atmos validate
Validate the entire project or target an individual Atmos validation command.
Run atmos validate with no subcommand to validate the whole project. It runs configuration/schema validation, stack-manifest validation, EditorConfig validation, and GitHub Actions workflow validation in that order. Atmos runs every applicable check and then prints a pass/fail/skipped summary; it exits non-zero if any check fails.
EditorConfig validation is skipped when the project has no effective EditorConfig file (.editorconfig, .editorconfig-checker.json, .ecrc, or a configured validate.editorconfig.config_file_paths file). GitHub Actions validation is skipped when .github/workflows contains no YAML workflow files.
Component JSON Schema and OPA policy validation remains explicit because it needs a component and stack target: atmos validate component <component> --stack <stack>.
atmos validate ci validates GitHub Actions workflow files with the native CI actionlint integration. It is an alias for atmos ci validate.
Affected validation
Add --affected to validate only inputs changed since the Git merge-base. In GitHub Actions, Atmos reads the pull request base SHA from the event payload; locally, pass --base <ref-or-sha> when the default origin/HEAD baseline is not appropriate. Uncommitted and untracked files are included for local feedback.
atmos validate --affected --format rich
atmos validate --exclude 'tests/fixtures/**' --format rich
atmos validate config --affected --base origin/main
atmos validate stacks --affected --base origin/main
atmos validate editorconfig --affected --base origin/main
atmos validate ci --affected --base origin/main
Schema and EditorConfig validation process only affected files unless their configuration or schema/rule file changes, in which case Atmos validates the complete relevant set. Stack validation skips unrelated changes, but validates all stack manifests after a relevant stack or configuration change so imports and duplicate-component checks remain correct. GitHub Actions validation passes only affected workflow files to actionlint unless its actionlint configuration changes.
Use repeatable --exclude <glob> with either the full aggregate command or --affected to omit repository-relative paths from every aggregate validator. This is useful for test fixtures that deliberately contain invalid YAML or workflows. Globs use forward slashes and support **; atmos validate editorconfig --exclude retains its existing regex behavior when used directly.
Rich diagnostics
Every validation command supports --format=rich for a source-context report with file and line markers. Use validate.format: rich in atmos.yaml to make it the default for the shared validators, or run atmos validate --format=rich to render separate rich blocks for every failing project-wide validator.
Learn how to configure JSON Schema and OPA policy paths for validating Atmos stack manifests and components.
Usage
Subcommands
Use this command to validate an Atmos component in a stack using JSON Schema and OPA policies.
Use this command to validate the workdir of the Atmos project against the rules defined in the .editorconfig file.
Use this command to validate the schema of yaml files of the Atmos project against the rules defined in the schema/manifest file.
Use this command to validate all Stack configurations.
