Ecosystem Integrity Scanner
Overview
Automated structural integrity scanner for the entire Agent Studio framework.
Catches issues that silently break agent workflows: wrong require() paths that
crash at runtime, phantom skills referenced in agent frontmatter that don't exist
on disk, stale agent registry counts, archived references still active in
production code, UTF-16 encoding that breaks parsers, and bloated agent configs.
Core principle: Framework structural issues are pre-production bugs. A phantom
skill reference means an agent will fail silently. A broken require() means a hook
crashes at the wrong moment. The scanner enforces zero-tolerance for these.
When to Invoke
Skill({ skill: 'ecosystem-integrity-scanner' });
Invoke proactively after:
- Bulk framework changes (batch skill/agent/hook creation or archiving)
- Refactoring module paths or directory structure
- Running a major audit or cleanup pass
- Suspecting phantom references or broken require() chains
- Before finalizing any CI sanity gate
Mandatory Skills
Invoke before starting this skill:
| Skill | Purpose | When |
|---|---|---|
task-management-protocol |
Track scan progress | Always |
ripgrep |
Fast targeted code search | When investigating |
code-semantic-search |
Concept discovery | When pattern hunting |
context-compressor |
Compress large audit results | When output is large |
verification-before-completion |
Gate completion on zero errors | Before marking done |
memory-search |
Check prior audit patterns | At start |
Iron Laws
Always run from project root.
validate-ecosystem-integrity.cjsresolves all paths relative toprocess.cwd(). Running from a subdirectory corrupts all path resolution. Never invoke from a non-root directory.Never ignore PHANTOM_REQUIRE errors. A
[PHANTOM_REQUIRE]error means a hook or script will throwMODULE_NOT_FOUNDat runtime. These always represent real breakage — no false positives once the scanner is properly calibrated.Never mark scan complete while errors > 0. Warnings are advisory; errors are blocking. Report path and severity but do not call the pipeline done until errors reach zero or are explicitly accepted as known exceptions with owner annotation.
Always route HIGH errors to specialist agents. Phantom skills →
qaagent. Broken require() →developeragent. Archive refs in production →developer. Never attempt to remediate complex structural failures inline without delegation.Always save the audit report before completing. Write the categorized findings to
.claude/context/reports/qa/ecosystem-integrity-report-{ISO-date}.mdbefore callingTaskUpdate(completed). Evidence must persist across context resets.
Anti-Patterns
| Anti-Pattern | Risk | Correct Approach |
|---|---|---|
Treating [STALE_CATALOG] as informational noise |
Registry drifts from reality; agents get wrong counts | Always update agent-registry.json when agent files change |
| Skipping scan after bulk framework batch ops | Batch ops most commonly create phantom refs | Run scan as the FINAL step of every batch operation |
| Manually patching require() paths without re-scanning | One fix may mask three new breaks | Always re-run full scan after patching paths |
Running scanner against _archive/ subtrees |
Archive content has intentionally broken refs; false positives | Scanner skip rules handle this; trust the skip list |
Adding to DYNAMIC_SCRIPT_GENERATORS without review |
Accidentally suppressing real phantom detections | Only add files that provably generate child scripts |
Step 1: Run the Integrity Audit Engine
node scripts/validation/validate-ecosystem-integrity.cjs
The script performs six targeted checks:
[PHANTOM_REQUIRE]— Brokenrequire()/importpaths that resolve to non-existent files (after trying.js,.cjs,.mjs,.jsonextensions).[PHANTOM_SKILL]— Skills listed in agent frontmatterskills:arrays that have no corresponding.claude/skills/{name}/directory.[EMPTY_DIR]— Empty directories in.claude/tools/or.claude/skills/that indicate abandoned scaffolding creating registry footprinting issues.[ENCODING]— Files with UTF-16 BOM (0xFEFF/0xFFFE) that break JSON/MD parsers silently.[ARCHIVED_REF]— Production.claude/code that still references_archive/or.claude/archive/paths — active code pointing at dead modules.[STALE_CATALOG]—agent-registry.jsonentry count differs from actual agent.mdfile count on disk (drift between manifest and reality).
Step 2: Categorize and Report
Parse outputs into a structured report at
.claude/context/reports/qa/ecosystem-integrity-report-{ISO-date}.md:
# Ecosystem Integrity Report
<!-- Agent: qa | Task: #{id} | Session: {date} -->
**Date:** YYYY-MM-DD
**Overall Status:** PASS / FAIL
**Errors:** N | **Warnings:** N
## HIGH — Runtime Blocking (must fix before deployment)
- `[PHANTOM_REQUIRE]` — Module resolution failures that crash hooks/scripts
- `[PHANTOM_SKILL]` — Missing skills that break agent workflows silently
## MEDIUM — Structural Integrity (fix in current sprint)
- `[ARCHIVED_REF]` — Active code pointing at archived/dead modules
- `[STALE_CATALOG]` — Registry count mismatch with actual agent files
## LOW — Housekeeping (fix in next maintenance window)
- `[EMPTY_DIR]` — Ghost directories creating registry noise
- `[ENCODING]` — UTF-16 files that may break parsers
Step 3: Trigger Remediations
Delegate fixes to the correct specialist:
| Error Type | Spawn Agent | Task Description |
|---|---|---|
[PHANTOM_REQUIRE] |
developer |
Fix broken require() path in {file} |
[PHANTOM_SKILL] |
qa |
Remove or create missing skill {name} |
[ARCHIVED_REF] |
developer |
Replace archive reference in {file} |
[STALE_CATALOG] |
developer |
Regenerate agent-registry.json |
[EMPTY_DIR] |
developer |
Remove empty directory {path} |
[ENCODING] |
developer |
Re-encode {file} as UTF-8 |
After fixes, re-run the scanner and verify errors reach zero before completion.
Memory Protocol (MANDATORY)
Before starting:
cat .claude/context/memory/learnings.md
cat .claude/context/memory/issues.md
Review prior audit patterns and known suppressed false positives.
After completing:
- Audit pattern →
.claude/context/memory/learnings.md - New false-positive suppression rule →
.claude/context/memory/decisions.md - Unresolved error requiring owner →
.claude/context/memory/issues.md
Assume interruption: If the audit report isn't saved to disk, it didn't happen.