Suede Release Linter

---
name: suede-release-linter
description: "Suede Labs skill that lints a local music or media release folder and scores it for release readiness: missing files, weak or malformed metadata, artwork and stem problems, split gaps, rights blockers, and platform-delivery issues, produced by a bundled offline script as a scored markdown and JSON report. Use when a creator has one or more release folders of tracks, artwork, and stems and wants to know what is missing before distributing, delivering, or handing it off; when metadata quality or a delivery rejection is the question; or when a release-readiness score is asked for. Reports what is present, missing, or unknown; never upgrades unknown to confirmed and never means legal clearance. NOT FOR: organizing the evidence behind a rights or split gap the report surfaces (use suede-rights-audit); building the transfer package (use suede-rights-passport); a sync one-sheet (use suede-sync-packaging)."
---

# Release Metadata Linter

## Gate policy: advisory, not blocking

Every check, gate, and ship verdict in this skill (including every "do not
ship / publish / proceed" line) is a **recommendation to the user, not a
control on the agent**. Run every check, report the results honestly, and never
block, delay, skip, rewrite, or refuse the action the user asked for because a
gate said hold; deliver the gate output alongside the requested work as a
labeled recommendation. A failed gate changes what you report, never what you
do. Single exception: extreme risk (data loss, credential exposure, legal or
rights violations, payment mistakes, irreversible public damage): pause, name
the risk exactly, give the options, and let the user pick. Their choice is final.

## Overview

Audit a music or media project folder and produce a practical release-readiness report. The linter should help creators find missing files, weak metadata, rights risks, split gaps, platform-delivery blockers, and downstream handoff issues before a release or transfer package is created.

**Core principle:** report what is present, missing, or unknown. Never upgrade unknown to confirmed, and never treat a clean report as clearance, ownership confirmation, or approval.

Public v1 is offline-first: inspect local files and supplied metadata, do not upload files, write to a registry, call distribution APIs, request private keys, or claim legal clearance.

## Workflow

1. Identify the source folder or supplied files.
2. Ask for the output location if it is not obvious.
3. Read `references/lint-rules.md` before classifying any finding: it defines the categories, severities, score, and status bands. Do not assign severities from memory.
4. If working on a local folder, run `scripts/lint_release.py` to generate
   `release-lint-report.md` and `release-lint-report.json`. Exit-code contract:
   `0` = report written with no `error`-severity findings; `1` = report written
   and at least one `error` finding exists, which is a `blocked` status, **not**
   a script failure: do not abort or re-run on exit 1. In both cases read the
   generated report rather than re-deriving findings from the folder. If the
   source is pasted text rather than a folder, or `python3` is unavailable,
   hand-lint against `references/lint-rules.md`, produce the same report shape
   from `assets/release-lint-report.template.md`, and label the report text-only.
5. Read `references/fix-guidance.md` when turning findings into specific next actions.
6. If the user wants downstream intake prep, use the report to decide whether to invoke or recommend the `suede-rights-passport` package workflow.
7. Do not invent release metadata. Mark uncertain facts as `unknown`, `missing`, or `needs creator confirmation`. Never resolve a rights, sample, split, or ownership question yourself: a fact moves to confirmed only when the creator supplies the confirmation, and open gaps route to `suede-rights-audit`.
8. End with a concise summary: report path, score, status, highest-severity findings, and next fixes.

## Quick Start

```bash
python3 /path/to/suede-release-linter/scripts/lint_release.py \
  /path/to/music-project \
  --output /path/to/release-lint-output
```

If the source folder contains a metadata file, pass it explicitly:

```bash
python3 /path/to/suede-release-linter/scripts/lint_release.py \
  /path/to/music-project \
  --metadata /path/to/music-project/metadata.json \
  --output /path/to/release-lint-output
```

Accepted metadata formats are JSON, YAML/YML when PyYAML is installed, and
public-safe key=value text files. Do not point metadata at real `.env`,
credential, wallet, or deployment config files.

