fix: CLI rejects negative --max-depth and --limit values (#248, #249) (#253)

- structure --max-depth now validates for non-negative values
- search --limit/--max-results now validates for non-negative values
- Both use click.BadParameter with clear error messages
- Follows existing pattern from sections-at-level (Issue #199)
- Bump version to 0.4.22

Co-authored-by: Claude Opus 4.6 <noreply@anthropic.com>

Author: raifdmueller

pyproject.toml

@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 [project]
 name = "dacli"
-version = "0.4.23"
+version = "0.4.24"
 description = "Documentation Access CLI - Navigate and query large documentation projects"
 readme = "README.md"
 license = { text = "MIT" }

src/dacli/__init__.py

@@ -4,4 +4,5 @@
 through hierarchical, content-aware access via the Model Context Protocol (MCP).
 """
 
-__version__ = "0.4.23"
+
+__version__ = "0.4.24"

src/dacli/cli.py

@@ -389,6 +389,13 @@ def cli(
 @pass_context
 def structure(ctx: CliContext, max_depth: int | None):
     """Get the hierarchical document structure."""
+    # Validate max_depth is non-negative (Issue #248)
+    if max_depth is not None and max_depth < 0:
+        raise click.BadParameter(
+            f"max-depth must be non-negative, got {max_depth}. "
+            "Use 0 for root level only, or omit for full depth.",
+            param_hint="'--max-depth'",
+        )
     result = ctx.index.get_structure(max_depth)
     click.echo(format_output(ctx, result))
 
@@ -516,6 +523,13 @@ def sections_at_level(ctx: CliContext, level: int):
 @pass_context
 def search(ctx: CliContext, query: str, scope: str | None, max_results: int):
     """Search for content in the documentation."""
+    # Validate max_results is non-negative (Issue #249)
+    if max_results < 0:
+        raise click.BadParameter(
+            f"limit must be non-negative, got {max_results}. "
+            "Use 0 for no results, or a positive number to limit results.",
+            param_hint="'--limit'",
+        )
     # Validate query is not empty
     if not query or not query.strip():
         click.echo("Error: Search query cannot be empty", err=True)

