diff --git a/cmd/virtwork/main.go b/cmd/virtwork/main.go
index 5dbb9eb..7f7cc15 100644
--- a/cmd/virtwork/main.go
+++ b/cmd/virtwork/main.go
@@ -28,13 +28,13 @@ import (
 )
 
 var (
-	version = ""
-	commit  = ""
-	date    = ""
-
-	clusterConnect = cluster.Connect
-
-	ErrNoWorkloads = errors.New("no workloads specified: use --workloads or --from-catalog")
+	version             = ""
+	commit              = ""
+	date                = ""
+	clusterConnect      = cluster.Connect
+	ErrNoEntries        = errors.New("no catalog entries found")
+	ErrNoWorkloads      = errors.New("no workloads specified: use --workloads or --from-catalog")
+	ErrValidationFailed = errors.New("catalog validation failed")
 )
 
 func main() {
@@ -55,7 +55,7 @@ realistic CPU, memory, database, network, and disk I/O metrics.`,
 
 	config.BindPersistentFlags(rootCmd)
 
-	rootCmd.AddCommand(newRunCmd(), newCleanupCmd(), newVersionCmd())
+	rootCmd.AddCommand(newRunCmd(), newCleanupCmd(), newValidateCmd(), newVersionCmd())
 	return rootCmd
 }
 
@@ -115,6 +115,83 @@ func newCleanupCmd() *cobra.Command {
 	return cmd
 }
 
+func newValidateCmd() *cobra.Command {
+	cmd := &cobra.Command{
+		Use:   "validate [entry-names...]",
+		Short: "Validate catalog entries",
+		Long: `Check that catalog entries conform to the expected schema and structure.
+Validates YAML parsing, service file presence, storage constraints,
+service port ranges, role-to-service alignment, and placeholder consistency.`,
+		RunE: validateE,
+	}
+
+	config.BindValidateFlags(cmd)
+
+	return cmd
+}
+
+func validateE(cmd *cobra.Command, args []string) error {
+	catalogDir, _ := cmd.Flags().GetString("catalog-dir")
+	if catalogDir == "" {
+		home, err := os.UserHomeDir()
+		if err != nil {
+			return fmt.Errorf("resolving home directory: %w", err)
+		}
+		catalogDir = home + "/.virtwork/catalog"
+	}
+
+	entries, err := os.ReadDir(catalogDir)
+	if err != nil {
+		return fmt.Errorf("reading catalog directory %s: %w", catalogDir, err)
+	}
+
+	var names []string
+	if len(args) > 0 {
+		names = args
+	} else {
+		for _, d := range entries {
+			if d.IsDir() {
+				names = append(names, d.Name())
+			}
+		}
+	}
+
+	if len(names) == 0 {
+		return fmt.Errorf("%s: %w", catalogDir, ErrNoEntries)
+	}
+
+	var failed int
+	for _, name := range names {
+		entry, loadErr := workloads.LoadCatalogEntry(catalogDir, name)
+		if loadErr != nil {
+			_, _ = fmt.Fprintf(cmd.OutOrStdout(), "FAIL  %s: %v\n", name, loadErr)
+			failed++
+			continue
+		}
+
+		errs, warnings := workloads.ValidatePlaceholders(entry)
+
+		for _, w := range warnings {
+			_, _ = fmt.Fprintf(cmd.OutOrStdout(), "WARN  %s: %s\n", name, w)
+		}
+
+		if len(errs) > 0 {
+			for _, e := range errs {
+				_, _ = fmt.Fprintf(cmd.OutOrStdout(), "FAIL  %s: %s\n", name, e)
+			}
+			failed++
+			continue
+		}
+
+		_, _ = fmt.Fprintf(cmd.OutOrStdout(), "OK    %s\n", name)
+	}
+
+	if failed > 0 {
+		return fmt.Errorf("%d of %d entries: %w", failed, len(names), ErrValidationFailed)
+	}
+	return nil
+}
+
 func initAuditor(cmd *cobra.Command, cfg *config.Config) (audit.Auditor, error) {
 	noAudit, _ := cmd.Flags().GetBool("no-audit")
 	if noAudit || !cfg.AuditEnabled {
diff --git a/cmd/virtwork/main_test.go b/cmd/virtwork/main_test.go
index a019da8..d754a37 100644
--- a/cmd/virtwork/main_test.go
+++ b/cmd/virtwork/main_test.go
@@ -39,7 +39,16 @@ func newRootCmd() *cobra.Command {
 	}
 	config.BindCleanupFlags(cleanupCmd)
 
