What QGS and QGZ contain
A QGS project is XML describing the project, layer tree, renderers, layouts, relationships, and links to underlying data sources. QGZ is a ZIP archive whose QGS entry is accompanied by an optional QGD auxiliary-data database. This auditor validates the bounded archive framing and QGS entry, then inventories supported maplayer definitions.
What “missing” means in a browser
A web page cannot inspect arbitrary paths on your computer. A relative file is called missing only when you explicitly select a project folder and no matching relative path appears in that inventory. A basename-only match is reported as a candidate, not proof. Without folder evidence the status remains “not checked.” Remote services and databases are classified but never contacted.
Portability and secret checks
Absolute Windows, UNC, Unix, and home-relative paths are machine-specific. Parent-directory references can break when a project folder moves. Inline passwords, tokens, API keys, HTTP endpoints, disabled TLS modes, and QGIS authcfg dependencies are called out separately. Displayed and exported sources redact recognized secret values, but the original project remains unchanged.
Validation boundary
This is a bounded XML, archive, reference, and handoff diagnostic—not QGIS itself. It does not load providers, open GeoPackages or rasters, evaluate expressions, verify CRS definitions, authenticate, contact services, resolve environment variables, inspect QGD, validate styles or layouts, understand every plugin provider, rewrite paths, or guarantee that QGIS can render a layer. Open a copy in the target QGIS version for final verification.
Frequently asked questions
Why is a selected file only a basename candidate?
A normal multi-file picker may hide its original directory. Matching roads.gpkg cannot prove that data/roads.gpkg exists at the expected relative location, so the auditor keeps the result qualified.
Does a database source containing a username always expose a password?
No. The tool flags identity or secret material conservatively and distinguishes QGIS authentication references. Inspect the redacted source and original project in a trusted editor.
Can this repair broken paths?
No. Automatically substituting a same-named dataset can silently connect a layer to the wrong data. This tool provides evidence for deliberate repair in QGIS.
Primary references
The QGIS file-format documentation defines QGS as project XML and QGZ as a ZIP containing QGS plus optional QGD auxiliary data. The QGIS project-file guide documents unavailable data sources and path repair, while the PyQGIS project guide describes path rewriting through QgsPathResolver.
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