diff --git a/wizard-work/spark/json_validator.py b/wizard-work/spark/json_validator.py
index 508e175..b56c54c 100644
--- a/wizard-work/spark/json_validator.py
+++ b/wizard-work/spark/json_validator.py
@@ -1,81 +1,51 @@
 #!/usr/bin/env python3
-"""
-JSON Validator - Validates JSON files with detailed error reporting.
-Usage: python3 json_validator.py <file.json> [file2.json ...]
-"""
+"""Simple JSON validator CLI - validates JSON files and reports errors."""
+
 import json
 import sys
 from pathlib import Path
-from typing import Any
 
 
-def validate_json_file(filepath: str) -> dict[str, Any]:
-    """Validate a JSON file and return analysis results."""
-    result = {
-        "file": filepath,
-        "valid": False,
-        "error": None,
-        "type": None,
-        "size": None,
-        "line_count": None,
-        "structure": None
-    }
-    
-    path = Path(filepath)
-    if not path.exists():
-        result["error"] = f"File not found: {filepath}"
-        return result
-    
-    result["size"] = path.stat().st_size
+def validate_json_file(filepath: str) -> tuple[bool, str]:
+    """Validate a JSON file.
     
+    Returns:
+        (True, "") if valid
+        (False, error_message) if invalid
+    """
     try:
-        with open(path, 'r', encoding='utf-8') as f:
-            content = f.read()
-            result["line_count"] = content.count('\n') + 1
-        
-        data = json.loads(content)
-        result["valid"] = True
-        result["type"] = type(data).__name__
-        
-        if isinstance(data, dict):
-            result["structure"] = f"Object with {len(data)} keys"
-        elif isinstance(data, list):
-            result["structure"] = f"Array with {len(data)} elements"
-        else:
-            result["structure"] = f"Scalar value: {type(data).__name__}"
-            
+        with open(filepath, 'r') as f:
+            json.load(f)
+        return True, ""
+    except FileNotFoundError:
+        return False, f"Error: File not found: {filepath}"
     except json.JSONDecodeError as e:
-        result["error"] = f"Line {e.lineno}, Column {e.colno}: {e.msg}"
-    except UnicodeDecodeError as e:
-        result["error"] = f"Encoding error: {e.reason}"
+        return False, f"Error: Invalid JSON at line {e.lineno}, column {e.colno}: {e.msg}"
     except Exception as e:
-        result["error"] = f"Unexpected error: {e}"
-    
-    return result
+        return False, f"Error reading file: {e}"
 
 
 def main():
     if len(sys.argv) < 2:
-        print("Usage: python3 json_validator.py <file.json> [file2.json ...]")
-        print("\nValidates JSON files with detailed error reporting.")
+        print("Usage: json_validator.py <file1.json> [file2.json] ...", file=sys.stderr)
         sys.exit(1)
     
     files = sys.argv[1:]
-    results = [validate_json_file(f) for f in files]
+    all_valid = True
+    results = []
+    
+    for filepath in files:
+        valid, error = validate_json_file(filepath)
+        if valid:
+            results.append(f"✓ VALID: {filepath}")
+        else:
+            results.append(f"✗ INVALID: {filepath} - {error}")
+            all_valid = False
     
     for r in results:
-        status = "✓ VALID" if r["valid"] else "✗ INVALID"
-        print(f"\n{status}: {r['file']}")
-        
-        if r["valid"]:
-            print(f"  Type: {r['type']}")
-            print(f"  Structure: {r['structure']}")
-            print(f"  Size: {r['size']} bytes, {r['line_count']} lines")
-        else:
-            print(f"  Error: {r['error']}")
+        print(r)
     
-    # Exit with error code if any file is invalid
-    sys.exit(0 if all(r["valid"] for r in results) else 1)
+    sys.exit(0 if all_valid else 1)
 
 
 if __name__ == "__main__":
diff --git a/wizard-work/spark/test_valid.json b/wizard-work/spark/test_valid.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..7c67d63
--- /dev/null
+++ b/wizard-work/spark/test_valid.json
@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+{
+  "name": "test",
+  "value": 42,
+  "items": ["a", "b", "c"]
+}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/wizard-work/spark/verify_status.py b/wizard-work/spark/verify_status.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..406c5fd
--- /dev/null
+++ b/wizard-work/spark/verify_status.py
@@ -0,0 +1,14 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env python3
+"""Verify the hermes_diagnostics output has status 'ok'."""
+import json
+import sys
+
+with open("/root/troupe-standup/wizard-work/spark/output.json") as f:
+    data = json.load(f)
+
+if data.get("status") == "ok":
+    print("VERIFIED: status is ok")
+    sys.exit(0)
+else:
+    print("FAILED: status is not ok")
+    sys.exit(1)
\ No newline at end of file