Required Tag Patterns
backstage.required-tag-patterns
Verifies that catalog-info.yaml carries at least one tag matching
each configured glob pattern (e.g. location/*, runs-on/*).
Configure via the required_tag_patterns input. Skipped when no
patterns are required (the default). Fails if the catalog file is
missing or any pattern is unmatched by the component's tags.
Compatible Integrations
This guardrail works with the following integrations. Click to see how to use Required Tag Patterns with each collector.
Enable This Guardrail
Add the parent policy to your lunar-config.yml to enable this guardrail.
policies:
- uses: github://earthly/lunar-lib/policies/backstage@v1.0.5
include: [required-tag-patterns]
# with: ...How This Guardrail Works
This guardrail is part of the Backstage Guardrails policy. It evaluates data collected by integrations and produces a pass/fail check with actionable feedback.
When enabled, this check runs automatically on every PR and in AI coding workflows, providing real-time enforcement of your engineering standards.
Learn How Lunar Works →Configuration Options
These inputs can be configured in your lunar-config.yml to customize
how the parent policy (and this guardrail) behaves.
| Input | Required | Default | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
skip_when_no_catalog_info
|
Optional |
false
|
Skip every check in this policy on a component with no catalog-info.yaml, instead of failing it. Set to `"true"` when only some repositories in scope are registered in Backstage, so importing the policy broadly does not turn the rest red. One switch for the whole family, and the only place their missing-file behaviour is described. With the default (`"false"`) a missing catalog file fails `catalog-info-exists`, `catalog-info-valid`, `owner-set`, `lifecycle-set` and `system-set`; fails `required-annotations`, `required-tag-patterns`, `required-link-types` and `dependencies-documented` when those are configured; passes the two `disallowed-*` deny-checks, since nothing forbidden can be present without a file; and skips the referential-integrity checks, which have nothing to cross-check. With `"true"` every check skips instead — the `disallowed-*` pair included, so a component that is not in the catalog reports no green passes it did not earn. Only the file's absence is affected: a component that has a catalog-info.yaml is held to every check either way. |
required_annotations
|
Required | — | Annotation keys that must be present (and non-empty) in catalog-info.yaml `metadata.annotations`. Two forms are accepted. Comma-separated keys (presence-only, unchanged), e.g. `backstage.io/source-location,pagerduty.com/integration-key`. Or a YAML list, where each entry is either a bare key (presence-only) or a mapping with a `key` and optional value constraints: `type` (string|integer|number|boolean, default string), `min`/`max` (integer/number bounds), `min_length`/`max_length` (string length), `pattern` (full-match regex), and `enum` (allowed values). For example, a `key: example.com/service-tier` with `type: integer`, `min: 0`, `max: 5` requires that annotation to parse as an integer in 0–5. Annotation values are strings in Backstage, so `type` validates that the value *parses* as the declared type (`"2"` satisfies `integer`, `"2.5"` does not). `enum` inherits `type`: its entries are coerced to the declared type before comparison, so `type: integer` with `enum: [1,2,3]` compares integers while the default `type: string` compares strings. Constraints must match the declared type (`min`/`max` for integer/number; `min_length`/`max_length`/`pattern` for string). A value that violates a constraint fails the check; a malformed constraint (unknown type, min greater than max, invalid regex, a constraint on the wrong type, or an enum entry not of the declared type) makes it error. Empty (the default) disables the check. |
required_tag_patterns
|
Required | — | Comma-separated list of glob patterns; the component's `metadata.tags` must include at least one tag matching each pattern. Example: `location/*,runs-on/*`. Matching is case-insensitive. Empty (the default) disables the `required-tag-patterns` check. |
required_link_types
|
Required | — | Comma-separated list of link types; catalog-info.yaml `metadata.links` must include an entry whose `type` is each of them. Example: `runbook,dashboard`. Matching is exact and case-sensitive, and only the `type` is compared, not the link's title or URL. Empty (the default) disables the `required-link-types` check. |
disallowed_annotations
|
Required | — | Comma-separated list of annotation keys that must NOT be present in catalog-info.yaml `metadata.annotations`. Example: `backstage.io/skip-checks`. Empty (the default) disables the `disallowed-annotations` check. |
disallowed_tag_patterns
|
Required | — | Comma-separated list of glob patterns; the component's `metadata.tags` must NOT include any tag matching these patterns. Example: `deprecated/*,internal-only`. Matching is case-insensitive. Empty (the default) disables the `disallowed-tag-patterns` check. |
require_dependencies
|
Optional |
false
|
Set to `"true"` to enforce `dependencies-documented`. Off by default, so importing the whole policy doesn't fail every component that declares no dependencies. |
dependencies_annotation
|
Required | — | Annotation key that also counts as declared dependencies when its value is a non-empty comma-separated list, for catalogs that record dependencies there instead of in `spec.dependsOn`. Example: `example.com/dependencies`. Empty (the default) checks `spec.dependsOn` only. |
Backstage Guardrails
This guardrail is part of the Backstage Guardrails policy, which includes 15 guardrails for repository and ownership.
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