Integrity of project records

HelmIt reads the files in .helmit/ to determine what is open, what is complete, and what comes next. Alongside project tests, it therefore checks the structure of those records and protects the closure of corrections.

Warnings about damaged records

When you run /helmit:next, HelmIt consults a summary of the structural check. It looks for known problems such as repeated or out-of-order Inbox sections, duplicate items, and empty essential fields in requirement and phase records. If it finds something, HelmIt points it out; the detailed check identifies the file and line.

This warning does not change files or block the next action by itself. Someone must inspect the finding before fixing it. If there are two “Backlog” sections, for example, the checker cannot decide on its own which one should remain.

A correction and its Inbox item close together

A localized correction gets a CHG-NNN record in .helmit/CHANGES.md. If it began as an Inbox item, the record holds an explicit link to that item. When the correction is completed, the same commit closes both the CHG and its linked item. An unrelated item stays as it was; a CHG created from a direct request closes only its own record.

Before the commit, HelmIt checks that both required changes are in the candidate and that other entries were not changed accidentally. An inconsistency blocks that commit until it is fixed. Afterward, the correction’s proof is checked against the committed content and its result is recorded. Checking a box does not replace that proof.

For example, if the item “help link does not open” led to CHG-012, completing the CHG also closes that Inbox item. Either record then shows the same outcome.

See Inbox and corrections for when to open a CHG, and Project artifacts to locate the records.