# Validation

URL: /bengal/docs/0.5.1/content/validation/
Section: validation

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Content Validation Ensure content quality with health checks and automatic fixes. Do I Need This? Note Note Skip this if: You manually check all links and content. Read this if: You want automated quality assurance and CI/CD integration. Validation Flow flowchart LR A[Content] --> B[Validators] B --> C{Issues?} C -->|Yes| D[Report] C -->|No| E[Pass] D --> F{Auto-fixable?} F -->|Yes| G[Auto-fix] F -->|No| H[Manual fix needed] Quick Start Validate Auto-fix CI/CD # Run all checks bengal check # Validate specific files bengal check --file content/page.md # Only validate changed files (incremental) bengal check --changed # Verbose output (show all checks) bengal check --verbose # Show quality suggestions bengal check --suggestions # Watch mode (validate on file changes) bengal check --watch # Preview fixes bengal fix --dry-run # Apply safe fixes bengal fix # Apply all fixes including confirmations bengal fix --all # Fix specific validator only bengal fix --validator Directives Fixes common issues: Unclosed directive fences Invalid directive options YAML syntax errors # Fail build on issues bengal build --strict # Validate and exit with error code bengal check The --strict flag makes warnings into errors. Built-in Checks Check What it validates links Internal and external links work assets Asset references exist config Configuration is valid navigation Menu structure is correct rendering Templates render without errors cross_ref Cross-references are valid taxonomy Tags and categories are consistent directives MyST directive syntax is correct anchors Heading IDs are unique and valid Custom Validators Create project-specific rules by extending BaseValidator: # validators/custom.py from bengal.health.base import BaseValidator from bengal.health.report import CheckResult class RequireAuthorValidator(BaseValidator): """Validator that checks for author field in frontmatter.""" name = "Author Required" description = "Ensures all pages have an author field" def validate(self, site, build_context=None): results = [] for page in site.pages: if not page.metadata.get("author"): results.append(CheckResult.error( f"Missing author in {page.source_path}", recommendation="Add 'author: Your Name' to frontmatter", details=[str(page.source_path)], )) return results Tip Tip CI integration: Add bengal check to your CI pipeline to catch issues before deployment. Use --verbose to see all checks, or --suggestions for quality recommendations.

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Metadata:
- Author: lbliii
- Word Count: 335
- Reading Time: 2 minutes