powershell-quality-enforcer

name

powershell-quality-enforcer

description

PowerShell coding standards and quality enforcement for scripts and modules. Use when (1) writing or editing PowerShell scripts (.ps1, .psm1), (2) audit or review scripts for quality, (3) enforce Verb-Noun naming or parameter validation, (4) fix style issues like aliases or missing error handling, (5) add SupportsShouldProcess or WhatIf/Confirm to destructive functions, (6) improve logging and Write-Host/Write-Output usage, or (7) ensure comment-based help is present.

PowerShell Coding Standards & Quality Enforcer

Key Standards

Category	Rule
Naming	Verb-Noun functions (approved verbs); PascalCase; no aliases in scripts
Parameters	[Parameter(Mandatory)]; ValidateSet/ValidateNotNullOrEmpty; singular form
Safety	SupportsShouldProcess + -WhatIf/-Confirm on destructive actions
Errors	try/catch with Write-Error; throw for terminating errors
Logging	Write-Host without color params for logging; Write-Output only for ##vso pipeline variables
Pipeline	ValueFromPipeline; Begin/Process/End blocks; return objects not text
Documentation	Comment-based help (.SYNOPSIS, .DESCRIPTION, .EXAMPLE) on public functions
Style	Full cmdlet names; 4-space indent; no abbreviations

For full standards with examples, see PowerShell coding standards reference.

Quality Enforcement Workflow

1. Target files

Default scope: **/*.ps1, **/*.psm1. Narrow when user specifies.

2. Quality rules

Category	Rule
Naming	Approved Verb-Noun function names; clear parameter names
Safety	SupportsShouldProcess + -WhatIf/-Confirm on destructive actions
Errors	try/catch with Write-Error; terminate where appropriate
Logging	Write-Host for logs (no color params); Write-Output only for pipeline returns
Style	Full cmdlet and parameter names; no aliases in scripts
Docs	Comment-based help on public functions

3. Change policy

• Audit-only request — report violations, do not edit files.
• Fix request — apply focused, deterministic edits only. Preserve script behaviour and interfaces.

4. Validation and output

Re-check changed files, then report:

1. Summary — files scanned, violations found, fixes applied
2. Violations table:

File	Line	Rule	Severity	Recommendation

3. Applied changes (if any)
4. Remaining manual actions — items needing user judgement

Example summary line:

Scanned 3 files · 5 violations found · 3 fixed · 2 manual follow-ups