tests/test_cli_negative_validation_248_249.py

@@ -0,0 +1,177 @@
+"""Tests for Issues #248 and #249: CLI should reject negative --max-depth and --limit.
+
+Issue #248: `dacli structure --max-depth -1` accepts negative values without error.
+Issue #249: `dacli search "test" --limit -5` accepts negative values without error.
+
+Both should reject negative values with a clear error message,
+following the same pattern as sections-at-level (Issue #199).
+"""
+
+from pathlib import Path
+
+import pytest
+from click.testing import CliRunner
+
+from dacli.cli import cli
+
+
+@pytest.fixture
+def temp_doc_dir(tmp_path: Path) -> Path:
+    """Create a temporary directory with test documents."""
+    doc_file = tmp_path / "test.adoc"
+    doc_file.write_text(
+        """= Test Document
+
+== Introduction
+
+Some introductory content.
+
+== Details
+
+More detailed content here.
+""",
+        encoding="utf-8",
+    )
+    return tmp_path
+
+
+class TestStructureNegativeMaxDepth:
+    """Issue #248: structure --max-depth should reject negative values."""
+
+    def test_negative_max_depth_rejected(self, temp_doc_dir: Path):
+        """--max-depth -1 should be rejected with clear error."""
+        runner = CliRunner()
+        result = runner.invoke(
+            cli,
+            ["--docs-root", str(temp_doc_dir), "structure", "--max-depth", "-1"],
+        )
+
+        assert result.exit_code != 0
+        assert "max-depth must be non-negative" in result.output
+
+    def test_negative_max_depth_includes_value(self, temp_doc_dir: Path):
+        """Error message should include the actual negative value."""
+        runner = CliRunner()
+        result = runner.invoke(
+            cli,
+            ["--docs-root", str(temp_doc_dir), "structure", "--max-depth", "-5"],
+        )
+
+        assert result.exit_code != 0
+        assert "got -5" in result.output
+
+    def test_max_depth_zero_works(self, temp_doc_dir: Path):
+        """--max-depth 0 should work (returns only root level)."""
+        runner = CliRunner()
+        result = runner.invoke(
+            cli,
+            ["--docs-root", str(temp_doc_dir), "structure", "--max-depth", "0"],
+        )
+
+        assert result.exit_code == 0
+
+    def test_max_depth_positive_works(self, temp_doc_dir: Path):
+        """--max-depth 2 should work normally."""
+        runner = CliRunner()
+        result = runner.invoke(
+            cli,
+            ["--docs-root", str(temp_doc_dir), "structure", "--max-depth", "2"],
+        )
+
+        assert result.exit_code == 0
+
+    def test_max_depth_none_works(self, temp_doc_dir: Path):
+        """Omitting --max-depth should work (returns full structure)."""
+        runner = CliRunner()
+        result = runner.invoke(
+            cli,
+            ["--docs-root", str(temp_doc_dir), "structure"],
+        )
+
+        assert result.exit_code == 0
+
+    def test_str_alias_negative_max_depth_rejected(self, temp_doc_dir: Path):
+        """The 'str' alias should also reject negative --max-depth."""
+        runner = CliRunner()
+        result = runner.invoke(
+            cli,
+            ["--docs-root", str(temp_doc_dir), "str", "--max-depth", "-1"],
+        )
+
+        assert result.exit_code != 0
+        assert "max-depth must be non-negative" in result.output
+
+
+class TestSearchNegativeLimit:
+    """Issue #249: search --limit should reject negative values."""
+
+    def test_negative_limit_rejected(self, temp_doc_dir: Path):
+        """--limit -5 should be rejected with clear error."""
+        runner = CliRunner()
+        result = runner.invoke(
+            cli,
+            ["--docs-root", str(temp_doc_dir), "search", "test", "--limit", "-5"],
+        )
+
+        assert result.exit_code != 0
+        assert "limit must be non-negative" in result.output
+
+    def test_negative_limit_includes_value(self, temp_doc_dir: Path):
+        """Error message should include the actual negative value."""
+        runner = CliRunner()
+        result = runner.invoke(
+            cli,
+            ["--docs-root", str(temp_doc_dir), "search", "test", "--limit", "-1"],
+        )
+
+        assert result.exit_code != 0
+        assert "got -1" in result.output
+
+    def test_negative_max_results_rejected(self, temp_doc_dir: Path):
+        """--max-results -3 should also be rejected (alias for --limit)."""
+        runner = CliRunner()
+        result = runner.invoke(
+            cli,
+            [
+                "--docs-root",
+                str(temp_doc_dir),
+                "search",
+                "test",
+                "--max-results",
+                "-3",
+            ],
+        )
+
+        assert result.exit_code != 0
+        assert "limit must be non-negative" in result.output
+
+    def test_limit_zero_works(self, temp_doc_dir: Path):
+        """--limit 0 should work (returns no results)."""
+        runner = CliRunner()
+        result = runner.invoke(
+            cli,
+            ["--docs-root", str(temp_doc_dir), "search", "test", "--limit", "0"],
+        )
+
+        assert result.exit_code == 0
+
+    def test_limit_positive_works(self, temp_doc_dir: Path):
+        """--limit 5 should work normally."""
+        runner = CliRunner()
+        result = runner.invoke(
+            cli,
+            ["--docs-root", str(temp_doc_dir), "search", "test", "--limit", "5"],
+        )
+
+        assert result.exit_code == 0
+
+    def test_search_alias_negative_limit_rejected(self, temp_doc_dir: Path):
+        """The 's' alias should also reject negative --limit."""
+        runner = CliRunner()
+        result = runner.invoke(
+            cli,
+            ["--docs-root", str(temp_doc_dir), "s", "test", "--limit", "-5"],
+        )
+
+        assert result.exit_code != 0
+        assert "limit must be non-negative" in result.output