validating-construct-manifest

name	validating-construct-manifest
description	Pre-install / pre-publish manifest linter for construct packs. Emits Verdict stream rows on findings. Checks required manifest fields, path resolution, route declarations, and the CLAUDE.md grimoires-section convention.
role	review
capabilities	{"schema_version":1,"read_files":true,"search_code":true,"write_files":false,"execute_commands":false,"web_access":false,"user_interaction":false,"agent_spawn":false,"task_management":false}
cost-profile	lightweight

Validating Construct Manifest

Caught at install-time is cheap. Caught at publish-time still cheap. Caught by an operator at a slash command not resolving is expensive.

Purpose

Validate a construct pack directory before it lands in a registry or a local install. Surfaces:

1. Required-field gates — missing schema_version, slug, name, version, description in construct.yaml
2. Path resolution — skills[].path and commands[].path entries that don't resolve
3. Route declaration — pack declares neither commands: nor persona handles, so an operator can only route by slug/name (skill bindings unreachable)
4. Stream declarations — empty reads: / writes: arrays make pipe composition ambiguous
5. Grimoires-section convention — CLAUDE.md must contain an explicit grimoires/<path> read/write declaration so the pack's interface contract is legible

Each finding is a Verdict stream row — severity-tagged, evidence-cited, pipeable downstream into another construct or a CI lint job.

Concepts referenced by these checks

The validator's checks operationalize three conventions used by the construct typed-stream model:

• Typed streams: stream rows carry stream_type, schema_version, timestamp, source. The five canonical stream types — Signal, Verdict, Artifact, Intent, Operator-Model — have schemas at .claude/schemas/<type>.schema.json. Packs declare which stream types they reads: and writes: so a composition runner can verify pipe compatibility before stages execute.
• Route declaration (Check 5): a pack must expose at least one operator-callable entry point — either via the commands: array in construct.yaml, or via a persona definition (a personas: list in construct.yaml, or identity/<HANDLE>.md files where <HANDLE> is uppercase). Without either, the operator can't dispatch into the pack's skills directly. This was a routing-gap class of breakage observed during cycle-004.
• Grimoires-section convention (Check 7): the pack's CLAUDE.md is the operator-facing description, and the grimoires/<path> declarations in it are the pack's interface contract — they tell every other construct in the network what state this pack reads and writes. CLAUDE.md without a grimoires section means the pack is opaque to composition planning.

Invocation

# Run directly (shell-first, no agent needed)
.claude/scripts/construct-validate.sh <pack-path>
.claude/scripts/construct-validate.sh <pack-path> --json     # Verdict[] on stdout
.claude/scripts/construct-validate.sh <pack-path> --strict   # MEDIUM → exit 1

Install / publish integration:

• constructs-install.sh does not yet call this validator. Wiring it in (after the existing license check) is tracked for a follow-up cycle. Until then, run construct-validate.sh manually before publishing.
• constructs-publish.sh (when it lands) is the natural integration point — a manifest_validate check fits cleanly in its pre-publish report.

Severity tiers

Tier	Meaning	Install behavior (when wired)	Publish behavior (when wired)
critical	construct.yaml missing or unparseable	Always blocks	Always blocks
high	Required field missing / broken path	Warn by default, block with LOA_STRICT_VALIDATION=1	Blocks
medium	Route gap, grimoires-section drift	Advisory	Advisory (unless --strict)
low	Empty stream declarations	Advisory	Advisory
info	All checks passed	—	—

Checks in detail

1 · construct.yaml presence + parseability (critical)

The manifest must exist and yq must parse it. This is the only unrecoverable failure.

2 · Required fields (high)

schema_version, slug, name, version, description must all be non-empty. These power the registry listing + resolver tiers.

3 · Skill path resolution (high)

Every entry in skills: [{path}] must resolve to a directory (or symlink) under the pack root.

4 · Command path resolution (high)

Every entry in commands: [{path}] must resolve to a file. A common drift class is commands pointing at skill directories — that fails resolution at install time.

5 · Route declaration (medium)

If the pack declares no commands: AND no persona handles (either via personas: in yaml or identity/<HANDLE>.md filenames), the operator can only route by slug/name. Cycle-004 surfaced this as the gap that made certain commands unresolvable.

6 · Stream declarations (low)

Packs should declare reads: and writes: stream types so the composition runner can verify pipe compatibility. Empty arrays are advisory-level — composition still runs, but with no edge-of-pipe type guarantee.

7 · Grimoires-section convention (medium)

CLAUDE.md must reference grimoires/<path> AND include at least one of: Writes to, Reads from, writes:, reads:. This is the convention the construct-base template enforces; installed packs that pre-date that template tend to drift.

Output shape

Default (human-readable):

# construct-validate · /path/to/packs/example-pack
  [low] [streams] construct declares no 'reads:' stream types — pipe composition will be ambiguous
    → /path/to/packs/example-pack/construct.yaml
  [medium] [grimoires_section] CLAUDE.md contains no grimoires/ path reference
    → /path/to/packs/example-pack/CLAUDE.md
# worst: medium · total: 2

--json emits a JSON array of Verdict rows conforming to .claude/schemas/verdict.schema.json. Each row carries:

• stream_type: "Verdict"
• severity: critical | high | medium | low
• verdict: [<check>] <message>
• evidence: [<file path>]
• subject: pack path
• tags: [<check name>]

Downstream tools (e.g. constructs-publish.sh, dashboard surfaces, CI lint jobs) can consume this array directly.

Exit codes

Code	Meaning
0	No HIGH or CRITICAL findings (MEDIUM passes unless --strict)
1	At least one HIGH/CRITICAL finding, or MEDIUM with --strict
2	Pack path does not exist / required tooling missing

Relationship to other validators

• constructs-loader.sh validate-pack — license validation, retained alongside
• validate-pack-manifests.mjs — Zod-based manifest schema check (sandbox packs)
• construct-validate.sh (this) — ecosystem-wide cycle-005 checks, Verdict-emitting

Related

• Script: .claude/scripts/construct-validate.sh
• Schema: .claude/schemas/verdict.schema.json
• Stream-type schemas: .claude/schemas/{signal,verdict,artifact,intent,operator-model}.schema.json
• Sibling skills: browsing-constructs (existing). A publishing-constructs skill is referenced for forward composition; it lands in a follow-up cycle.