Workflow /para-audit | PARA Workspace

The /para-audit workflow is the workspace Macro Assessor — it has two modes:

Full-scan (default) — Structural drift audit against Kernel Specs (I1-I11). The only workflow allowed to read invariants.md in full.
Update (v1.5.3) — Post-update compliance check: reads changelog, checks schemas, templates, and rules index for each project.

Commands

/para-audit                # Full structural audit
/para-audit update         # Post-update compliance check

Why a Separate Workflow?

Instead of reading hundreds of lines of Kernel Specs on every /open or /plan (wasting tokens and causing attention decay), PARA uses Progressive Disclosure:

Daily workflows → read only the ultra-light governance.md
When audit is needed → run /para-audit for comprehensive checks
After ./para update → run /para-audit update for version-specific checks

Full-scan Flow

Full-scan Kernel → Check filesystem → Check projects → Ecosystem consistency → Check libraries → Generate report

1. Full-scan Kernel Specs

Reads all 11 invariants (I1-I11) from invariants.md to understand strict structural rules.

2. Check Filesystem Structure (I1, I8)

Verifies no loose files at workspace root (except .para-workspace.yml, README.md, para). Confirms top-level directories match Projects/, Areas/, Resources/, Archive/.

3. Check Active Projects (I4, I2)

For each project in Projects/: checks project.md exists and backlog.md has active items. Flags potentially inactive projects.

3.5. Ecosystem Consistency Validation (v1.6.0)

For each project with ecosystem fields:

Check	Description	Severity
Bidirectional references	Ecosystem ↔ satellite must reference each other	⚠️ Warn
@prefix file exists	Referenced plan file must exist at resolved path	🔴 Error
Ecosystem has no `repo/`	Meta-projects should not contain source code	⚠️ Warn
Satellite has `repo/`	Standard satellites must have source code	⚠️ Warn

Example output:

🌐 ECOSYSTEM CHECK
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
  my-ecosystem (ecosystem):
    ✅ Satellites declared: [app-a, app-b]
    ✅ Satellites verified: both reference parent
    ⚠️ app-b has no active_plan linked to ecosystem

  standalone (standard):
    ✅ No ecosystem fields — independent project

4. Check Libraries

Runs /para-rule list and /para-workflow list to identify untracked or misaligned components.

5. Generate Audit Report

Creates Areas/Workspace/audits/audit-report-YYYY-MM-DD.md with:

Structural Integrity: Which invariants passed/failed
Ecosystem Health: Bidirectional consistency results (v1.6.0+)
Drift Detected: Loose files, missing structures, inactive projects
Library Status: Outdated or untracked rules/workflows
Remediation Plan: Next steps to fix issues

Update Flow (v1.5.3)

Detect version change → Read changelog → Check schemas → Check templates → Check rules → Report

1. Detect Version Change

Reads kernel_version from .para-workspace.yml and compares with .para/audit.log to find the previous version. Stops early if no change detected.

2. Read Changelog (Token-Optimized)

Reads only the changelog for the new version (docs/changelog/vX.Y.Z.md). Extracts breaking changes, template changes, and rule changes to build a targeted check list.

3. Check Project Schema Compliance

For each project: reads project.md YAML frontmatter and flags missing fields (has_rules, downstream, active_plan, type, kernel_version) with suggested defaults.

4. Check Backlog Template Compliance

For each project with backlog.md: checks for ✅ Completed (Archived) section, Summary categories, and Done items still in active tables. Suggests /backlog clean if needed.

5. Check Rules Index Consistency

For projects with has_rules: true: compares .agent/rules.md index with actual .agent/rules/ files on disk. Flags mismatches.

6. Generate Post-Update Report

Displays an inline report with findings and suggested actions. Auto-fixable items can be applied with user confirmation.

Updated in v1.6.0. Ecosystem bidirectional consistency validation.

→ Workflow /para-rule — Rule management → Workflow /update — Safe workspace update → Learn: Kernel — All 11 Invariants → Learn: Ecosystem Architecture