bidsmith validate

validate parses every .bid file under the given path, checks that each one is syntactically valid, that every block matches the schema, that every reference resolves to a real resource, and that every lint rule passes. It’s the fastest feedback loop in bidsmith — no network, no API, just local files.

Synopsis

bidsmith validate [PATH]

Arguments

Argument	Default	Description
`PATH`	`.`	File or directory to validate. Directories are walked recursively for `.bid` files.

Flags

None beyond the standard --help.

Environment variables

None. validate runs entirely offline.

Exit codes

Code	Meaning
`0`	All files parsed and validated cleanly. Warnings (lint) don’t change this.
`1`	At least one parse or validation error, or `PATH` doesn’t exist.

Examples

Validate the current directory

bidsmith validate

Walks the current directory for .bid files and validates each.

Validate one file

bidsmith validate summer-2026.bid

Validate before every commit

Wire bidsmith validate . into a Git pre-commit hook (or a CI job) so broken .bid files never reach main.

What it catches

Syntax errors — unclosed braces, malformed assignments, etc. Reported with source location (file, line, column).
Unknown resource types — resource "google_ads_campagn" "x" { (typo). Suggests near-matches.
Unknown attributes — delivery_methad = "STANDARD" (typo).
Type mismatches — amount_micros = "5" when amount_micros is Integer.
Invalid enum values — match_type = "BROAD_PHRASE" when bidsmith knows of EXACT / PHRASE / BROAD.
Missing required attributes — e.g. a google_ads_campaign with no advertising_channel_type.
Dangling references — campaign = google_ads_campaign.serach.id when no resource is named serach.
Ambiguous references across modules — see Modules.
Duplicate resources — same (type, name) declared twice.

What it doesn’t catch

validate runs offline, so it can’t check anything that requires Google Ads’ opinion:

Whether a campaign budget is below your account’s minimum.
Whether a particular ad-group type is available for your channel.
Whether a conversion action category is currently accepted.

Those land in bidsmith plan, which forwards your .bid files to Google’s validateOnly endpoint.