Validate

Generated from workflows/modes/validate.md, the mode contract the HELIX skill loads. Edit that file, not this page.

Use to check a single artifact instance against its governing template and prompt, then edit resolvable findings in place.

Load the artifact instance and resolve its artifact type: read ddx: frontmatter when present (ddx.type, else inferred from ddx.id prefix); otherwise resolve by path or filename pattern against the artifact-type catalog the runtime exposes.
Load the artifact-type’s template.md, prompt.md, meta.yml, and active voice profile from the resolved catalog path (see §Catalog Resolution and §Voice Resolution).
Run the deterministic floor first: scripts/validate-instance.py <instance> (beside this skill; python3 and PyYAML) executes the type’s required_sections, pattern_checks, automated_checks, placeholder scan, and frontmatter checks and prints findings with check ids. Treat its blocking findings as INCOMPLETE unless judgment says otherwise. When the host cannot run scripts, perform the same checks by reading meta.yml.
Run prompt-section conformance: every section the prompt.md asks for is answered in the instance or explicitly marked N/A with a reason.
Run voice conformance against the active profile, then classify each finding keyed to the relevant template, prompt, meta.yml, or voice-profile section using the Align taxonomy: ALIGNED, INCOMPLETE, DIVERGENT, UNDERSPECIFIED, STALE_PLAN, or BLOCKED. For artifact-signal, flag filler, unscoped claims, unsupported implementation-status language in specifications, missing actors, hidden assumptions, and prose that smooths away artifact IDs, paths, commands, metrics, statuses, acceptance criteria, or trace links. If Sloptimizer is available, it may perform this pass using the active HELIX profile as constraints; otherwise apply the profile directly.
Produce updates: when the user invoked validate to fix, apply edits in place for every finding the template, prompt, metadata, or voice-profile comparison can resolve mechanically — typically INCOMPLETE findings (missing required sections, stale frontmatter shape, renamed headings, unsupported filler, or unscoped claims). For findings classified as DIVERGENT, UNDERSPECIFIED, STALE_PLAN, or BLOCKED — which need human judgement — surface a handoff (the four fields in modes/_report.md) for that specific finding instead of editing. When the user invoked validate to audit, surface a handoff for every non-ALIGNED finding regardless of mechanical resolvability.

End with the modes/_report.md block, mode: validate.

Innsigle seal: model-primary by HELIX

The signature covers the markdown source of this page, not these HTML bytes. This page quotes that seal; verify it against the source file.

Composition: model-primary
Issuer: HELIX helix
Signing key: ed25519:b0865d76d834a52c48506414d16f4e5a (build key)
Signed source: reference/workflow-modes/validate.md
Signed: 2026-09-23T14:11:58Z
Content digest: sha256:65573458…7831d1cb

This build key is endorsed by the human key for build signing; the signature is not a detector and not a truth guarantee.

Raw attestation JSON

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attestation file · issuer keys