Validate Branch Convention

Check all existing feature branches and spec folders against the configured naming convention. Reports compliance status and identifies violations.

User Input

$ARGUMENTS

You MUST consider the user input before proceeding (if not empty). The user may specify a specific branch to validate (e.g., "003-user-auth") or "all" to check everything.

Prerequisites

1. Verify a spec-kit project exists by checking for .specify/ directory
2. Load convention config from .specify/branch-convention.yml
3. If no convention is configured, use the default pattern ({seq}-{kebab} for both branch and folder)

Outline

1. Load convention: Read .specify/branch-convention.yml and extract:

   • branch_pattern — the expected branch naming pattern
   • folder_pattern — the expected spec folder naming pattern
   • Token definitions (seq_padding, separator, lowercase, etc.)

2. Collect branches and folders: Gather all feature-related items:

   • Git branches: List all local branches matching spec-kit patterns (exclude main, master, develop)
   • Spec folders: List all directories under specs/
   • Match pairs: Associate each branch with its corresponding spec folder

3. Validate each item: For every branch and folder, check:

   Check	Rule	Example Violation
   Pattern match	Branch matches branch_pattern structure	user-auth missing sequence number
   Type prefix	If pattern includes {type}, prefix must be in type_prefix map	feature/003-auth instead of feat/003-auth
   Sequence format	{seq} must be zero-padded to seq_padding digits	3-auth instead of 003-auth
   Length limit	Branch name must not exceed max_length characters	003-very-long-branch-name-that-exceeds-limit...
   Case rule	If lowercase: true, no uppercase characters (except ticket IDs)	003-User-Auth
   Separator	Words must use configured separator	003_user_auth when separator is -
   Branch-folder sync	Branch name and folder name must be derivable from same source	Branch feat/003-auth but folder 004-auth
   Ticket format	If pattern includes {ticket}, must match ticket_pattern regex	proj-142 when pattern requires [A-Z]+-[0-9]+

4. Output compliance report:

   # Branch Convention Compliance Report
   
   **Convention**: {preset name or "custom"}
   **Branch pattern**: {branch_pattern}
   **Folder pattern**: {folder_pattern}
   
   ## Results
   
   | Branch | Folder | Status | Issues |
   |--------|--------|--------|--------|
   | feat/003-user-auth | 003-user-auth | ✅ Compliant | — |
   | 004-chat-system | 004-chat-system | ⚠️ Non-compliant | Missing type prefix |
   | feat/5-api | 5-api | ⚠️ Non-compliant | Sequence not zero-padded |
   
   ## Summary
   - **Total**: {N} branches
   - **Compliant**: {X} ✅
   - **Non-compliant**: {Y} ⚠️
   - **Orphaned folders** (no branch): {Z}
   
   ## Recommended Actions
   1. Run `/speckit.branch-convention.rename` to fix non-compliant items
   

5. Report: Output the compliance report. Do not modify any files — this command is read-only.

Rules

• Read-only — this command never modifies any files or branches
• Always show all items — include compliant and non-compliant for full visibility
• Be specific about violations — explain exactly which rule was violated and what the correct name should be
• Handle missing config gracefully — if no convention is configured, validate against the default pattern and note that no custom convention has been set