tools-only Linting Discovery Protocol
Language plugins MUST implement a discovery sequence before executing quality gates. The harness does not assume lint/format/typecheck tools are present or configured.
Discovery Sequence
- Git hook — Check for pre-commit or similar hooks that run quality gates
- CI config — Check for GitHub Actions, GitLab CI, etc. that define gate commands
- Project config — Read pyproject.toml, package.json, etc. for tool config
- Fallback — Use manifest defaults; if tool not found, skip that gate with a warning
Order of Precedence
| Source | Use when |
|---|---|
| Project-local override | .claude/quality-gates.md or equivalent exists |
| Manifest declaration | Default from language manifest |
| Inferred from file types | No manifest; harness infers from extensions |
Gate Skipping
- typecheck: (none) — Skip typecheck gate entirely (non-typed languages)
- Tool not found — Skip gate, log warning, continue pipeline
- Config missing — Use manifest defaults; warn if tool fails at runtime