validate

name	validate
description	Use this skill when the user asks to "validate template", "check template structure", "is my template correct", "verify template conventions", "validate project template", "check template files", or needs to verify that a project template follows the Level 0/1/1.5/2 conventions and has all required files.
disable-model-invocation	true

Validate Project Template

Comprehensive validation checklist for project templates. Run each check against the template directory and report pass/fail.

Step 1: Determine Template Level

Read stack.json from the template root and classify:

cat stack.json | python3 -c "import sys,json; d=json.load(sys.stdin); print(f'Level: {d[\"level\"]}, Stack: {d.get(\"stack\",\"none\")}, Parent: {d.get(\"parent\",\"none\")}')"

Level	Indicator
0	level: 0, parent: null, stack: null
1	level: 1, parent: "project-template", stack filled
1.5	level: 1.5, parent is a Level 1 template
2	level: 2, parent is a Level 1 template

If stack.json is missing or invalid, flag as critical error and stop.

Step 2: Validate stack.json

• Valid JSON (parseable)
• stack field present (null at L0, non-empty string at L1+)
• version present and in semver format (X.Y.Z)
• level is 0, 1, 1.5, or 2
• parent is null at L0, non-empty string at L1+
• layers object with data, logic, interface keys (all arrays)
• layers arrays empty at L0, at least one non-empty at L1+
• plugins object with technology, process, stack keys (all arrays)
• plugins.technology non-empty at L1+ (at least one tech plugin)

Step 3: Check Required Files — All Levels

Root Files

• stack.json exists
• CLAUDE.md exists
• README.md exists
• .env.example exists
• .mcp.json.example exists
• .gitignore exists
• .gitignore excludes .env, .env.local, .mcp.json, node_modules

.claude/ Directory

• .claude/settings.local.json.example exists

Core Skills (inherited from Level 0)

• .claude/skills/brainstorming/SKILL.md exists
• .claude/skills/planning/SKILL.md exists
• .claude/skills/tdd/SKILL.md exists
• .claude/skills/debugging/SKILL.md exists
• .claude/skills/verification/SKILL.md exists
• .claude/skills/project-config/SKILL.md exists

Core Commands

• .claude/commands/init-stack.md exists
• .claude/commands/commit.md exists
• .claude/commands/pr.md exists
• .claude/commands/plan.md exists
• .claude/commands/review.md exists
• .claude/commands/sync.md exists

Core Agent

• .claude/agents/code-reviewer.md exists

Core Rules

• .claude/rules/safety.md exists
• .claude/rules/search-before-building.md exists
• .claude/rules/project-conventions.md exists

Documentation

• docs/architecture.md exists
• docs/code-style.md exists
• docs/api-conventions.md exists

Step 4: Check Level-Specific Requirements

Level 1+ Additional Checks

• At least one stack-specific skill beyond the core set (e.g., new-page, new-component)
• .env.example has stack-specific variables uncommented
• CLAUDE.md has filled Tech Stack section (no [e.g., placeholders)
• CLAUDE.md has filled Installed Plugins section

Level 1.5 Additional Checks

• Has application source code (src/ or equivalent)
• Has sample data or seed scripts
• Has deployment config (Dockerfile, docker-compose.yml, or equivalent)

Level 2 Additional Checks

• project-config/SKILL.md has actual resource IDs (no empty tables)
• .env or .env.local exists locally (warn if missing, but don't fail — it's gitignored)
• .mcp.json exists locally (warn if missing — it's gitignored)

Step 5: Check CLAUDE.md Quality

• Total line count under 100
• Has ## Tech Stack section
• Has ## Architecture section (with @docs/architecture.md reference)
• Has ## Installed Plugins section
• Has ## Quick Commands section
• Has ## Critical Rules section
• No placeholder text remaining: grep for \[e\.g\.,, \[Project Name\], TODO, TBD, fill in, <!-- .*--> with empty content around it
• At L1+: Tech Stack lists actual technologies (not [e.g., NocoDB, Supabase, Directus])
• At L1+: Installed Plugins lists actual plugins with descriptions

Step 6: Check Consistency

• Technologies in stack.json layers match CLAUDE.md Tech Stack section
• Plugins in stack.json plugins match CLAUDE.md Installed Plugins section
• Environment variables in .env.example cover what .mcp.json.example references
• Commands listed in CLAUDE.md Quick Commands exist as .claude/commands/*.md files
• Skills referenced in CLAUDE.md exist as .claude/skills/*/SKILL.md directories
• AGENTS.md exists and is in sync with CLAUDE.md (or has sync reminder)

Step 7: Check Security

• No .env file committed (check git status and .gitignore)
• No .mcp.json file committed (check .gitignore)
• No hardcoded API keys or tokens in any tracked file: grep for patterns like sk-, Bearer , token: ", key: " with actual-looking values
• No real service URLs in .env.example or .mcp.json.example (only placeholders)
• .claude/settings.local.json is gitignored
• No .env.local committed

Git-Tracked Secrets (Critical)

The .gitignore check above only verifies RULES — it does not catch files that were committed BEFORE the gitignore rule was added. Run git ls-files to find actually tracked sensitive files:

# Check for tracked secrets that should be gitignored
git ls-files | grep -E '\.env\.local$|\.env$|settings\.local\.json$|\.mcp\.json$'

• git ls-files returns NO matches for .env, .env.local, .mcp.json, or settings.local.json
• If matches found: flag as CRITICAL — these files contain real credentials and are being tracked by git. Fix: git rm --cached <file> and rotate all exposed tokens
• Check .claude/settings.local.json.example for real URLs or tokens (should contain only placeholders like https://your-instance.example.com)

Output Format

Present validation results as:

## Template Validation Report: {template-name}

**Level:** {0 / 1 / 1.5 / 2}
**Stack:** {stack name or "universal base"}
**Parent:** {parent name or "none"}

### Results

| Category | Status | Details |
|----------|--------|---------|
| stack.json | PASS / FAIL | {details} |
| Required Files | PASS / FAIL | {missing files count} |
| Core Skills | PASS / FAIL | {missing skills} |
| Core Commands | PASS / FAIL | {missing commands} |
| Level-Specific | PASS / FAIL / N/A | {details} |
| CLAUDE.md Quality | PASS / WARN / FAIL | {details} |
| Consistency | PASS / FAIL | {mismatches} |
| Security | PASS / FAIL | {issues} |

### Issues Found
1. {issue description and how to fix}
2. ...

### Overall: VALID / {N} issues to fix