doctor

OrchestKit doctor for health diagnostics across manifest integrity, hook configuration, skill validation, agent frontmatter, MCP server connectivity, CC version compatibility, and permission rules. Reports issues with severity levels and auto-remediation suggestions. Validates component counts, detects orphaned entries, and checks CC version matrix compliance. Use when diagnosing plugin health, troubleshooting configuration issues, or running pre-release checks.

OrchestKit Health Diagnostics

Argument Resolution

FLAGS = "$ARGUMENTS"         # Full argument string, e.g., "--verbose" or "--json"
FLAG = "$ARGUMENTS[0]"       # First token: -v, --verbose, --json, --category=X
# $ARGUMENTS[0], $ARGUMENTS[1] for indexed access (CC 2.1.59)

Overview

The /ork:doctor command performs comprehensive health checks on your OrchestKit installation. It auto-detects installed plugins and validates 14 categories:

  1. Installed Plugins - Detects ork plugin
  2. Skills Validation - Frontmatter, references, token budget (dynamic count)
  3. Agents Validation - Frontmatter, tool refs, skill refs (dynamic count)
  4. Hook Health - Registration, bundles, async patterns
  5. Permission Rules - Detects unreachable rules
  6. Schema Compliance - Validates JSON files against schemas
  7. Coordination System - Checks lock health and registry integrity
  8. Context Budget - Monitors token usage against budget
  9. Memory System - Graph memory health
  10. Claude Code Version & Channel - Validates CC >= 2.1.111, detects release channel (stable/beta/alpha), recommends 2.1.111+ for xhigh effort, /ultrareview, stream-json plugin_errors
  11. External Dependencies - Checks optional tool availability (agent-browser)
  12. MCP Status - Active vs disabled vs misconfigured, API key presence for paid MCPs. CC 2.1.110: detects duplicate definitions across config scopes
  13. Plugin Validate - Runs claude plugin validate for official CC frontmatter + hooks.json validation (CC >= 2.1.77)
  14. Effort/Model Compatibility - Warns when xhigh effort is requested without Opus 4.7 (silent fallback otherwise)

When to Use

  • After installing or updating OrchestKit
  • When hooks aren't firing as expected
  • Before deploying to a team environment
  • When debugging coordination issues
  • After running npm run build

Tip (CC 2.1.69+): After fixing issues found by doctor, run /reload-plugins to activate plugin changes without restarting your session.

Quick Start

/ork:doctor           # Standard health check
/ork:doctor -v        # Verbose output
/ork:doctor --json    # Machine-readable for CI

CLI Options

FlagDescription
-v, --verboseDetailed output per check
--jsonJSON output for CI integration
--category=XRun only specific category

Health Check Categories

Detailed check procedures: Load Read("${CLAUDE_SKILL_DIR}/rules/diagnostic-checks.md") for bash commands and validation logic per category.

MCP-specific checks: Load Read("${CLAUDE_SKILL_DIR}/rules/mcp-status-checks.md") for credential validation and misconfiguration detection.

Output examples: Load Read("${CLAUDE_SKILL_DIR}/references/health-check-outputs.md") for sample output per category.

Categories 0-3: Core Validation

CategoryWhat It ChecksReference
0. Installed PluginsAuto-detects ork plugin, counts skills/agentsload ${CLAUDE_SKILL_DIR}/rules/diagnostic-checks.md
1. SkillsFrontmatter, context field, token budget, linksload ${CLAUDE_SKILL_DIR}/references/skills-validation.md
2. AgentsFrontmatter, model, skill refs, tool refsload ${CLAUDE_SKILL_DIR}/references/agents-validation.md
3. Hookshooks.json schema, bundles, async patternsload ${CLAUDE_SKILL_DIR}/references/hook-validation.md

Categories 4-5: System Health

CategoryWhat It ChecksReference
4. Memory.claude/memory/ exists, decisions.jsonl integrity, queue depthload ${CLAUDE_SKILL_DIR}/references/memory-health.md
5. Buildplugins/ sync with src/, manifest counts, orphansload ${CLAUDE_SKILL_DIR}/rules/diagnostic-checks.md

Categories 6-9: Infrastructure

CategoryWhat It Checks
6. Permission RulesUnreachable rules detection
7. Schema ComplianceJSON files against schemas
8. CoordinationMulti-worktree lock health, stale locks, sparse paths config
9. Context BudgetToken usage against budget

Categories 10-14: Environment

CategoryWhat It ChecksReference
10. CC Version & ChannelRuntime version against minimum required, release channel (stable/beta/alpha)load ${CLAUDE_SKILL_DIR}/references/version-compatibility.md
11. External DepsOptional tools (agent-browser, portless)load ${CLAUDE_SKILL_DIR}/rules/diagnostic-checks.md
12. MCP StatusEnabled/disabled state, credential checksload ${CLAUDE_SKILL_DIR}/rules/mcp-status-checks.md
13. Plugin ValidateOfficial CC frontmatter + hooks.json validation (CC >= 2.1.77)load ${CLAUDE_SKILL_DIR}/rules/diagnostic-checks.md
14. Effort/ModelDetects xhigh effort configured without Opus 4.7 — see belowinline

Category 14: Effort/Model Compatibility (CC 2.1.111+)

CC 2.1.111 added xhigh effort (Opus 4.7 only). Using it with any other model silently falls back to high — producing no error but losing the extra deepening pass documented in the affected skills.

Detection:

  • If the active model is NOT Opus 4.7, check whether /effort is set to xhigh:
    • Read .claude/settings.jsoneffort field
    • Read $ORCHESTKIT_EFFORT env var (populated by the effort-detector hook)
  • Check for any skill invocation under .claude/chain/*.json that explicitly set effort: xhigh with a non-4.7 model in scope

Warning format:

WARNING: xhigh effort requires Opus 4.7.
  Current model: <model-id>
  Configured effort: xhigh
  Impact: Skills fall back to high — xhigh's extra deepening pass is lost silently.
  Fix: Either switch to Opus 4.7 (`claude --model opus-4.7`) or lower effort to `high`.

Exit code: Non-zero in --json mode; soft warning in interactive mode.

Report Format

Load Read("${CLAUDE_SKILL_DIR}/references/report-format.md") for ASCII report templates, JSON CI output schema, and exit codes.

Interpreting Results & Troubleshooting

Load Read("${CLAUDE_SKILL_DIR}/references/remediation-guide.md") for the full results interpretation table and troubleshooting steps for common failures (skills validation, build sync, memory).

Related Skills

  • ork:configure - Configure plugin settings
  • ork:quality-gates - CI/CD integration
  • security-scanning - Comprehensive audits

References

Load on demand with Read("${CLAUDE_SKILL_DIR}/references/<file>") or Read("${CLAUDE_SKILL_DIR}/rules/<file>"):

FileContent
rules/diagnostic-checks.mdBash commands and validation logic per category
rules/mcp-status-checks.mdCredential validation and misconfiguration detection
references/remediation-guide.mdResults interpretation and troubleshooting steps
references/health-check-outputs.mdSample output per category
references/skills-validation.mdSkills frontmatter and structure checks
references/agents-validation.mdAgents frontmatter and tool ref checks
references/hook-validation.mdHook registration and bundle checks
references/memory-health.mdMemory system integrity checks
references/permission-rules.mdPermission rule detection
references/schema-validation.mdJSON schema compliance
references/report-format.mdASCII report templates and JSON CI output
references/version-compatibility.mdCC version and channel validation