vale-check
Run vale and report all violations without modifying any files. Use this to audit the current state of documentation before deciding what to fix.
Works with any AsciiDoc project. The agent ships its own .vale.ini and
styles — no configuration is needed in the target project.
Usage
/vale-check ../my-project/topics/administration_guide/ /vale-check ../my-project/assemblies/ /vale-check ../my-project/topics/proc_installing.adoc /vale-check ../my-project/ --severity error
What This Skill Does
Step 0: Determine Agent Root
The agent root is the repository that contains this skill. Find it by
locating the directory that contains both .claude/skills/ and styles/
directories. The agent ships its own .vale.ini at <agent-root>/.vale.ini.
All vale commands must use --config to point to this file.
Step 1: Run Vale
vale --config="$AGENT_ROOT/.vale.ini" --output=JSON <target-path> 2>/dev/null
If --severity error is passed, filter results to error-level only.
If --severity all is passed, include suggestions (the agent's MinAlertLevel is warning by default).
Default: show errors and warnings.
Note: You do NOT need to cd to any specific directory or find a .vale.ini
in the user's project. The --config flag makes the agent self-contained.
Step 2: Parse and Classify
Parse the JSON output and classify each violation:
- •Style:
AsciiDocDITAorRedHat - •Rule: The specific rule name
- •Severity: error / warning / suggestion
- •Fixability: Whether
/vale-fixcan auto-fix this- •AUTO: Deterministic fix available
- •MANUAL: Requires human judgment
- •SKIP: Informational only (suggestions)
Step 3: Report
Print a structured report:
vale-check: <target-path> ERRORS (must fix): AsciiDocDITA.NestedSection — 2 files, 3 issues [AUTO/MANUAL] RedHat.TermsErrors — 1 file, 5 issues [AUTO] WARNINGS (should fix): AsciiDocDITA.CalloutList — 3 files, 8 issues [AUTO] AsciiDocDITA.ShortDescription — 1 file, 1 issue [AUTO] RedHat.CaseSensitiveTerms — 4 files, 12 issues [AUTO] RedHat.Hyphens — 2 files, 3 issues [AUTO] TOTAL: 32 issues (8 errors, 24 warnings) across 11 files Auto-fixable: 28 (run /vale-fix to apply) Manual review: 4
Step 4: Detail View
For each issue, show the file, line, and context:
topics/administration_guide/con_example.adoc:
Line 15: AsciiDocDITA.NestedSection (ERROR)
"Level 2, 3, 4, and 5 sections are not supported in DITA."
>>> === Nested Heading
Fix: Convert to bold *Nested Heading* or flatten to ==
Line 42: RedHat.CaseSensitiveTerms (WARNING)
"Use 'OpenShift' rather than 'Openshift'."
>>> Deploy Openshift on your cluster.
Fix: Auto-fixable — replace Openshift → OpenShift
Rules
- •NEVER modify any files
- •NEVER run fixes — this is read-only
- •Show all violations with their fixability status
- •Group by severity, then by rule
- •Include file paths relative to project root