validate-templates-locally

name	validate-templates-locally
description	Run the validate-templates checks locally on Windows before pushing. Use when the user wants to validate templates locally, run validation, check meta.yml, verify CSV header, or reproduce CI validation failures.

Run validate-templates Locally

When to Use

• Before pushing a template / prompt-template change
• To reproduce a validate-templates.yml CI failure locally
• After hand-editing meta.yml, template.csv, prompt.md, or bundle.yml

Prerequisites

• Windows + Git Bash (or WSL). PowerShell will not run the workflow's bash blocks correctly.
• Repo cloned and the asset to validate already on disk.

Procedure

1. Open Git Bash at the repo root

cd /c/Users/<you>/path/to/todoist-playbook

2. Mirror the workflow's validation steps

Open .github/workflows/reusable-validate-templates.yml and copy each run: block in turn into Git Bash. The workflow is the single source of truth for validation logic — do not maintain a parallel script.

Typical checks include:

• Folder name is kebab-case
• Required files exist (template.csv + meta.yml + README.md, or prompt.md + meta.yml + README.md)
• meta.yml contains every required key
• meta.yml slug: equals the folder name
• template.csv first line equals the canonical TYPE header
• template.csv TYPE column values are only section, task, or meta
• project_color (when present) appears in .github/scripts/project_colors.txt
• Prompt templates: prompt.md contains at least one {{placeholder}} and inputs: is present in meta.yml

3. Fix and re-run

Re-run the failing block after each fix until clean. If a check seems wrong, treat the workflow as canonical — fix the asset, not the check.

4. Push and let CI confirm

Even after a clean local run, push the branch and let validate-templates.yml confirm in CI before opening / updating a PR.

Common failure modes

• meta.yml slug has stray quotes or trailing whitespace
• README.md is missing import instructions for a CSV template
• project_color value is not in the allow-list
• Prompt template inputs: and {{placeholder}} names disagree
• Hardcoded date in CSV DUE_DATE