Content rules

Both stages run a content-quality linter after their structural gates pass. These linters are advisory: they print findings and exit 0, so nothing here blocks a pipeline run. Pass --strict to exit non-zero on an error-severity finding — no rule in either table below declares one today, so --strict currently changes nothing for either linter — and --json for machine-readable output.

The tables below are generated from the linters’ own rule registries. They cannot describe a rule that does not exist, or miss one that does.

Design rules

Run by lint_design_content.py over .sdlc/design.

Rule	Severity	Applies to	Fields	What it catches
`vague-responsibility`	warn / info	component	`responsibility`	A component responsibility uses a vague qualifier with no concrete metric. Demoted to info when the sentence carries a number.
`god-component`	warn	component	`responsibility`	Two actions joined by a conjunction in one responsibility — the component is doing two jobs.
`error-modes-handwaved`	warn	interface	`error_modes`	An error mode gestures at failure rather than naming one.
`orphan-interface`	warn	interface	`id`	The contract is provided but consumed by no component. Set-level check: not decidable from a single file.
`adr-consequences-one-sided`	warn	adr	`consequences`	Consequences list only upsides; no cost is recorded. A decision with no downside was not a decision.
`adr-vague-driver`	warn / info	adr	`decision_drivers`	A decision driver names no threshold the chosen option can be checked against. Demoted to info when the line carries a number.
`adr-option-unexamined`	info	adr	`considered_options`	An option listed in frontmatter never appears under the 'Considered Options' heading, so it was named but not weighed.
`dependency-cycle`	warn	component	`depends_on`	A cycle in the component graph where every individual edge resolves. Set-level check: invisible one file at a time.

Requirements rules

Run by lint_requirements_content.py over .sdlc/requirements.

Rule	Severity	Applies to	Fields	What it catches
`vague-qualifier`	warn / info	requirement	`description / title`	A vague qualifier with no concrete metric. Demoted to info when the sentence carries a number.
`compound`	warn	requirement	`description`	Multiple actions joined by a conjunction in one requirement, which cannot be verified or traced as a single unit.
`ears-conformance`	warn	requirement	`description`	The description does not match the shape of the EARS pattern the requirement declares.
`passive-nameless`	warn	requirement	`description`	Passive voice hides the responsible actor.
`impl-bias`	info	requirement	`description / title`	An implementation detail appears in a requirement whose tier should stay solution-free.
`glossary-unused`	warn	requirement	`terms`	A glossary term no requirement uses. Set-level check: not decidable from a single file.

Reading a severity

A rule listed as warn / info demotes itself to info when the text it flagged carries a number — a vague word next to a concrete threshold is usually prose, not a missing measurement.