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:
- Installed Plugins - Detects ork plugin
- Skills Validation - Frontmatter, references, token budget (dynamic count)
- Agents Validation - Frontmatter, tool refs, skill refs (dynamic count)
- Hook Health - Registration, bundles, async patterns
- Permission Rules - Detects unreachable rules
- Schema Compliance - Validates JSON files against schemas
- Coordination System - Checks lock health and registry integrity
- Context Budget - Monitors token usage against budget
- Memory System - Graph memory health
- Claude Code Version & Channel - Validates CC >= 2.1.111, detects release channel (stable/beta/alpha), recommends 2.1.111+ for
xhigheffort,/ultrareview, stream-jsonplugin_errors - External Dependencies - Checks optional tool availability (agent-browser)
- MCP Status - Active vs disabled vs misconfigured, API key presence for paid MCPs. CC 2.1.110: detects duplicate definitions across config scopes
- Plugin Validate - Runs
claude plugin validatefor official CC frontmatter + hooks.json validation (CC >= 2.1.77) - Effort/Model Compatibility - Warns when
xhigheffort 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-pluginsto 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
| Flag | Description |
|---|---|
-v, --verbose | Detailed output per check |
--json | JSON output for CI integration |
--category=X | Run 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
| Category | What It Checks | Reference |
|---|---|---|
| 0. Installed Plugins | Auto-detects ork plugin, counts skills/agents | load ${CLAUDE_SKILL_DIR}/rules/diagnostic-checks.md |
| 1. Skills | Frontmatter, context field, token budget, links | load ${CLAUDE_SKILL_DIR}/references/skills-validation.md |
| 2. Agents | Frontmatter, model, skill refs, tool refs | load ${CLAUDE_SKILL_DIR}/references/agents-validation.md |
| 3. Hooks | hooks.json schema, bundles, async patterns | load ${CLAUDE_SKILL_DIR}/references/hook-validation.md |
Categories 4-5: System Health
| Category | What It Checks | Reference |
|---|---|---|
| 4. Memory | .claude/memory/ exists, decisions.jsonl integrity, queue depth | load ${CLAUDE_SKILL_DIR}/references/memory-health.md |
| 5. Build | plugins/ sync with src/, manifest counts, orphans | load ${CLAUDE_SKILL_DIR}/rules/diagnostic-checks.md |
Categories 6-9: Infrastructure
| Category | What It Checks |
|---|---|
| 6. Permission Rules | Unreachable rules detection |
| 7. Schema Compliance | JSON files against schemas |
| 8. Coordination | Multi-worktree lock health, stale locks, sparse paths config |
| 9. Context Budget | Token usage against budget |
Categories 10-14: Environment
| Category | What It Checks | Reference |
|---|---|---|
| 10. CC Version & Channel | Runtime version against minimum required, release channel (stable/beta/alpha) | load ${CLAUDE_SKILL_DIR}/references/version-compatibility.md |
| 11. External Deps | Optional tools (agent-browser, portless) | load ${CLAUDE_SKILL_DIR}/rules/diagnostic-checks.md |
| 12. MCP Status | Enabled/disabled state, credential checks | load ${CLAUDE_SKILL_DIR}/rules/mcp-status-checks.md |
| 13. Plugin Validate | Official CC frontmatter + hooks.json validation (CC >= 2.1.77) | load ${CLAUDE_SKILL_DIR}/rules/diagnostic-checks.md |
| 14. Effort/Model | Detects xhigh effort configured without Opus 4.7 — see below | inline |
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
/effortis set toxhigh:- Read
.claude/settings.json→effortfield - Read
$ORCHESTKIT_EFFORTenv var (populated by the effort-detector hook)
- Read
- Check for any skill invocation under
.claude/chain/*.jsonthat explicitly seteffort: xhighwith a non-4.7 model in scope
Warning format:
WARNING: xhigh effort requires Opus 4.7.
Current model: <model-id>
Configured effort: xhigh
Impact: Skills fall back to high — xhigh's extra deepening pass is lost silently.
Fix: Either switch to Opus 4.7 (`claude --model opus-4.7`) or lower effort to `high`.
Exit code: Non-zero in --json mode; soft warning in interactive mode.
Report Format
Load
Read("${CLAUDE_SKILL_DIR}/references/report-format.md")for ASCII report templates, JSON CI output schema, and exit codes.
Interpreting Results & Troubleshooting
Load
Read("${CLAUDE_SKILL_DIR}/references/remediation-guide.md")for the full results interpretation table and troubleshooting steps for common failures (skills validation, build sync, memory).
Related Skills
ork:configure- Configure plugin settingsork:quality-gates- CI/CD integrationsecurity-scanning- Comprehensive audits
References
Load on demand with Read("${CLAUDE_SKILL_DIR}/references/<file>") or Read("${CLAUDE_SKILL_DIR}/rules/<file>"):
| File | Content |
|---|---|
rules/diagnostic-checks.md | Bash commands and validation logic per category |
rules/mcp-status-checks.md | Credential validation and misconfiguration detection |
references/remediation-guide.md | Results interpretation and troubleshooting steps |
references/health-check-outputs.md | Sample output per category |
references/skills-validation.md | Skills frontmatter and structure checks |
references/agents-validation.md | Agents frontmatter and tool ref checks |
references/hook-validation.md | Hook registration and bundle checks |
references/memory-health.md | Memory system integrity checks |
references/permission-rules.md | Permission rule detection |
references/schema-validation.md | JSON schema compliance |
references/report-format.md | ASCII report templates and JSON CI output |
references/version-compatibility.md | CC version and channel validation |