> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.pikopod.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# pikopod conformance

> Validate recorded traffic against the spec. Does the provider obey its own documentation?

```text theme={null}
pikopod conformance <upstream> [--strict] [--handoff <path>]
```

Needs an imported spec for the upstream (a sandbox with the same name, or linked with `--upstream`) and recordings. Drift is baseline-relative; conformance is spec-relative.

| Flag               | Meaning                                                         |
| ------------------ | --------------------------------------------------------------- |
| `--strict`         | Exit 1 when any error-severity violation is found. The CI gate. |
| `--handoff <path>` | Also write the JSON report here, for `pikopod pr comment`.      |

```text theme={null}
examplepay — 37 JSON response(s) checked against the spec (2 skipped: non-JSON or no declared endpoint)
3 check(s) unverifiable: the sanitizer redacted the evidence — reported as neither pass nor violation

1 violation(s) — the provider disagrees with its own documentation:
  error   enum      GET /charges/{id} 200  /status                 value "disputed" not in documented set [pending, succeeded, failed] (4 occurrence(s))

these are SPEC-relative findings; `pikopod contract` shows what traffic has taught the sandbox instead
```

Without `--strict` the command exits `0` regardless of violations. Checks whose evidence the sanitizer redacted are never scored as passes. See [Contract](/observe/contract#conformance).