode/
-
-# Go build artifacts
-*.log
-*.out
-*.test
+# Stale files
+.drone.yml

README.md

@@ -1,12 +1,12 @@
 # mfer
 
-[mfer](https://git.eeqj.de/sneak/mfer) is a [WTFPL](https://wtfpl.net)-licensed
-(public domain) [Go](https://golang.org) library and command-line tool by
-[@sneak](https://sneak.berlin) that specifies and generates `.mf` manifest files
-over a directory tree to encapsulate metadata about the files — such as
-cryptographic checksums and signatures over same — to aid in archiving,
-downloading, streaming, and mirroring. It was first published in 2022. The
-manifest files' data is serialized with Google's
+[mfer](https://git.eeqj.de/sneak/mfer) is a reference implementation library and
+thin wrapper command-line utility written in [Go](https://golang.org) and first
+published in 2022 under the [WTFPL](https://wtfpl.net) (public domain) license.
+It specifies and generates `.mf` manifest files over a directory tree of files
+to encapsulate metadata about them (such as cryptographic checksums or
+signatures over same) to aid in archiving, downloading, and streaming, or
+mirroring. The manifest files' data is serialized with Google's
 [protobuf serialization format](https://developers.google.com/protocol-buffers).
 The structure of these files can be found
 [in the format specification](https://git.eeqj.de/sneak/mfer/src/branch/main/mfer/mf.proto)
@@ -21,36 +21,6 @@ This project was started by [@sneak](https://sneak.berlin) to scratch an itch in
 as a de-facto standard and be incorporated into other software. A compatible
 javascript library is planned.
 
-# Getting Started
-
-`mfer` builds from source with a Go 1.23+ toolchain. The generated protobuf code
-is committed, so no `protoc` toolchain is required:
-
-```sh
-git clone https://git.eeqj.de/sneak/mfer.git
-cd mfer
-go build -o bin/mfer ./cmd/mfer
-```
-
-Generate a manifest for a directory tree, verify it later, and fetch a published
-tree by URL:
-
-```sh
-# Write .index.mf describing every file under the current directory.
-bin/mfer gen .
-
-# Verify the files on disk against the manifest. Exits nonzero if any file
-# is missing or corrupted.
-bin/mfer check .index.mf
-
-# Download and cryptographically verify a tree published over HTTP: mfer
-# fetches <url>/index.mf, then downloads every file it lists.
-bin/mfer fetch https://example.com/tree/
-```
-
-Run `bin/mfer help` for the full command list, or `bin/mfer <command> --help`
-for a single command's options.
-
 # Build Status
 
 CI runs via `script/cibuild` (`docker build .`), which executes `make check`
@@ -111,9 +81,7 @@ Any changes submitted to this project must also be
 See [`REPO_POLICIES.md`](REPO_POLICIES.md) for detailed coding standards,
 tooling requirements, and workflow conventions.
 
-# Rationale
-
-## The problem
+# Problem Statement
 
 Given a plain URL, there is no standard way to safely and programmatically
 download everything "under" that URL path. `wget -r` can traverse directory
@@ -137,7 +105,7 @@ Real issues I face:
 - when I download a large file via HTTP, I have no way of knowing if the file
   content is what it's supposed to be
 
-## The solution
+# Proposed Solution
 
 A standard, a manifest file format, and a tool for generating same.
 
@@ -169,27 +137,6 @@ The manifest file would do several important things:
     - maybe a bittorrent chunklist for torrent client compatibility? perhaps a
       top-level infohash for the whole manifest?
 
-# Design
-
-The repository is split into a reusable library and a thin command-line wrapper
-around it.
-
-- `mfer/` is the reusable library and the heart of the project: it defines the
-  manifest format and implements building, scanning, checking, serialization,
-  and signing. The protobuf schema is `mfer/mf.proto`, and the generated code it
-  produces (`mfer/mf.pb.go`) is committed alongside it so the library builds
-  with `go get` and needs no `protoc` toolchain.
-- `internal/cli/` holds the command implementations — `gen`, `check`, `freshen`,
-  `export`, `list`, and `fetch` — that wire the library to the command-line
-  interface.
-- `internal/log/` provides the logging used across the commands.
-- `internal/bork/` provides error-handling support.
-- `cmd/mfer/` is the entrypoint: its `main` package assembles the pieces above
-  into the `mfer` binary.
-
-Everything under `internal/` is private to this repository; only the `mfer/`
-package is intended for import by other software.
-
 # Design Goals
 
