# Python script to validate files referenced in hledger comments **URL:** \ **Category:** General\ **Tags:** hledger\ **Created:** [August 11, 2025, 4:24am UTC](https://forum.plaintextaccounting.org/t/python-script-to-validate-files-referenced-in-hledger-comments/616 "2025-08-11T04:24:54Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 1\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Khaine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/8797f3/32.png) [@Khaine](https://forum.plaintextaccounting.org/u/Khaine)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2025, 4:24am UTC](https://forum.plaintextaccounting.org/t/python-script-to-validate-files-referenced-in-hledger-comments/616/1 "2025-08-11T04:24:55Z")
So over the weekend I vibe coded a python script to validate data in my ledger journals, and I thought it would be worth sharing. I've skimmed the code and done some basic checking that it works. It's also heavily tied to how I capture information in hledger. I have my journals split by financial year, which is 1 July - 30 June in my part of the world. I reference receipts using a comment and a relative file path. All receipt filenames start with YYYYMMDD - Currently receipts are stored in ./receipts/ so the comment looks like ; Receipt ./receipts/YYYYMMDD - Invoice.pdf I keep all other things like payslips, in an information folder and they follow the same format, so that are in comments like ; ./information/YYYMDD - Payslip.pdf This script is supposed to check 3 things: 1. all files referenced in a journal exist 2. all files in folders in the same location as the journal are referenced in a journal, excluding things like .git 3. filenames match the YYYYMMDD format at the start and are in the right financial year (with a whitelist for things that may violate this check) The script can also run as a git hook. It can be found here [GitHub - KhaineBOT/hledger-file-reference-checker: Script to check files referenced in hledger comments](https://github.com/KhaineBOT/hledger-file-reference-checker/tree/main)