LicenseOps (lops)

A fast CLI tool to check, fix, and migrate license headers across 50+ languages. Supports SPDX, REUSE, Apache/GPL boilerplates, and custom templates. Built for CI pipelines, pre-commit hooks, and local development.

Why "LicenseOps"? — "License" says what it manages, "Ops" signals it's an operational tool built for automation — CI pipelines, pre-commit hooks, workflows. The CLI binary is lops (LicenseOps) — 4 characters, fast to type, same pattern as Kubernetes → kubectl, Terraform → tf.

Features

• Check, Fix, Remove — validate headers, auto-add/replace them, or strip them entirely
• Multiple formats — SPDX short (1-line and 2-line), REUSE, Apache 2.0 boilerplate, GPL/LGPL/AGPL boilerplate, custom templates
• 50+ languages — correct comment syntax for Go, Rust, Python, JavaScript/TypeScript, Java, C/C++, Shell, YAML, CSS, HTML, SQL, and many more
• SPDX expressions — Apache-2.0 OR MIT, GPL-3.0-only WITH Classpath-exception-2.0
• Smart handling — preserves shebangs and Python encoding declarations, skips generated files and binaries
• Gitignore-aware — respects .gitignore patterns automatically
• Cross-format migration — switch from one header format to another without manual cleanup; old headers are fully detected, stripped, and replaced
• Parallel processing — files are processed concurrently for fast execution on large codebases
• Structured output — --output json and --output sarif for CI tooling and GitHub Code Scanning
• CI-ready — exit codes 0/1/2/3, --dry-run, --diff, Docker image, GitHub Actions compatible
• Zero config viable — works with just lops check -l MIT -o "Your Name" .

Installation

Binary

Download the binary for your platform from Releases:

macOS (Apple Silicon)

curl -sSL https://github.com/licenseops/licenseops/releases/latest/download/licenseops_darwin_arm64.tar.gz | tar xz
sudo mv lops /usr/local/bin/

macOS (Intel)

curl -sSL https://github.com/licenseops/licenseops/releases/latest/download/licenseops_darwin_amd64.tar.gz | tar xz
sudo mv lops /usr/local/bin/

Linux (x64)

curl -sSL https://github.com/licenseops/licenseops/releases/latest/download/licenseops_linux_amd64.tar.gz | tar xz
sudo mv lops /usr/local/bin/

Linux (ARM)

curl -sSL https://github.com/licenseops/licenseops/releases/latest/download/licenseops_linux_arm64.tar.gz | tar xz
sudo mv lops /usr/local/bin/

Go install

go install github.com/licenseops/licenseops/cmd/lops@latest

Docker

# Latest stable release
docker run --rm -v "$PWD":/src -w /src ghcr.io/licenseops/licenseops:latest check

# Pinned to exact version
docker run --rm -v "$PWD":/src -w /src ghcr.io/licenseops/licenseops:0.2.0 check

# Latest development build (tracks main branch)
docker run --rm -v "$PWD":/src -w /src ghcr.io/licenseops/licenseops:latest-dev check

Quick Start

Initialize a config file (interactive):

lops init

Or check compliance directly:

lops check -l Apache-2.0 -o "Acme Corp" .

Fix headers:

lops fix -l Apache-2.0 -o "Acme Corp" .

Preview changes as a unified diff:

lops fix --diff

Remove all headers:

lops remove --dry-run    # preview first
lops remove              # then remove

Config file — create .licenseops.yaml in your project root (or use lops init):

license: Apache-2.0
copyright-holder: 'Acme Corp'
exclude:
  - 'vendor/**'
  - '**/*.pb.go'

Then simply:

lops check
lops fix

Header Formats

Format	Config value	Description
SPDX 2-line	spdx (default)	// Copyright 2026 Acme Corp + // SPDX-License-Identifier: Apache-2.0
SPDX 1-line	spdx (no owner)	// SPDX-License-Identifier: MIT
REUSE	reuse	// SPDX-FileCopyrightText: 2026 Acme Corp + // SPDX-License-Identifier: MIT
Apache 2.0	apache-long	Full 14-line Apache boilerplate
GPL/LGPL/AGPL	gpl-long	Full GNU boilerplate (auto-selects GPL, LGPL, or AGPL)
Custom	custom	User-defined Go template file

See Header Format Comparison for side-by-side examples.

CLI Flags

-l, --license         SPDX license identifier or expression
-o, --owner           copyright holder
-f, --format          header format (spdx, reuse, apache-long, gpl-long, custom)
-y, --year            copyright year
-c, --config          config file path (default: .licenseops.yaml)
-v, --verbose         show status of every file
    --dry-run         preview changes without modifying files (fix/remove)
    --diff            show unified diff of changes (fix, implies dry-run)
    --excluded-only   invert scan; process only files matching exclude
                      patterns from your config (remove only)
    --output          output format: text (default), json, sarif

Precedence: CLI flags > config file > defaults

Exit Codes

Code	Meaning
0	All files compliant / all files fixed
1	Non-compliant files found
2	Runtime error
3	Partial failure (some errors and some non-compliant)

Next Steps

• Getting Started — install and add headers in 3 minutes
• Configuration Guide — full config file reference, CLI flags, and merge rules
• Header Formats — side-by-side format comparison to choose the right one
• Use Cases — 12 real-world scenarios with example configs
• CI Integration — GitHub Actions, GitLab CI, pre-commit, Docker
• Supported Languages — all 50+ file types and comment styles
• FAQ & Troubleshooting — common questions and error resolution

License

Apache-2.0 — see LICENSE