Authenticate Sources

Verify all raw source files are authentic and URLs are valid.

Sby Skills Guide Bot
Data & AIIntermediate
007/22/2026
Claude Code
#authenticate-sources#source-validation#data-integrity#url-verification#file-checking

Recommended for


name: authenticate-sources description: Verify all raw source files are authentic and URLs are valid. Use when user says "authenticate sources", "validate data", "check sources", "verify downloads", or invokes /authenticate-sources. Supports --all, --category, --source, and --fix options. metadata: author: Data Walker version: 1.0.0

Authenticate Sources

Verify all raw source files are authentic and URLs are valid.

Usage

/authenticate-sources [options]

Options

  • --all - Check all sources (default)
  • --category <name> - Check only sources in a category
  • --source <id> - Check a specific source
  • --fix - Attempt to fix broken URLs by searching for alternatives

Instructions

Step 1: URL Validation

For each source in sources.yaml, verify the source URL is still accessible:

cd data_walker_rs && cargo run -- list

Then check each URL with HTTP HEAD requests to verify they're still valid.

Step 2: File Existence Check

Verify downloaded files exist in data_walker_rs/data/:

  • data/audio/ - Check for .wav and .mp3 files
  • data/dna/ - Check for .fasta files
  • data/cosmos/ - Check for .txt.gz files
  • data/finance/ - Check for .json files
  • data/proteins/ - Check for .pdb files

Step 3: Duplicate Detection

Check for duplicate files (same content with different names):

cd data_walker_rs/data/audio && md5sum *.mp3 *.wav 2>/dev/null | sort | uniq -d -w32

Step 4: File Size Validation

Flag suspiciously small files that may be error pages or corrupted:

  • Audio files < 10KB are suspect
  • DNA files < 100 bytes are suspect
  • Cosmos files < 1KB are suspect
  • PDB files < 1KB are suspect

Step 5: Download URL Verification

Check that the hardcoded URLs in src/download.rs match unique content:

  • Each source ID should map to a unique URL
  • No two sources should download the same file

Report Format

=== SOURCE AUTHENTICATION REPORT ===

VALID SOURCES: X
MISSING FILES: X
BROKEN URLS: X
DUPLICATE FILES: X
SUSPECT FILES: X

--- ISSUES ---
[MISSING] source_id - file not found
[BROKEN_URL] source_id - HTTP 404
[DUPLICATE] source_id1, source_id2 - same file content
[SUSPECT] source_id - file too small (X bytes)

Fixing Issues

If --fix is specified:

  1. For broken URLs, search Archive.org for alternatives
  2. For duplicates, find unique source files
  3. Re-download fixed sources

Troubleshooting

Error: Many URLs return 403/404 Cause: Network issues or rate limiting Solution: Wait and retry, or check if sources have moved

Error: Duplicate content detected Cause: Two sources point to the same file Solution: Find unique source files or remove duplicates from sources.yaml

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