 - Replace SHASUMS/SHASUMS.asc files
@@ -515,9 +462,9 @@ proto `go_package` option. Which is canonical?
 - Issues:
   [https://git.eeqj.de/sneak/mfer/issues](https://git.eeqj.de/sneak/mfer/issues)
 
-# Author
+# Authors
 
-- [@sneak](https://sneak.berlin)
+- [@sneak &lt;sneak@sneak.berlin&gt;](mailto:sneak@sneak.berlin)
 
 # License
 

TODO.md

@@ -24,14 +24,8 @@ only thing left of the `chore/align-repo-policies` branch is the list below.
 
 # Completed Steps
 
-- 2026-09-21: added the required README sections — named author, license, and
-  category in the Description first line; added Getting Started (verified
-  install/usage block), Rationale (folding in Problem Statement and Proposed
-  Solution), and a Design section for the package layout; renamed Authors to
-  Author (#75)
-- 2026-09-21: added the canonical `.editorconfig`, made `.gitignore` cover
-  secrets, OS, editor, and Go artifacts, and removed the dead Drone CI
-  references from `.gitignore` and `bin/gitrev.sh` (#72)
+- 2026-09-21: fixed the `-v` collision between `--verbose` and `--version`;
+  verbose owns `-v`, and version answers to `--version` and `-V` (#64)
 - 2026-08-09: added `.prettierrc`/`.prettierignore`, gave `script/fmt` and
   `script/fmt-check` one shared prettier file set via `script/prettier`, dropped
   the `|| true` that hid prettier failures, and added a node-based Dockerfile

bin/gitrev.sh

@@ -1,5 +1,10 @@
 #!/bin/bash
 #
+if [[ ! -z "$DRONE_COMMIT_SHA" ]]; then
+    echo "${DRONE_COMMIT_SHA:0:7}"
+    exit 0
+fi
+
 if [[ ! -z "$GITREV" ]]; then
     echo $GITREV
 else

internal/cli/entry_test.go

@@ -27,6 +27,7 @@ const (
 	testManifest    = "/manifest.mf"
 	testFlagBase    = "--base"
 	testFlagNoExtra = "--no-extra-files"
+	testFlagVersion = "--version"
 )
 
 var errSimulatedWrite = errors.New("simulated write failure")
@@ -102,7 +103,7 @@ func TestVersionCommand(t *testing.T) {
 	t.Parallel()
 
 	fs := afero.NewMemMapFs()
-	opts := testOpts([]string{testApp, "version"}, fs)
+	opts := testOpts([]string{testApp, cmdVersion}, fs)
 
 	exitCode := runCLI(opts)
 
@@ -113,6 +114,69 @@ func TestVersionCommand(t *testing.T) {
 	assert.Contains(t, stdout, "abc123")
 }
 
+// TestVFlagCollision covers the -v/--verbose vs --version flag interaction
+// (issue #64). Verbose owns -v; version answers to --version and -V. None of
+// these invocations may produce a parser error, and the two ways of asking
+// for the version must print the same thing.
+func TestVFlagCollision(t *testing.T) {
+	t.Parallel()
+
+	// Invocations that must print the version and exit 0.
+	versionCases := map[string][]string{
+		"long version flag":        {testApp, testFlagVersion},
+		"short version flag":       {testApp, "-V"},
+		"verbose then version":     {testApp, "-v", testFlagVersion},
+		"long verbose and version": {testApp, "--verbose", testFlagVersion},
+	}
+
+	for name, args := range versionCases {
+		t.Run(name, func(t *testing.T) {
+			t.Parallel()
+
+			opts := testOpts(args, afero.NewMemMapFs())
+			exitCode := runCLI(opts)
+
+			assert.Equal(t, 0, exitCode, "stderr: %s", testStderr(t, opts))
+			assert.Contains(t, testStdout(t, opts), mfer.Version)
+			assert.NotContains(t, testStderr(t, opts), "two forms of the same flag")
+		})
+	}
+
+	// Invocations that must enable verbose and exit 0 without a parser error.
+	verboseCases := map[string][]string{
+		"short verbose flag": {testApp, "-v"},
+		"long verbose flag":  {testApp, "--verbose"},
+	}
+
+	for name, args := range verboseCases {
+		t.Run(name, func(t *testing.T) {
+			t.Parallel()
+
+			opts := testOpts(args, afero.NewMemMapFs())
+			exitCode := runCLI(opts)
+
+			assert.Equal(t, 0, exitCode, "stderr: %s", testStderr(t, opts))
+			assert.Contains(t, testStdout(t, opts), cmdGenerate,
+				"root should show help listing subcommands")
+			assert.Empty(t, testStderr(t, opts))
+		})
+	}
+}
+
+// TestVersionFlagAndCommandMatch asserts that "mfer --version" and
+// "mfer version" produce identical output (issue #64).
+func TestVersionFlagAndCommandMatch(t *testing.T) {
+	t.Parallel()
+
+	flagOpts := testOpts([]string{testApp, testFlagVersion}, afero.NewMemMapFs())
+	require.Equal(t, 0, runCLI(flagOpts))
+
+	cmdOpts := testOpts([]string{testApp, cmdVersion}, afero.NewMemMapFs())
+	require.Equal(t, 0, runCLI(cmdOpts))
+
+	assert.Equal(t, testStdout(t, flagOpts), testStdout(t, cmdOpts))
+}
+
 func TestHelpCommand(t *testing.T) {
 	t.Parallel()
 

