# CI Validation

`tmorph validate` runs the same diagnostics that populate the Problems panel interactively - see [Error Messages](/docs/reference/error-messages) - as a single headless command suitable for a CI pipeline gate.

## Basic usage

```sh
tmorph validate checkpoints/candidate.safetensors
echo $?   # non-zero if any Error-severity diagnostic was found
```

A non-zero exit code always corresponds to one or more Error-severity diagnostics you can reproduce by opening the same checkpoint locally and looking at the Problems panel - CI failure and interactive investigation always agree on what's wrong, since they run the same underlying checks.

## What gets checked

By default, this covers the same categories described in [Error Messages](/docs/reference/error-messages#common-categories): import/parse errors, adapter warnings, NaN/Inf and statistical data-quality flags, and backend/compute errors. A custom ruleset (`--rules`) can add project-specific checks - for example, a [performance baseline](/docs/profiling/performance-baselines) regression threshold, or a required-reviewer check on a [morph proposal](/docs/compare-and-morph/merge-conflicts) - expressed the same way any other check is, as a pass/fail gate with a reproducible reason.

## A typical pipeline step

```yaml
- name: Validate candidate checkpoint
  run: tmorph validate candidate.safetensors --rules ci-rules.toml
```

Pairing this with [Model Diff](/docs/core-concepts/model-diff)-based checks - comparing a candidate against a known-good baseline rather than validating it in isolation - is usually more informative than a standalone validation pass, since some pathologies (a values-shifted-but-still-finite regression) don't trip a pure diagnostics check but do show up clearly in a diff against a baseline.

## Related resources

-   [Error Messages](/docs/reference/error-messages) - the diagnostic categories this command checks.
-   [Performance Baselines](/docs/profiling/performance-baselines) - using a pinned baseline as part of a CI check.
-   [Batch Inspection](/docs/cli-and-automation/batch-inspection) - running validation across many checkpoints, not just one.