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adhere

Validating rules

adhere validate checks your rules three ways:

Terminal window
adhere validate                  # your rules
adhere validate --preset effect  # your rules beside a preset's
  • Wording. It lists each rule whose wording differs from what the rule writing tips recommend, with its file and what differs.
  • The linter check. While lint judges a file against one of your rules, it also asks Jev whether a linter or type checker could decide the rule exactly. It stops after 10 files per rule, and validate reports a rule once it has all 10 answers. A rule flagged on 7 or more of them probably belongs in a regular linter. One flagged on 3 to 6 reads differently from file to file: make its description say more precisely what it applies to. Preset rules are left out.
  • Contradictions. It asks Jev about each pair of rules that apply to the same files. When there is such a pair, it needs the API key, as lint does.

Wording and the linter check are advice and never fail validate. A contradiction fails it with exit code 1, so validate can gate a pull request that adds a rule. The workflow that adhere init --shared writes does this.

Two rules contradict when no code can follow both, such as one that says errors must be thrown and one that says they must be returned. Each rule reads fine on its own, so a contradiction shows up only as code that breaks one rule or the other, whatever you do. validate finds it before lint does:

Found 1 contradiction among configured rules:


1. No code can follow both (0.91):
   - errors/throw-tagged-errors (/repo/.adhere/rules/errors/throw-tagged-errors/RULE.md)
     A function that fails must throw a tagged error, never return an error value.
   - errors/return-results (/repo/packages/api/.adhere/rules/errors/return-results/RULE.md)
     A function that fails must return a Result, never throw.


Resolve by editing one rule, narrowing a nested rule's scope, or using the same rule id when the nested rule is meant to shadow the root rule.

Two rules with the same id are never compared: a nested rule that shares an id shadows the other on purpose.