load

The load action parses a SARIF file and stores issues in Sheriff’s database. This is typically the first action in any session.

Request

{
  "action": "load",
  "target": "path/to/results.sarif"
}

Parameters

Parameter	Type	Required	Description
`target`	string	Yes	Path to a SARIF file or directory containing SARIF files (directories are scanned up to 2 levels deep)

Response

{
  "file": "qodana.sarif.json",
  "total": 136,
  "sev": {"H": 104, "M": 32},
  "rules": {"ConstantValue": 22, "unused": 15, "...": "..."},
  "files": 23,
  "prior": {"fixed": 10, "skip": 2}
}

Response Fields

Field	Description
`file`	SARIF file path, or target directory path when loading multiple files
`total`	Total number of issues
`sev`	Breakdown by severity (H=High, M=Moderate, L=Low)
`rules`	Count per rule ID (top 10 by count)
`files`	Number of unique files with issues
`prior`	Previously marked issues (from prior sessions)

Behavior

Fresh Load

When loading a new SARIF file (different content hash):

All issues are parsed and stored
Prior progress counts are captured for the response, then the database is reset
New session starts with all issues in “pending” state

Reload Same File

When loading the same SARIF file again:

Existing progress is preserved
prior shows how many issues were already marked
Useful after session restart or context compaction

Examples

Load Qodana Results

{"action": "load", "target": "build/qodana/qodana.sarif.json"}

Load with Absolute Path

{"action": "load", "target": "/home/user/project/results.sarif"}

Response Example

{
  "file": "qodana.sarif.json",
  "total": 136,
  "sev": {"H": 104, "M": 32},
  "rules": {
    "ConstantValue": 22,
    "unused": 15,
    "DataFlowIssue": 12,
    "NullableProblems": 8
  },
  "files": 23,
  "prior": {"fixed": 0, "skip": 0}
}

Error Cases

Error Code	Cause	Solution
`INVALID_TARGET`	Target path is null, empty, or blank	Provide a valid file or directory path
`SARIF_NOT_FOUND`	No SARIF files found at path	Check the file path exists and contains `.sarif` or `.sarif.json` files
`SARIF_PARSE_ERROR`	File isn’t valid SARIF JSON	Verify your static analysis tool output
`DB_ERROR`	Database error occurred	Check `.sheriff/` directory permissions