project-validator

Project Validator

This skill validates common project configurations and structure. It demonstrates how to use scripts for deterministic validation tasks.

When to Use This Skill

Use this skill when:

• Setting up a new project
• Troubleshooting configuration issues
• Ensuring project follows best practices
• Onboarding new team members
• Pre-deployment checks

Validation Checks

This skill performs the following validations:

1. File Structure: Checks for required files and directories
2. Dependencies: Validates package.json and lock files
3. Configuration: Checks for proper config files
4. Git Setup: Ensures git is configured properly
5. Environment: Validates .env files and required variables

Instructions

Quick Validation

Run the validation script to check your project:

python scripts/validate.py

This will check:

• ✓ package.json exists and is valid JSON
• ✓ README.md exists
• ✓ .gitignore is present
• ✓ Git repository is initialized
• ✓ Node modules are installed
• ✓ Required environment variables are set

Setup Script

For new projects, run the setup script:

bash scripts/setup.sh

This will:

1. Initialize git if not already initialized
2. Create .gitignore if missing
3. Create basic README.md template
4. Set up pre-commit hooks
5. Install dependencies

Examples

Example 1: Validate Existing Project

$ python scripts/validate.py

=== Project Validation Report ===

✓ package.json found and valid
✓ README.md exists
✓ .gitignore present
✓ Git repository initialized
✗ node_modules not found - run 'npm install'
✓ TypeScript configured (tsconfig.json found)

Issues found: 1
Run suggested commands to fix issues.

Example 2: Setup New Project

$ bash scripts/setup.sh

=== Project Setup ===

✓ Git initialized
✓ Created .gitignore with Node.js defaults
✓ Created README.md template
✓ Installing dependencies...
✓ Setup complete!

Next steps:
1. Review and customize README.md
2. Add your project description to package.json
3. Configure environment variables in .env

Script Details

validate.py

Python script that checks:

• File existence and validity
• JSON syntax in config files
• Git repository status
• Dependency installation
• Environment configuration

Why Python?

• Cross-platform compatibility (works on Windows, Mac, Linux)
• Rich standard library for file operations
• Easy to extend with additional checks
• Better error handling than shell scripts

setup.sh

Shell script that:

• Initializes project structure
• Creates boilerplate files
• Runs initialization commands

Why Shell?

• Simple command chaining
• Native git/npm integration
• Fast for straightforward tasks
• Familiar to most developers

Customization

You can customize the validation by editing the scripts:

Add custom checks to validate.py:

def check_custom_requirement():
    """Add your custom validation logic"""
    if not os.path.exists('custom-file.json'):
        return False, "custom-file.json is missing"
    return True, "Custom check passed"

Add setup steps to setup.sh:

# Add custom initialization
echo "Running custom setup..."
mkdir -p custom-directory
cp template.txt custom-directory/

Best Practices

• Run validation before commits
• Include validation in CI/CD pipeline
• Keep scripts up-to-date with project requirements
• Document any custom checks
• Use exit codes for automation

AI Assistant Instructions

When this skill is activated:

1. Assess the situation: Determine if this is a new project or existing one
2. Recommend appropriate script:
   • New project → suggest setup.sh
   • Existing project → suggest validate.py
3. Run the script: Execute the appropriate script
4. Review output: Analyze validation results
5. Provide fixes: If issues found, suggest specific commands to fix them

Always:

• Run the scripts from the project root directory
• Explain what each script does before running
• Show the full output to the user
• Provide actionable next steps based on results

Never:

• Run scripts without explaining what they do
• Modify scripts without user permission
• Skip validation steps
• Assume project structure without checking