Plugins

Plugins extend Actio validation with extra checks (e.g. "this file must exist"). They are YAML files under actio/plugins/.

Plugin layout

actio/
└── plugins/
    ├── security.yaml
    └── docs.yaml

Only .yaml and .yml files are loaded. Subdirectories are ignored.

Plugin schema

Each plugin file can define:

Field	Required	Description
name	No	Display name (defaults to filename).
description	No	Short description.
requiredFiles	No	List of paths (relative to repo root) that must exist.

Example

act/plugins/security.yaml:

name: security-guardrails
description: Ensure security docs and config exist
requiredFiles:
  - act/rules/coding_rules.md
  - docs/SECURITY.md
  - .github/dependabot.yml

When you run act validate or act doctor, the CLI:

1. Scans act/plugins/*.yaml.
2. For each plugin, checks that every path in requiredFiles exists.
3. Reports: plugin "security-guardrails": missing required file: docs/SECURITY.md for any missing path.

Use cases

• Compliance: Require ADRs, SECURITY.md, or policy docs.
• Monorepo: Require per-package README or config.
• Custom rules: Require files that your team agreed on (e.g. docs/architecture/adr-001.md).

No plugins directory

If act/plugins/ does not exist, no plugin checks run. Validation still runs for the core ACT layout and index.

See also

• act validate
• Schema validation