Zenzic v0.26.0: DQS Workspace UI & Asynchronous CLI Bridge

Zenzic v0.26.0 introduces the Asynchronous CLI Execution Bridge, bringing the global Documentation Quality Score (DQS) into the editor authoring environment while enforcing 100% mathematical determinism between terminal runs and VS Code status bar indicators.

Reconciling Editor Performance with Global Scoring

Calculating a workspace-wide Documentation Quality Score across hundreds of Markdown files requires a complete topological audit. In previous iterations, attempting to estimate global quality from incremental Language Server Protocol (LSP) events led to diagnostic divergence between in-editor status bar indicators and authoritative CI/CD batch runs.

Zenzic v0.26.0 solves this fundamental architectural challenge by establishing a strict separation of concerns:

• Ultra-Fast LSP Engine (sub-50ms): The Python Language Server remains purely focused on incremental single-file diagnostics and real-time buffer validation.
• Asynchronous CLI Execution Bridge: The VS Code extension acts as an orchestrator, executing zenzic score --json in a background worker process via child_process.execFile.

---

Architectural Invariants Preserved

1. Absolute Determinism

Because the status bar indicator is powered directly by zenzic score --json, the score displayed inside VS Code is mathematically identical to the score computed by GitHub Actions and CI/CD pipelines.

2. Radical Unawareness (ADR-075)

The Python Core remains completely unaware of its consumer. When invoked with --json, zenzic score writes a single, structured JSON payload to stdout and exits cleanly. It contains zero editor-specific or transport-specific logic.

3. Thin Client Architecture

The TypeScript extension performs no scoring calculations. It simply parses the JSON response and updates the status bar item ($(dashboard) Zenzic DQS: 98/100) and detailed breakdown tooltips.

---

Programmatic Output: The --json Shorthand Flag

To support programmatic consumers, CLI tools, and editor integrations, Zenzic v0.26.0 introduces the --json shorthand flag on the zenzic score command.

# Programmatic JSON execution
zenzic score --json

JSON Output Schema

{
  "project": "zenzic",
  "score": 98,
  "threshold": 0,
  "status": "success",
  "timestamp": "2026-07-26T18:49:29+00:00",
  "categories": [
    {
      "name": "structural",
      "weight": 0.3,
      "issues": 0,
      "category_score": 1.0,
      "contribution": 0.3,
      "raw_penalty": 0,
      "is_capped": false
    },
    {
      "name": "navigation",
      "weight": 0.25,
      "issues": 0,
      "category_score": 1.0,
      "contribution": 0.25,
      "raw_penalty": 0,
      "is_capped": false
    },
    {
      "name": "content",
      "weight": 0.2,
      "issues": 0,
      "category_score": 1.0,
      "contribution": 0.2,
      "raw_penalty": 0,
      "is_capped": false
    },
    {
      "name": "brand",
      "weight": 0.25,
      "issues": 0,
      "category_score": 1.0,
      "contribution": 0.25,
      "raw_penalty": 0,
      "is_capped": false
    }
  ],
  "suppression_count": 2,
  "suppression_cap": 30,
  "suppression_debt_pts": 2,
  "debt_status": "MANAGED DEBT"
}

---

In-Editor UX & Contributed Commands

Zenzic v0.26.0 contributes a new command to VS Code:

• Zenzic: Compute Global DQS (zenzic.computeDQS): Clicking the DQS status bar item triggers an on-demand background evaluation.

Status Bar Indicator States

• $(dashboard) Zenzic DQS: 98/100 — High quality score ($\ge 80$).
• $(warning) Zenzic DQS: 65/100 — Quality floor warning ($50 \le \text{score} < 80$).
• $(error) Zenzic DQS: 30/100 — Blocking quality failure ($\text{score} < 50$).
• $(sync~spin) Zenzic DQS: Computing... — Background evaluation active.

---

Upgrade Guide

Core Engine & CLI

uv tool install --force zenzic

VS Code Extension

Update to version 0.26.0 from the VS Code Marketplace or reload your editor workspace.