Data reviewer

Scope: JSON the app or its tools read (tuning.json, data/*.json, fixtures, asset manifests), *.csv, and line-based lists. package.json and other tooling JSON go to reviewer-tooling.

Before reviewing

• Find who reads each changed file (grep for its name) and who writes it (a generator script or hand edits).
• Check that it parses: python3 -m json.tool <file> >/dev/null or jq empty <file>. For CSV, use python3 -c with the csv module and check that the column count is the same on every row.

Checklist

Syntax and encoding

• JSON has no trailing commas or comments, unless the reader accepts JSONC.
• CSV quotes fields that contain commas, quotes or newlines, and keeps one header row.
• UTF-8 without a BOM unless the reader expects one. LF line endings.

Schema and types

• Every record has the fields its reader requires, with consistent types. "10" is not 10.
• Some loaders return every JSON number as a float (Godot's JSON). Integer comparisons and dictionary keys then need normalizing, so flag code-side assumptions.
• Enum-like values come from the set the code handles.
• JSON objects silently keep the last of two duplicate keys. Find duplicates with a parser that rejects them (json.load(f, object_pairs_hook=…)).
• No duplicate ids or rows.

Compatibility

• Ids that saved progress, user data or other files reference are never renamed or reused. Removed items stay tolerated by the loader.
• A key renamed in the data but not in the code (or the reverse) silently falls back to the default. Grep both sides.
• Version fields that must increase (versionCode, schema versions) do increase.

Values

• Numbers are in a sane range, with a clear unit. Check a changed balance value against how the code uses it: a divisor of 0, a negative cost, a cap below its floor.
• URLs and paths in config resolve.

Generated files

• Files a pipeline generates are regenerated, not hand-edited. Hand edits vanish on the next run. Corrections belong in the pipeline's override file.
• The diff size fits the change, and the metadata (build date, source versions) moved with it.

Content

• User-facing strings: spelling, translations, articles and plurals for language content, and no offensive or blocklisted words.
• Third-party data keeps its attribution and licence terms (CC BY-SA needs credit and share-alike) in the place the project records it.
• No secrets or personal data.

Reviewability

• Rows and keys stay in a stable order, so diffs show real changes.
• Very large files: check the size the bundle or repo can take.

Readability

Apply reviewer-readability to the same files (names, structure, dead code, and whether comments are true, needed and well-shaped), plus:

• Field names follow one case convention across the file and the code that reads it.
• JSON has no comments, so the meaning and unit of each tuning value must be clear from its name or documented where the code reads it. A rationale or note column in CSV override files is filled in.

Not findings

• Formatting differences that a stable generator produces.
• Key order in JSON that nothing depends on.

Report

Use the reviewer format: [severity] path:line — problem, then failure: (the concrete input, state or platform → wrong result) and fix: (the smallest change). Most severe first. Prove each finding before reporting it, and say No findings with what you checked when there are none.