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Strict Mode for Production

Use strict validation to ensure your agent card follows all A2A best practices before going live.

Problem

You want to enforce the highest quality standards before deploying:

  • All recommended fields should be present
  • No warnings allowed
  • Full compliance with A2A specification

Solution

npx capiscio validate ./agent-card.json --strict

capiscio validate ./agent-card.json --strict

capiscio-core validate ./agent-card.json --strict

What Strict Mode Does

Normal Mode Strict Mode
Validates required fields Validates required AND recommended fields
Warnings don't fail Warnings ARE errors
Flexible on optional fields Expects completeness
Score threshold: pass at 60+ Score threshold: pass at 85+

Example Output

$ capiscio validate ./agent-card.json --strict

❌ Validation Failed (Strict Mode)

Score: 72/100 (Minimum required: 85)

Errors:
  • Missing recommended field: skills[0].inputModes
  • Missing recommended field: skills[1].outputModes
  • Provider.url should use HTTPS
  • Missing optional but recommended: version

Run without --strict to see the difference.

CI/CD Integration

Add strict validation to your GitHub Actions:

.github/workflows/validate.yml
- name: Validate (Strict)
  uses: capiscio/validate-a2a@v1
  with:
    agent-card: './agent-card.json'
    strict: true

Progressive Strategy

Use different modes for different environments:

.github/workflows/validate.yml
jobs:
  validate:
    strategy:
      matrix:
        include:
          - branch: develop
            strict: false
          - branch: main
            strict: true
    steps:
      - uses: capiscio/validate-a2a@v1
        if: github.ref == format('refs/heads/{0}', matrix.branch)
        with:
          strict: ${{ matrix.strict }}

How It Works

Strict mode elevates the validation rules:

  1. Recommended → Required: Fields marked "recommended" in the A2A spec are treated as required
  2. Warnings → Errors: Any warning becomes a blocking error
  3. Higher Threshold: The compliance score must be 85+ instead of 60+
  4. Complete Skills: All skill fields must be fully populated

See Also