Validate

Runtime Configuration (Step 0 — before any processing)

Read these files to configure domain-specific behavior:

1. ops/derivation-manifest.md — vocabulary mapping, platform hints

   • Use vocabulary.notes for the notes folder name
   • Use vocabulary.note / vocabulary.note_plural for note type references
   • Use vocabulary.topic_map for MOC references
   • Use vocabulary.templates for the templates folder path

2. ops/config.yaml — processing depth

   • processing.depth: deep | standard | quick

If these files don't exist, use universal defaults.

Processing depth adaptation:

EXECUTE NOW

Target: $ARGUMENTS

Parse immediately:

• If target contains a note name: validate that specific note
• If target contains --handoff: output RALPH HANDOFF block at end
• If target is "all" or "notes": validate all notes in {DOMAIN:notes}/ directory
• If target is empty: ask which note to validate

Execute these steps:

Step 1: Locate Template

Determine which template applies to the target note:

1. Check the note's location — notes in {DOMAIN:notes}/ use the standard note template
2. Check the type field in frontmatter — specialized types may have dedicated templates
3. Look for a templates directory (check ops/templates/ or domain-specific path from derivation manifest)
4. If the template has a _schema block, read it — this is the authoritative schema definition

If no template is found, use the default schema checks below.

Step 2: Read Target Note

Read the target note's full YAML frontmatter. Parse:

• All YAML fields and their values
• The body content (for link scanning)
• The footer section (for Topics and Relevant Notes)

Step 3: Run Schema Checks

Run ALL validation checks. Each check produces PASS, WARN, or FAIL.

START NOW.

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Schema Checks

Required Fields (FAIL if missing)

A missing required field is a hard failure. The note cannot pass validation without these.

Description Quality (WARN if weak)

How to check "adds new info": Read the title (filename without .md). Read the description. If the description merely restates the title using different words, it fails this check. A good description adds one of:

• Mechanism — how or why the claim works
• Scope — what boundaries the claim has
• Implication — what follows from the claim
• Context — where the claim applies

Examples:

Bad (restates title):

• Title: vector proximity measures surface overlap not deep connection
• Description: "Semantic similarity captures surface-level overlap rather than genuine conceptual relationships"

Good (adds mechanism):

• Title: vector proximity measures surface overlap not deep connection
• Description: "Two notes about the same concept with different vocabulary score high, while genuinely related ideas across domains score low"

YAML Validity (FAIL if broken)

Domain-Specific Enum Checks (WARN if invalid)

If the note has fields with enumerated values, check them against the template's _schema.enums block:

If a field has a value not in the enum list, report the invalid value and list the valid options.

Link Health (WARN per broken link)

How to verify link resolution: For each [[link text]], check if a file named link text.md exists anywhere in the vault. Wiki links resolve by filename, not path.