feat: add syntax/schema error prefixes and error-type groupby

- Prefix each validation error with 'syntax:' or 'schema:' to
  distinguish error types across all reporters
- Add ErrorType field to Report struct
- Add 'error-type' as a new groupby option that groups results
  into syntax, schema, and Passed categories
- Update flag help text, README, and index

Author: kehoecj

CHANGELOG.md

@@ -7,7 +7,7 @@ and this project adheres to [Semantic Versioning](https://semver.org/spec/v2.0.0
 
 ## [Unreleased]
 
-## [2.0.1] - 2026-04-09
+## [2.1.0] - 2026-04-09
 
 ### Added
 

PKGBUILD

@@ -1,14 +1,14 @@
 # Maintainer: Clayton Kehoe <clayton.j.kehoe at boeing dot com>
 # Contributor : wiz64 <wiz64 dot com>
 pkgname=config-file-validator
-pkgver=1.11.0
+pkgver=2.1.0
 pkgrel=1
-pkgdesc="A tool to validate the syntax of configuration files"
+pkgdesc="A tool to validate the syntax and schema of configuration files"
 arch=('x86_64')
 url="https://github.com/Boeing/config-file-validator"
 license=('Apache 2.0')
 depends=('glibc')
-makedepends=('go>=1.25' 'git' 'sed')
+makedepends=('go>=1.26.2' 'git' 'sed')
 source=("git+https://github.com/Boeing/config-file-validator.git")
 sha256sums=('SKIP')
 md5sums=('SKIP')

README.md

@@ -162,7 +162,7 @@ optional flags:
   -globbing
         If globbing flag is set, check for glob patterns in the arguments.
   -groupby string
-        Group output by filetype, directory, pass-fail. Supported for Standard and JSON reports
+        Group output by filetype, directory, pass-fail, error-type. Supported for Standard and JSON reports
   -no-schema
         Disable all schema validation. Only syntax is checked.
         Cannot be used with --require-schema, --schema-map, or --schemastore.
@@ -289,7 +289,7 @@ validator --reporter=json:output.json --reporter=standard /path/to/search
 
 ### Group report output
 
-Group the report output by file type, directory, or pass-fail. Supports one or more groupings.
+Group the report output by file type, directory, pass-fail, or error-type. Supports one or more groupings.
 
 ```shell
 validator -groupby filetype

cmd/validator/testdata/groupby.txtar

@@ -11,6 +11,15 @@ stdout 'Summary'
 exec validator -groupby=pass-fail files
 stdout 'Passed'
 
+# Group by error-type (all valid files → Passed group)
+exec validator -groupby=error-type files
+stdout 'Passed'
+
+# Group by error-type with failures
+! exec validator -groupby=error-type mixed
+stdout 'syntax'
+stdout 'Passed'
+
 # Double grouping
 exec validator -groupby=filetype,directory files
 stdout 'json'
@@ -39,3 +48,7 @@ stdout 'totalPassed'
 {"key": "value"}
 -- files/good.yaml --
 key: value
+-- mixed/good.json --
+{"key": "value"}
+-- mixed/bad.json --
+{"key": value}

cmd/validator/validator.go

@@ -173,7 +173,7 @@ func getFlags(args []string) (validatorConfig, error) {
 		excludeFileTypesPtr = flagSet.String("exclude-file-types", "", "A comma separated list of file types to ignore")
 		fileTypesPtr        = flagSet.String("file-types", "", "A comma separated list of file types to validate")
 		versionPtr          = flagSet.Bool("version", false, "Version prints the release version of validator")
-		groupOutputPtr      = flagSet.String("groupby", "", "Group output by filetype, directory, pass-fail. Supported for Standard and JSON reports")
+		groupOutputPtr      = flagSet.String("groupby", "", "Group output by filetype, directory, pass-fail, error-type. Supported for Standard and JSON reports")
 		quietPtr            = flagSet.Bool("quiet", false, "If quiet flag is set. It doesn't print any output to stdout.")
 		globbingPrt         = flagSet.Bool("globbing", false, "If globbing flag is set, check for glob patterns in the arguments.")
 		requireSchemaPtr    = flagSet.Bool("require-schema", false,
@@ -321,14 +321,14 @@ func validateReporterConf(conf map[string]string, groupBy *string) error {
 func validateGroupByConf(groupBy *string) error {
 	groupByCleanString := cleanString("groupby")
 	groupByUserInput := strings.Split(groupByCleanString, ",")
-	groupByAllowedValues := []string{"filetype", "directory", "pass-fail"}
+	groupByAllowedValues := []string{"filetype", "directory", "pass-fail", "error-type"}
 	seenValues := make(map[string]bool)
 
 	// Check that the groupby values are valid and not duplicates
 	if groupBy != nil && isFlagSet("groupby") {
 		for _, groupBy := range groupByUserInput {
 			if !slices.Contains(groupByAllowedValues, groupBy) {
-				return errors.New("wrong parameter value for groupby, only supports filetype, directory, pass-fail")
+				return errors.New("wrong parameter value for groupby, only supports filetype, directory, pass-fail, error-type")
 			}
 			if _, ok := seenValues[groupBy]; ok {
 				return errors.New("wrong parameter value for groupby, duplicate values are not allowed")

index.md

@@ -178,7 +178,7 @@ optional flags:
   -globbing
         If globbing flag is set, check for glob patterns in the arguments.
   -groupby string
-        Group output by filetype, directory, pass-fail. Supported for Standard and JSON reports
+        Group output by filetype, directory, pass-fail, error-type. Supported for Standard and JSON reports
   -no-schema
         Disable all schema validation. Only syntax is checked.
         Cannot be used with --require-schema, --schema-map, or --schemastore.
@@ -305,7 +305,7 @@ validator --reporter=json:output.json --reporter=standard /path/to/search
 
 ### Group report output
 
-Group the report output by file type, directory, or pass-fail. Supports one or more groupings.
+Group the report output by file type, directory, pass-fail, or error-type. Supports one or more groupings.
 
