Content health indicators
Topicary tracks content health in two places: quick health flags on the Topics listing page, and a deeper set of validation rules in the map editor's Validation panel.
Topics list health flags
The Topics listing page flags these health issues, which you can filter by from the Health filter chip. An option appears in that chip only when at least one topic currently has the issue:
Flag | Condition |
|---|---|
Stale (90d+) | Topic not updated in 90 or more days |
Not in any map | Topic not included in any map (orphan) |
Empty stub | Topic has no content |
Broken references | Topic references a deleted component |
Undefined variables | Topic uses a variable key not in any set |
Validation panel rules
The Validation panel in the map editor runs a fuller set of checks across every topic in the map. Each finding carries a severity, and a topic with any Error finding blocks the map from publishing.
Rule | Condition | Severity |
|---|---|---|
Broken component reference | References a deleted component | Error |
Undefined variable | Uses a variable key not in any set | Error |
Broken topic link | Links to a deleted topic | Error |
Missing image alt text | Image without alt text | Error |
Draft content | A paragraph is still marked as a draft placeholder, one finding per paragraph | Error |
Empty topic | Topic has no content | Warning |
Stale condition | References a deleted filter (condition) dimension or value | Warning. Error when the condition never resolved, names values the project does not have, or selects no values, because all three publish the content to every reader |
Short ordered list | Ordered list with fewer than 2 items | Warning |
H1 misuse | Multiple H1 headings, or an H1 used in the body | Warning |
Canonical structure | Structural problems the canonical model check finds, such as a mark the format does not support | Warning or Info, and Error for an unresolved tracked suggestion |
Missing heading | Topic does not start with a heading | Info |
Heading hierarchy skip | Jumps a level (for example, H1 to H3 without H2) | Info |
Filtering by health
On the Topics page, use the filter chips to show only topics with a specific health flag. This is useful during content audits.
During content audits, combine the health filter with status and tag filters to narrow results. For example, filter to Stale (90d+) and status Published to find the highest-priority fixes: outdated content that readers are actively seeing.
Running the Validation panel
In the map editor, the Validation panel (right sidebar) runs validation across all topics in the map:
Select the validation icon in the right panel rail. The panel runs all checks by itself the first time you open it.
Select Run validation to check again after editing.
Results are grouped by topic, with severity icons (error, warning, info).
The panel's badge counts errors and warnings. Information-level findings are listed in the panel but are not counted in the badge, and the badge is hidden when there are none.
Dashboard health card
The project dashboard shows a single Content health card. It covers all five issue types and lists the three with the largest counts first. A type with no topics is left out.
Row | What it counts | Topics page filter |
|---|---|---|
Orphan topics | Topics not included in any map | Not in any map |
Stale topics | Topics not updated in 90 or more days | Stale (90d+) |
Empty topics | Topics with no content | Empty stub |
Broken ref topics | Topics that reference a deleted component | Broken references |
Undefined var topics | Topics that use a variable key not in any set | Undefined variables |
Every count is a count of topics, not of findings, so a topic with two dangling references counts once. Archived topics are excluded, which matches what the Topics page shows. The same five types feed the dashboard's Needs attention queue, which shows the top two as "N orphan topics" and so on.
Click an issue row to open the Topics page with the matching Health filter chip already applied. Clear the chip to see the whole list again. Below the issues, factor bars explain the project's content debt score (Quality findings, Content age, Verification age), each labeled with its share of the score. Open content gaps appear as a separate project-level count below the bars.
See also
Content health and governance: broader guide to maintaining content quality across your project
Track content freshness: how staleness indicators work and how to set review cadences
Find and fix orphaned components: identify unreferenced components alongside orphaned topics
Content statuses: workflow statuses that complement health indicators for content governance
Docs-as-tests validation: the weekly scan that checks external links, API endpoints, and code samples on published topics