ApiHug Lint

Use ApiHug Lint to catch weak descriptions, missing metadata, and other contract-quality violations.

ApiHug Lint checks whether a contract is descriptive enough to support maintainable APIs, generated output, and AI-facing usage.

What It Is

Lint is a rule-based quality pass for ApiHug protobuf projects. It focuses on documentation and modeling quality rather than code formatting.

Why It Matters

Generated systems amplify weak contracts. Missing descriptions, vague field names, or thin API questions reduce both developer clarity and AI usefulness.

How It Fits

1. Enable the required version

Use an ApiHug SDK version that includes lint support, then add a project-level .apihuglint.properties.

2. Configure the rules

Common properties include:

Property	Purpose
`violation.limit`	fail when violations exceed the limit
`service.description.length`	minimum service description length
`service.api.description.length`	minimum operation description length
`service.api.questions.size`	minimum prompt-question count
`message.field.description.length`	minimum field description length
`entity.table.explicit`	require explicit table names
`entity.column.explicit`	require explicit column names

3. Read the output

After a successful proto build, reports are written to:

{PROTO_MODULE}/build/reports/api-lint/

Outputs:

report.html for human review
report.json for automation and CI integration

Example JSON finding

JSON

[
  {
    "proto": "com/apihug/sample/proto/api/demo001/api.proto",
    "kind": "Service",
    "target": "VIPService#GetMeSth",
    "rule": "Service method description too short",
    "description": "Given [Get me something] expect >= 20"
  }
]

Next Step

Run lint as part of your proto build pipeline
Pair it with Proto Review when you need human review on top of automated checks