yaml-config-validator

YAML validation checks syntax, indentation, and structure against the YAML specification. This Skill reviews your config files, reports errors with locations, and suggests corrections following DevOps best practices.

Run validation on pipeline files like GitHub Actions workflows or docker-compose.yml before committing. Catching indentation and key errors locally prevents failed pipeline runs and broken deployments.

The most frequent issues are inconsistent indentation, tabs instead of spaces, unquoted special characters, and duplicate keys. These often pass silently until runtime, making pre-deployment validation important.

Basic YAML validation confirms syntax correctness but does not verify schema-specific fields like Kubernetes API versions. For schema checks, combine syntax validation with tools that validate against the target platform's schema.

Hidden issues like trailing whitespace, mixed tabs and spaces, or incorrect nesting cause failures that are hard to spot visually. A validator pinpoints the exact line and nature of the problem.