ats-check git:20261023.580eef2A

Immutable. This exact content never changes and is served at /api/v1/blob/23a9159d16d49c7d.

---
# GENERATED by scripts/kernel/sync.py from skills/ats-check/SKILL.md - do not edit
name: ats-check
description: "Use after every resume PDF render, before the editorial verdict is signed, when a vendor parse (Workday, Greenhouse, Lever, Ashby, iCIMS, Taleo, SuccessFactors) is in doubt, or when the owner asks whether a resume will parse."
---

# ATS check

Owner: resume-tailor (runs it); resume-editor and the Recruiter re-run it as gate checks. Tier: T0 (the
script writes only its report files). Script: `scripts/ats_check.py`.

## Procedure
1. Work from the user's data folder (`$JAJA_DATA`); V = the resume folder;
   the PDF name comes from the renderer's `meta.yaml`:
   `python3 -c "import sys, yaml; print(yaml.safe_load(open(sys.argv[1]))['pdf'])" V/meta.yaml`.
2. Run (variant; drop `--jd` for a base):
   `python3 scripts/ats_check.py check --pdf <PDF> --jd <the fullest JD: the role-analyst's snapshot in research/targets/evidence/ when one exists, else applications/SLUG/jd.md> --vendor <ats_vendor if greenhouse, lever, ashby, workday, icims, taleo or successfactors, else unknown> --contact-email <the owner's address, default identity.emails[0]> --taxonomy profile/skills-taxonomy.yaml --source V/resume.yaml --out V`
   Exit 0 = pass, 1 = a hard check failed, 2 = usage error (wrong path).
3. Read `V/ats-report.md` (summary) and `V/ats-report.json` (`passed`, `pages`, `checks[]`,
   `failures[]`, `keywords`, `vendor_warnings`, `extractors`, `fonts`).
4. Act on failures (hard checks: text_layer, reading_order, contact_email, headings, dates, glyphs,
   em_dashes, split_words, layout, page_count, probes):

   | Failure | Usual cause | Fix |
   |---|---|---|
   | contact_email | an extractor splits the address | re-render; check the template's header |
   | reading_order, layout | columns or a table | remove table-like content; never two columns |
   | em_dashes | only checked when `style.no_em_dash` is set | replace with a comma, colon or parentheses |
   | split_words | a hyphenated compound broke across lines | reword or let the renderer box it |
   | glyphs | ligatures or icon fonts | stay on the template's font; no icons |
   | page_count | over the page limit | cut the lowest-relevance bullets |
5. Keywords: `covered` is fine; `missing_evidenced` may be added only through an evidenced bullet;
   `missing_unevidenced` is the "must NOT add" list, never added, whatever the JD says. Low must-have
   coverage with nothing evidenced to add is a fit question for the Recruiter, not a writing task.
6. Vendor warnings never fail the check but are acted on: Workday → render the DOCX; iCIMS →
   no serif body under 11 pt (avoid the serif LaTeX fallback); Greenhouse → no auto-score, a human
   reads it; Lever → spell out abbreviations once; Ashby → canonical headings only; Taleo → the
   JD's exact wording where the work is real (no aliases such as K8s); SuccessFactors → standard
   skill names and a Skills section. Vendor table: `resumes/templates/README.md`.
7. PDFKit: when `extractors.pdfkit.available` is false (not macOS), write "PDFKit copy test not
   run" in `NOTES.md`; a macOS run of the same command closes it.

## Output
`V/ats-report.md`, `V/ats-report.json`; a reply: pass or fail, failures, keyword lists, warnings.

## Stop conditions
Exit 2 (fix the path); a failure that needs content you do not have; the contact email wrong in
the source (fix `profile/facts.yaml` through the Recruiter, never in the resume only).

## Worked example
Variant for a Workday employer: exit 0; `vendor_warnings`: "Workday: submit the DOCX; company line
above title". Keywords: `missing_evidenced` = ["langsmith"] (its evidence is single-source
and the bank bullet is tagged to confirm, so it stays out); `missing_unevidenced` = ["kubernetes",
"spark"] (never added). Next: `build-resume-pdf` with `--docx`, then the editor.