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clemens-u/valbuddy-cli

v1.0.1MIT

Permanently free local JSON, JSON Schema, and XML validation for AI coding agents on Windows using valbuddy.exe.

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ValBuddy CLI Agent Plugin

Use the ValBuddy command-line validator from AI coding agents for permanently free, deterministic, local JSON, JSON Schema, and XML validation on Windows.

The plugin provides the valbuddy-cli skill with workflows for:

  • JSON and JSON Schema validation
  • XML/XSD validation and well-formedness checks
  • JSON minification

Additional workflows with license limits include JSON pretty-printing, self-contained HTML documentation generation from JSON Schema, JSON Schema tests, JSON Patch, JSON linting, JSON-to-CSV conversion, settings-XML batch automation, and large-data streaming validation. See License notes.

Prerequisites

The plugin does not include valbuddy.exe. The plugin files are MIT-licensed; JSONBuddy, XML ValidatorBuddy, and valbuddy.exe remain separately licensed software.

Set the executable path before using the skill if valbuddy.exe is not available through PATH or a standard installation location:

$env:VALBUDDY_EXE="C:\Program Files\JSONBuddy\valbuddy.exe"

Plugin contents

  • plugin.json: plugin metadata
  • skills/valbuddy-cli/SKILL.md: skill instructions
  • skills/valbuddy-cli/scripts/: PowerShell command wrappers
  • skills/valbuddy-cli/references/: CLI reference and agent recipes

Test with GitHub Copilot CLI

From the repository root:

copilot --plugin-dir ./plugins/valbuddy-cli

Install it from the first-party JSONBuddy marketplace:

copilot plugin marketplace add Clemens-U/jsonbuddy
copilot plugin install valbuddy-cli@jsonbuddy

See the repository marketplace guide for VS Code and GitHub Copilot app installation, enterprise deployment, security review, updates, and rollback.

Install as a standalone Codex skill

Use the built-in skill-installer with this repository path:

python "$env:CODEX_HOME\skills\.system\skill-installer\scripts\install-skill-from-github.py" --repo Clemens-U/jsonbuddy --path plugins/valbuddy-cli/skills/valbuddy-cli

Examples

Run these examples from the plugin directory:

./skills/valbuddy-cli/scripts/validate-json.ps1 -SchemaPath "D:\Schemas\library_schema.json" -InputFiles "D:\Data\library.json" -VerboseOutput

./skills/valbuddy-cli/scripts/validate-xml.ps1 -SchemaPath "D:\Schemas\invoice.xsd" -InputFiles "D:\Data\invoice.xml"

./skills/valbuddy-cli/scripts/format-json.ps1 -Mode pretty -InputJson "D:\Data\raw.json" -OutputJson "D:\Output\pretty.json"

./skills/valbuddy-cli/scripts/generate-schema-docs.ps1 -SchemaPath "D:\Schemas\library_schema.json" -OutputHtml "D:\Documentation\library_schema.html"

Offline mode

Offline mode is opt-in. Add -Offline to any wrapper when local inputs may contain reference graphs but network access must be rejected:

./skills/valbuddy-cli/scripts/validate-json.ps1 -Offline -SchemaPath "D:\Schemas\library_schema.json" -InputFiles "D:\Data\library.json"

Local relative and absolute references continue to work. If an input or nested dependency resolves to HTTP, HTTPS, a UNC share, a mapped network drive, a reparse-point path, or another non-local URI, valbuddy.exe fails before connecting, identifies the blocked resource, and returns exit code 12. Settings-XML batches (including XSLT), configured schema tests (-jst), official suite runs (-jsts), and signature verification (-dsigverify) are disabled offline because their broad configured or third-party resource paths cannot all be constrained without changing third-party libraries.

The PowerShell scripts only forward native -offline; they are not the security boundary. Enforcement is inside valbuddy.exe. Host sandboxing, outbound firewall rules, or an isolated runner remain useful defense in depth.

License notes

  • Free-license restrictions apply to <settings-xml>, -patch, -jsl, -jspp, -jst, and -j2csv.
  • JSON Schema documentation generation with -jsdoc is limited to schemas smaller than 50 KB in the free version after the evaluation period.
  • -jsv requires a JSONBuddy Large Data license.

See LICENSE for the MIT license covering this plugin. The separately installed ValBuddy executable is governed by its applicable product license.