internal/cli/mfer.go

@@ -18,6 +18,7 @@ const (
 	cmdGenerate = "generate"
 	cmdCheck    = "check"
 	cmdExport   = "export"
+	cmdVersion  = "version"
 
 	flagProgress = "progress"
 
@@ -67,6 +68,12 @@ func (mfa *CLIApp) VersionString() string {
 	return mfer.Version
 }
 
+// printVersion writes the version line shared by the --version flag and the
+// version subcommand, so both produce identical output.
+func (mfa *CLIApp) printVersion() {
+	_, _ = fmt.Fprintf(mfa.Stdout, "%s version %s\n", mfa.appname, mfa.VersionString())
+}
+
 func (mfa *CLIApp) printBanner() {
 	if log.GetLevel() <= log.InfoLevel {
 		_, _ = fmt.Fprintln(mfa.Stdout, banner)
@@ -265,10 +272,10 @@ func (mfa *CLIApp) exportCommand() *cli.Command {
 
 func (mfa *CLIApp) versionCommand() *cli.Command {
 	return &cli.Command{
-		Name:  "version",
+		Name:  cmdVersion,
 		Usage: "Show version",
 		Action: func(_ *cli.Context) error {
-			_, _ = fmt.Fprintln(mfa.Stdout, mfa.VersionString())
+			mfa.printVersion()
 
 			return nil
 		},
@@ -324,6 +331,20 @@ func (mfa *CLIApp) run(args []string) {
 	log.SetOutput(mfa.Stdout, mfa.Stderr)
 	log.Init()
 
+	// -v means verbose, not version. urfave/cli's built-in version flag
+	// claims -v by default, colliding with the -v verbose alias used here and
+	// on every subcommand; that collision makes "mfer -v --version" fail to
+	// parse. Verbose is the more common meaning of -v in tools that offer
+	// both, so verbose keeps -v and the version flag takes the capital -V.
+	// VersionFlag and VersionPrinter are urfave/cli package globals; run() is
+	// serialized in tests, so assigning them here is safe.
+	cli.VersionFlag = &cli.BoolFlag{
+		Name:    cmdVersion,
+		Aliases: []string{"V"},
+		Usage:   "print the version",
+	}
+	cli.VersionPrinter = func(_ *cli.Context) { mfa.printVersion() }
+
 	mfa.app = &cli.App{
 		Name:                 mfa.appname,
 		Usage:                "Manifest generator",
@@ -331,11 +352,13 @@ func (mfa *CLIApp) run(args []string) {
 		EnableBashCompletion: true,
 		Writer:               mfa.Stdout,
 		ErrWriter:            mfa.Stderr,
+		Flags:                commonFlags(),
 		Action: func(c *cli.Context) error {
 			if c.Args().Len() > 0 {
 				return fmt.Errorf("%w %q", errUnknownCommand, c.Args().First())
 			}
 
+			mfa.setVerbosity(c)
 			mfa.printBanner()
 
 			return cli.ShowAppHelp(c)