audit-rules

name	audit-rules
description	Audit Claude Code rule files for quality and compliance. Use when creating or validating .claude/rules/*.md files, or troubleshooting rule loading issues.
argument-hint	["--force | --skip-validation"]
allowed-tools	Read, Bash, Glob, Grep, Task

Audit Rules Command

Audit Claude Code rule files (.claude/rules/*.md) for quality and compliance.

Initialization

Before auditing, initialize the environment:

1. Get the current UTC date for audit timestamps.
2. Capture the project root path for subagent communication.
3. Ensure the temp directory (.claude/temp/) exists.
4. Clean up any stale audit files if the user confirms.

The memory-management skill provides authoritative validation guidance for rules (auto-loaded when this command runs).

What Gets Audited

• YAML frontmatter structure (description, globs)
• Glob pattern validity and syntax
• Rule file naming conventions
• Content structure and clarity
• Path-specific rule applicability

Command Arguments

Argument	Description
(none)	Audit all discoverable rule files
--force	Audit regardless of modification status
--skip-validation	Skip finding validation (faster, but may include false positives)

Step 1: Discover Rule Files

Search for rule files in:

• Project rules (.claude/rules/*.md)
• User rules (~/.claude/rules/*.md)

Build a list of discovered rule files with their scope (project or user) and full path.

If no rule files are found, report this and provide guidance on how to create one.

Step 2: Parse Arguments

Check if the --force flag is present in the command arguments. Build the audit queue based on discovered files and the force flag.

Step 3: Present Audit Plan

Display audit mode (SMART or FORCE), rule files discovered, and list each with scope and last modified date.

Step 4: Execute Audits

For each rule file, spawn the memory-component-auditor subagent with the following context:

• Scope (project or user)
• Full path to the rule file
• Last audit date or "Never audited"
• Current audit date
• Project root path

Run subagents in parallel when multiple rule files exist.

Subagents write findings to .claude/temp/ as both JSON (for recovery/aggregation) and markdown (for human review). The main conversation thread collects results and updates audit logs using its Write/Edit tools.

Step 4.5: Validate Findings

Unless --skip-validation flag is present:

1. Spawn the audit-finding-validator agent with:
   • project_root: The captured project root path
   • audit_type: "rule"
   • audit_files: List of .claude/temp/audit-*-rule-*.json file paths
2. Wait for validation to complete
3. Read updated JSON files with validation results
4. Filter out FALSE_POSITIVE findings completely before aggregation
5. Note: Filtered findings are logged to .claude/temp/audit-filtered-findings.json

If --skip-validation flag is present:

• Skip validation phase entirely (current speed preserved)
• Present all findings without filtering
• Note in summary: "Validation: Skipped"

Step 5: Final Summary

Report total rule files audited, results by scope, and details table. List frontmatter or glob pattern issues with remediation steps.

Include validation statistics (if validation was performed):

• Validation performed: Yes/No
• Findings validated: X
• False positives filtered: Y
• Verified findings: Z
• Unverified findings: W

Important Notes

Rule File Requirements

Rule files must have valid YAML frontmatter with description and optionally globs fields. The globs field controls which files the rule applies to.

Rule File Locations

Location	Purpose
.claude/rules/*.md	Project-specific rules
~/.claude/rules/*.md	User-wide rules

Glob Pattern Syntax

Rules can use glob patterns to apply only to specific files:

---
description: TypeScript coding standards
globs: ["**/*.ts", "**/*.tsx"]
---

Audit Log Location

All audit results are written to .claude/audit/rules.md.

Use /audit-log rules to view current audit status.

Example Usage

Example 1: Audit All Rule Files

User: /audit-rules

Claude: Discovering rule files...

## Audit Plan
**Mode**: SMART
**Rule files discovered**: 3

1. [project] .claude/rules/typescript.md
2. [project] .claude/rules/security.md
3. [user] ~/.claude/rules/personal-style.md

[Spawns memory-component-auditor subagents]

## Audit Complete
| Scope | Rule File | Result | Score |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| project | typescript.md | PASS | 100/100 |
| project | security.md | PASS | 95/100 |
| user | personal-style.md | PASS WITH WARNINGS | 82/100 |

Example 2: Force Audit

User: /audit-rules --force

Claude: Auditing all rule files (force mode)...