katalyst-deploy-cli-gating

name	katalyst-deploy-cli-gating
description	Gate writes to a katalyst project's content so every change is validated as it happens, rather than only at commit time. Use when a user wants writes checked the moment they occur, an agent workflow where edits must pass checks before they land, or enforcement without a git commit step. Paired with katalyst-deploy (chooses the mechanism) and katalyst-deploy-precommit-hook (the alternative).

Deploy: CLI-gated writes

Route changes to the project's content through katalyst so each write is validated immediately, before the change is considered done. Unlike the pre-commit hook, this does not wait for a commit — it is the right gate for agent workflows that edit content continuously and for content with no git checkpoint.

If you are not sure this is the right mechanism, start with katalyst-deploy, which compares this against the pre-commit hook.

Prerequisites

• katalyst on PATH (run ./bootstrap.sh if not).
• A .katalyst/ config, with katalyst check passing today.

The gate

The mechanism is a discipline plus a check, not a lock on the filesystem: after any write to the project's content, run katalyst check scoped to what changed and treat a non-zero exit as "the write is not done."

For a single item, pass its selector so the gate is fast:

# After writing collection "notes", item "intro":
katalyst check notes/intro

A non-zero exit (1 = violations, 2 = usage error) means the change must be revised before it counts as landed. Re-run until it exits 0.

Make it structural for an agent

For an agent driving the CLI, encode the gate as a rule it cannot skip rather than a step it might forget:

1. Write, then check, every time. After each edit to content under a collection, immediately run katalyst check <collection>/<item> and do not move on until it passes.
2. Treat a failure as unfinished work, not an error to report and ignore: read the diagnostic, fix the frontmatter or body, re-check.
3. Fix formatting in the same pass with katalyst fix <selector> so frontmatter stays canonical as you go.

Notes

• This gate validates content the agent routes through it; a write made directly to the files, outside the discipline, is not caught. Where commits are the durable checkpoint, pair this with katalyst-deploy-precommit-hook so an ungated write still fails before it merges.
• Scope checks to the changed selector for speed; reserve a full-project katalyst check for a final sweep.