 ```shell
 validator -groupby filetype

pkg/cli/cli.go

@@ -117,10 +117,21 @@ func (c CLI) Run() (int, error) {
 			return 1, fmt.Errorf("unable to read file: %w", err)
 		}
 
-		isValid, err := fileToValidate.FileType.Validator.ValidateSyntax(fileContent)
+		isValid, syntaxErr := fileToValidate.FileType.Validator.ValidateSyntax(fileContent)
 
+		var schemaErr error
 		if isValid {
-			isValid, err = validateSchema(fileToValidate.FileType.Validator, fileContent, fileToValidate.Path)
+			isValid, schemaErr = validateSchema(fileToValidate.FileType.Validator, fileContent, fileToValidate.Path)
+		}
+
+		err = syntaxErr
+		errorType := ""
+		if syntaxErr != nil {
+			errorType = "syntax"
+		}
+		if schemaErr != nil {
+			err = schemaErr
+			errorType = "schema"
 		}
 
 		var line, col int
@@ -133,9 +144,11 @@ func (c CLI) Run() (int, error) {
 		var validationErrors []string
 		var se *validator.SchemaErrors
 		if errors.As(err, &se) {
-			validationErrors = se.Errors()
+			for _, e := range se.Errors() {
+				validationErrors = append(validationErrors, "schema: "+e)
+			}
 		} else if err != nil {
-			validationErrors = []string{err.Error()}
+			validationErrors = []string{"syntax: " + err.Error()}
 		}
 
 		report := reporter.Report{
@@ -144,6 +157,7 @@ func (c CLI) Run() (int, error) {
 			IsValid:          isValid,
 			ValidationError:  err,
 			ValidationErrors: validationErrors,
+			ErrorType:        errorType,
 			IsQuiet:          Quiet,
 			StartLine:        line,
 			StartColumn:      col,

pkg/cli/group_output.go

@@ -43,6 +43,21 @@ func GroupByPassFail(reports []reporter.Report) map[string][]reporter.Report {
 	return reportByPassOrFail
 }
 
+// Group Reports by Error Type (syntax, schema, or passed)
+func GroupByErrorType(reports []reporter.Report) map[string][]reporter.Report {
+	reportByErrorType := make(map[string][]reporter.Report)
+
+	for _, report := range reports {
+		key := report.ErrorType
+		if key == "" {
+			key = "Passed"
+		}
+		reportByErrorType[key] = append(reportByErrorType[key], report)
+	}
+
+	return reportByErrorType
+}
+
 // Group Reports by Directory
 func GroupByDirectory(reports []reporter.Report) map[string][]reporter.Report {
 	reportByDirectory := make(map[string][]reporter.Report)
@@ -79,6 +94,8 @@ func GroupBySingle(reports []reporter.Report, groupBy string) (map[string][]repo
 			groupReport = GroupByFileType(reports)
 		case "directory":
 			groupReport = GroupByDirectory(reports)
+		case "error-type":
+			groupReport = GroupByErrorType(reports)
 		default:
 			return nil, fmt.Errorf("unable to group by %s", groupBy)
 		}

pkg/cli/group_output_test.go

@@ -21,6 +21,7 @@ func Test_ValidGroupOutput(t *testing.T) {
 		{"single directory", []string{"directory"}},
 		{"single filetype", []string{"filetype"}},
 		{"single pass-fail", []string{"pass-fail"}},
+		{"single error-type", []string{"error-type"}},
 		{"double directory,pass-fail", []string{"directory", "pass-fail"}},
 		{"double filetype,directory", []string{"filetype", "directory"}},
 		{"double pass-fail,filetype", []string{"pass-fail", "filetype"}},
@@ -132,6 +133,22 @@ func Test_GroupByFileType(t *testing.T) {
 	require.Len(t, result["json"], 1)
 }
 
+func Test_GroupByErrorType(t *testing.T) {
+	t.Parallel()
+
+	reports := []reporter.Report{
+		{FileName: "good.json", FilePath: "/path/good.json", IsValid: true},
+		{FileName: "bad_syntax.json", FilePath: "/path/bad_syntax.json", IsValid: false, ErrorType: "syntax"},
+		{FileName: "bad_schema.json", FilePath: "/path/bad_schema.json", IsValid: false, ErrorType: "schema"},
+		{FileName: "bad_schema2.yaml", FilePath: "/path/bad_schema2.yaml", IsValid: false, ErrorType: "schema"},
+	}
+
+	result := GroupByErrorType(reports)
+	require.Len(t, result["Passed"], 1)
+	require.Len(t, result["syntax"], 1)
+	require.Len(t, result["schema"], 2)
+}
+
 func Test_GroupByPassFail(t *testing.T) {
 	t.Parallel()
 

pkg/reporter/reporter.go

@@ -8,6 +8,7 @@ type Report struct {
 	IsValid          bool
 	ValidationError  error
 	ValidationErrors []string
+	ErrorType        string
 	IsQuiet          bool
 	StartLine        int
 	StartColumn      int