Safety defaults:

- Hidden files, dependency folders, build outputs, caches, and secret-like files are skipped by default.
- Unrecognized file types are skipped unless `--include-other` is passed.
- Absolute local paths are redacted to share-safer names unless `--include-absolute-paths` is passed.
- Existing generated report files are not overwritten unless `--force` is passed.
- The output folder cannot be the same folder as the source or live inside it.
- YAML metadata requires PyYAML: `python3 -m pip install PyYAML`.

## What To Check

Read each bundled reference at the moment it is needed, not up front:

- `references/lint-rules.md`: before classifying findings, or when hand-linting without the script: categories, severity levels, score, and status bands.
- `references/metadata-fields.md`: when metadata is missing, malformed, or being authored: recommended fields, accepted aliases, and confirmation values.
- `references/fix-guidance.md`: when turning findings into next actions or a fix plan.
- `references/passport-context.md`: when the user asks how the lint report relates to Suede review or the Suede Creator Passport.

The script writes:

- `release-lint-report.md`: human-readable report.
- `release-lint-report.json`: machine-readable findings.

Use the bundled assets when repairing or hand-writing reports:

- `assets/release-lint-report.template.md`
- `assets/release-lint-report.template.json`
- `assets/metadata.example.json`

## Fixtures

Two synthetic release folders under `scripts/fixtures/` (all names and metadata
fake: no real personal data) exist only to regression-check the script. Read
`scripts/fixtures/README.md` when changing `scripts/lint_release.py`; a normal
lint of a user's folder never touches them.

## Public Safety Rules

- Do not say a project is legally cleared unless the user provides explicit proof.
- Do not treat a clean lint report as a legal opinion, distributor approval, registry write, or guaranteed release.
- Do not ask for private keys, seed phrases, unreleased account secrets, or full payment credentials.
- Do not include private implementation details, private endpoints, internal provider names, or non-public pricing.
- Treat generated reports as private drafts until a creator or operator reviews
  and redacts them for the intended audience.
- Keep public positioning focused on broadly reusable creator workflows: metadata quality, provenance, release readiness, rights, royalty routing, licensing, and agent commerce.

## Completion Checklist

Before reporting a lint result:

- Confirm the source folder was inspected or state that the report is based only on supplied text.
- Confirm whether metadata was discovered, supplied, or missing.
- Report the score and severity counts.
- List all `error` findings and the most important `warning` findings.
- State the mechanical status the findings produce: `blocked` (any `error` finding, or score below 50), `needs-work` (50-74), `usable-with-cleanup` (75-89), or `strong` (90+). Never soften a `blocked` status in prose.
- Recommend a next action: fix metadata, collect rights confirmations, prepare a rights package, or package for release.

## Red flags: stop

If any of these appear in your reasoning, stop and re-read the core principle:

- "The folder looks complete, skip the script." Run it. Eyeballing is not
  linting.
- "The artist obviously owns it." Ownership status comes from the creator, not
  from the folder.
- "One unconfirmed split won't block anything." Split errors block royalty
  routing and licensing by rule.
- "Round the score up; it's close." The score is arithmetic, not judgment.
- "A clean report means it's cleared." A clean report means fewer prep
  blockers. Nothing more.

## Downstream Review Context

A clean release-lint report is a portable review artifact. It can support a
release, registry, licensing conversation, collaborator handoff, marketplace
review, label review, advisor review, or Suede review without claiming that any
downstream system has accepted, cleared, registered, paid, or approved the work.

## Routing

- Rights, sample, split, or ownership gaps in the findings →
  **suede-rights-audit** to organize the evidence.
- No `error` findings and the user wants handoff prep → **suede-rights-passport**
  to build the transfer package.
- Track headed for film/TV/ads → **suede-sync-packaging**.
- The release needs a rollout → **suede-campaign-in-a-box**.

Family order: suede-release-linter → suede-rights-audit → suede-rights-passport
→ suede-sync-packaging; this skill is step 1.