validate

Check model integrity and relationship consistency.

Usage

et validate [--json]

Options

Option	Description
--json	Output in JSON format

What Gets Checked

Actors

• Goals list references existing goals (error if not)
• Has at least one goal assigned (warning if not)

Goals

• Actor reference exists (error if not)
• Has an actor assigned (warning if orphan)
• Has at least one supporting interaction (warning if not)

Interactions

• Goal reference exists (error if not)
• performed_by actor exists (error if not)
• Has a goal assigned (warning if not)

Journeys

• Actor reference exists (error if not)
• Goal reference exists (error if not)
• All step interactions exist (error if not)
• Goal belongs to journey's actor (warning if mismatched)
• Steps performed by journey's actor (warning if mismatched)

Output

Successful Validation

et validate

Validation Report
=================

Loaded: 2 actor(s), 6 goal(s), 7 interaction(s), 1 journey(s)

✓ No issues found. All relationships are valid.

Exit code: 0

Validation With Issues

Validation Report
=================

Loaded: 2 actor(s), 6 goal(s), 7 interaction(s), 1 journey(s)

Errors:
  ✗ [goal/checkout] References non-existent actor 'missing'
  ✗ [journey/flow] References non-existent interaction step 'unknown'

Warnings:
  ! [actor/admin] Actor has no goals assigned
  ! [interaction/orphan] Interaction is not linked to any goal
  ! [goal/feedback] Goal is not linked to any actor (orphan goal)

Summary: 2 error(s), 3 warning(s)

Exit code: 1 (when errors present)

JSON Output

et validate --json

{
  "valid": false,
  "issues": [
    {
      "type": "error",
      "entity": "goal",
      "id": "checkout",
      "message": "References non-existent actor 'missing'"
    },
    {
      "type": "warning",
      "entity": "interaction",
      "id": "orphan",
      "message": "Interaction is not linked to any goal"
    }
  ],
  "summary": {
    "actors": 2,
    "goals": 6,
    "interactions": 7,
    "journeys": 1,
    "errors": 1,
    "warnings": 1
  }
}

Exit Codes

Code	Meaning
0	Valid (no errors, warnings allowed)
1	Invalid (one or more errors)

CI/CD Integration

# In your CI script
et validate || exit 1

# GitHub Actions
- name: Validate work model
  run: et validate

Fixing Issues

Errors (Must Fix)

Errors indicate broken references that will cause problems:

# Fix missing actor reference
et update goal checkout --actor customer

# Fix missing interaction in journey
et update journey flow --steps "step1,step2,step3"

Warnings (Should Review)

Warnings indicate potential issues:

# Fix orphan goal
et update goal feedback --actor customer

# Fix unlinked interaction
et update interaction orphan --goal relevant_goal

# Or remove if not needed
et remove interaction orphan

Best Practices

1. Run after changes: Validate after creating or modifying entities
2. Run before commits: Ensure model is valid before version control
3. Fix errors immediately: Broken references cause runtime issues
4. Review warnings: They often indicate work without clear user value