eslint-plugin-mcdev

Run your SFMC mcdev metadata validation rules — your project's .mcdev-validations.js plus mcdev's built-in defaults — as ESLint diagnostics. This lets the exact same rules that run during mcdev deploy / mcdev retrieve also run in CI/CD and, through the standard ESLint VS Code extension, live in the editor.

The plugin does not re-implement your rules. It reconstructs mcdev's (definition, item, targetDir, codeExtractItemArr, Util) contract from each metadata file on disk and calls your rules unchanged.

How it works

mcdev validation rules are pure functions over parsed metadata objects, not over source text/AST. ESLint is text/AST-based. The bridge is an ESLint processor that:

1. Claims retrieve/**/*-meta.json and deploy/**/*-meta.json files.
2. Derives type, bu, cred, targetDir, and key from the file path.
3. Loads sibling code files (.html / .amp / .ssjs) into the codeExtractItemArr shape for asset rules.
4. Merges your .mcdev-validations.js rules over mcdev's defaults (Object.assign({}, defaultRules, customRules)), reads per-rule severity from .mcdevrc.json, and runs each enabled rule's passed().
5. Emits one ESLint message per failing rule at line 1 of the metadata file, using the rule's failedMsg.

Each metadata JSON file is one lint target; each failing validation rule is one ESLint message.

On-disk layout it expects

retrieve/<cred>/<bu>/<type>/<key>.<type>[-<subtype>]-meta.json
retrieve/<cred>/<bu>/asset/block/<key>.asset-block-meta.json  (+ sibling .html/.amp/.ssjs)

• type = folder segment right after the BU.
• bu = segment before the type folder.
• targetDir = path up to and including the BU folder (rules read the last segment via buSuffixMap).

Requirements

• Node.js >=22 (the processor loads .mcdev-validations.js synchronously via Node's synchronous require() of ESM).
• ESLint >=9 (flat config).
• mcdev >=9 installed in the project (used as a peer dependency for its type definitions, default rules, and Util).

Install

npm install --save-dev eslint-plugin-mcdev eslint mcdev

Usage — flat config

Add the recommended preset to your eslint.config.js (or eslint.config.mjs):

import mcdev from 'eslint-plugin-mcdev';

export default [
    // ... your other configs
    ...mcdev.configs.recommended,
];

The preset wires the processor to **/retrieve/**/*-meta.json and **/deploy/**/*-meta.json.

Manual wiring

If you need custom file globs, reference the processor directly:

import mcdev from 'eslint-plugin-mcdev';

export default [
    {
        files: ['**/retrieve/**/*-meta.json'],
        plugins: { mcdev },
        processor: 'mcdev/mcdev',
    },
];

Validation method (strictness)

mcdev applies different severities per method (retrieve, buildDefinition, deploy) in .mcdevrc.json → options.validation.<method> with type-based overrides.

This plugin reads a dedicated eslint method. If options.validation.eslint is not defined, it falls back to deploy (the strictest built-in method, matching what blocks a deploy). This lets you start with zero extra config and later tune ESLint strictness independently from your deploy gate:

{
  "options": {
    "validation": {
      "deploy": {
        "noGuidKeys": "error",
        "keySuffix": "error"
      },
      // optional: overrides just for ESLint; omit this block to reuse "deploy"
      "eslint": {
        "noGuidKeys": "warn",
        "keySuffix": "error"
      }
    }
  }
}

Severities map to ESLint as: error and fix → error, everything else (warn) → warning, off / unset → skipped.

CI / CD

Lint only committed metadata. deploy/ is typically git-ignored, so it will not exist in CI — point ESLint at retrieve/:

# fail the pipeline on any error-severity mcdev validation
npx eslint "retrieve/**/*-meta.json"

error-severity rules exit non-zero; warn-severity rules report but do not fail unless you run ESLint with --max-warnings 0. Tune per-stage strictness through options.validation.eslint (or deploy) in .mcdevrc.json — see Validation method.

VS Code

No custom extension is needed — this works through the standard ESLint extension. Because the plugin validates JSON files, tell the extension to lint JSON in your workspace .vscode/settings.json:

{
    "eslint.validate": ["javascript", "json"],
    "eslint.useFlatConfig": true
}

With this in place, opening a *-meta.json file under retrieve/ or deploy/ surfaces mcdev validation failures inline as Problems.

If you also use the SFMC Language extension, it already contributes an eslint.validate default that includes json — so no manual setting is needed. But note that a hand-written eslint.validate array in your own settings.json replaces the contributed default (VS Code does not merge them), so if you set it yourself you must include "json" for this plugin to run.

Using alongside eslint-plugin-sfmc

eslint-plugin-sfmc and this plugin coexist without a processor conflict — they claim different files (*.amp / *.ssjs / *.html vs *-meta.json) and use different processor IDs.

One thing to watch: mcdev retrieves asset code as sibling .html / .amp / .ssjs files inside retrieve/. eslint-plugin-sfmc's default globs (**/*.html, **/*.amp, **/*.ssjs) match those retrieved files too, so it will lint mcdev's generated output — usually duplicated across BUs and not fixable in retrieve/. Scope eslint-plugin-sfmc to your authored source so it does not lint the retrieved copies:

import sfmc from 'eslint-plugin-sfmc';
import mcdev from 'eslint-plugin-mcdev';

export default [
    // eslint-plugin-sfmc: your authored source only (adjust to your layout)
    {
        files: ['src/**/*.{amp,ssjs,html}'],
        // spread the sfmc rules/processor you use, e.g. ...sfmc.configs.recommended (re-scoped)
    },
    // eslint-plugin-mcdev: owns the retrieved/deployed metadata
    ...mcdev.configs.recommended,
];

If you prefer using sfmc.configs.recommended as-is (which targets **/*.amp etc.), add per-config ignores: ['retrieve/**', 'deploy/**'] to the sfmc blocks. Avoid a top-level { ignores: ['retrieve/**'] } object with no files key — that is a global ignore and would also disable eslint-plugin-mcdev on retrieve/.

What gets reported

| Rule outcome | ESLint result | | --- | --- | | passed() returns true | nothing | | passed() returns false | message with severity from .mcdevrc.json (error or fix → error, otherwise warning) | | passed() returns null (filter) | warning: "Item would be filtered out during deploy: …" | | rule throws | warning (rule name + error message), never crashes the lint run | | severity is off / rule not configured | skipped | | invalid JSON | single mcdev/parse-error | | unknown metadata type | nothing |

Message rule IDs are mcdev/<ruleName> (e.g. mcdev/keySuffix, mcdev/noGuidKeys).

Notes

• Your .mcdev-validations.js does not need any changes — it is consumed as-is with mcdev's real Util passed in.
• Autofix (fix()) is not wired into ESLint --fix yet; this release is read-only validation. Because of that, a rule configured as "fix" in .mcdevrc.json is reported as an error (not silently auto-fixed).

License

MIT © Joern Berkefeld