AgentLint

AgentLint

AgentLint is an automated auditing system that inspects agent configurations, plugin manifests, tool definitions, and system prompts for issues, violations, and best-practice gaps.

Overview

AgentLint runs 29 checks across 4 categories:

Category	Checks	Description
Agent Config	9	Name length, description presence, system prompt validation, tool count, maxTurns range, provider validity, dangerous tool audit
Tool Definitions	10	Name length, description quality (action verbs, ambiguous phrasing), parameter count and descriptions, capability declarations
Plugin Manifests	6	Version presence, capability scoping, WASM runtime warnings, excessive capability detection
System Prompts	4	Instruction clarity, conflicting directives, token efficiency, unsafe patterns

CLI

cortex agent lint check <agent-id>          # Audit agent config, tools, plugins
cortex agent lint config                    # Show lint configuration

Output shows pass/warning/error counts with per-issue suggestions and severity badges.

REST API

Method	Path	Description
GET	/api/agentlint/check?agentId=	Run checks for a specific agent (defaults to active agent)
POST	/api/agentlint/check	Run checks with custom config

Web UI (v0.49.0+)

AgentLint is integrated into the Agent Manager page as a 🔍 AgentLint tab alongside "Agents" and "Sub-Agent Types". The tab lazily fetches /api/agentlint/check?agentId=<id> for the currently active agent and renders summary cards and issue list inline. A Re-run button allows on-demand re-execution.

Example Output

AgentLint Results:
  Total checks: 29
  ✅ Passed: 28
  ⚠️ Warnings: 3
  ❌ Errors: 2

Issues:
  ⚠️ tool_desc_quality: agent-tool has generic description (avoid "useful", "helpful")
  ⚠️ system_prompt_length: system prompt exceeds 4000 tokens
  ❌ missing_tool: declared tool 'web_search_new' not found in registry

Module

src/agent/agentlint.ts — contains all check functions, severity scoring, and the runAgentLintChecks() orchestrator.

See Also

• Configuration — Agent and provider configuration
• Adding a Tool — Tool definition best practices
• Plugin System — Plugin manifest standards