-	rootCmd.AddCommand(runCmd, cleanupCmd)
+	validateCmd := &cobra.Command{
+		Use:   "validate [entry-names...]",
+		Short: "Validate catalog entries",
+		RunE: func(cmd *cobra.Command, args []string) error {
+			return nil
+		},
+	}
+	config.BindValidateFlags(validateCmd)
+
+	rootCmd.AddCommand(runCmd, cleanupCmd, validateCmd)
 	return rootCmd
 }
 
@@ -310,3 +319,31 @@ var _ = Describe("Cleanup command flags", func() {
 		Expect(val).To(BeTrue())
 	})
 })
+
+var _ = Describe("Validate command flags", func() {
+	var rootCmd *cobra.Command
+
+	BeforeEach(func() {
+		rootCmd = newRootCmd()
+	})
+
+	It("should accept --catalog-dir flag", func() {
+		rootCmd.SetArgs([]string{"validate", "--catalog-dir", "/tmp/my-catalog"})
+		Expect(rootCmd.Execute()).To(Succeed())
+
+		validateCmd, _, _ := rootCmd.Find([]string{"validate"})
+		val, err := validateCmd.Flags().GetString("catalog-dir")
+		Expect(err).NotTo(HaveOccurred())
+		Expect(val).To(Equal("/tmp/my-catalog"))
+	})
+
+	It("should default catalog-dir to empty string", func() {
+		rootCmd.SetArgs([]string{"validate"})
+		Expect(rootCmd.Execute()).To(Succeed())
+
+		validateCmd, _, _ := rootCmd.Find([]string{"validate"})
+		val, err := validateCmd.Flags().GetString("catalog-dir")
+		Expect(err).NotTo(HaveOccurred())
+		Expect(val).To(BeEmpty())
+	})
+})
diff --git a/cmd/virtwork/validatee_test.go b/cmd/virtwork/validatee_test.go
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..e75204a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/cmd/virtwork/validatee_test.go
@@ -0,0 +1,108 @@
+// Copyright 2026 Red Hat
+// SPDX-License-Identifier: Apache-2.0
+
+package main
+
+import (
+	"bytes"
+	"os"
+	"path/filepath"
+
+	. "github.com/onsi/ginkgo/v2"
+	. "github.com/onsi/gomega"
+)
+
+var _ = Describe("validateE", func() {
+	var catalogDir string
+
+	writeFile := func(dir, name, content string) {
+		Expect(os.MkdirAll(dir, 0o750)).To(Succeed())
+		Expect(os.WriteFile(filepath.Join(dir, name), []byte(content), 0o600)).To(Succeed())
+	}
+
+	BeforeEach(func() {
+		var err error
+		catalogDir, err = os.MkdirTemp("", "virtwork-validate-*")
+		Expect(err).NotTo(HaveOccurred())
+	})
+
+	AfterEach(func() {
+		Expect(os.RemoveAll(catalogDir)).To(Succeed())
+	})
+
+	It("should succeed for a valid catalog entry", func() {
+		entryDir := filepath.Join(catalogDir, "good")
+		writeFile(entryDir, "workload.yaml", "description: test\n")
+		writeFile(entryDir, "workload.service", "[Service]\nExecStart=/bin/test\n")
+
+		var out bytes.Buffer
+		cmd := newValidateCmd()
+		cmd.SetOut(&out)
+		cmd.SetErr(&out)
+		cmd.SetArgs([]string{"--catalog-dir", catalogDir})
+		Expect(cmd.Execute()).To(Succeed())
+		Expect(out.String()).To(ContainSubstring("good"))
+		Expect(out.String()).To(ContainSubstring("OK"))
+	})
+
+	It("should fail for a nonexistent catalog directory", func() {
+		cmd := newValidateCmd()
+		cmd.SetArgs([]string{"--catalog-dir", "/nonexistent/path"})
+		Expect(cmd.Execute()).NotTo(Succeed())
+	})
+
+	It("should validate only named entries when positional args given", func() {
+		entryDir := filepath.Join(catalogDir, "one")
+		writeFile(entryDir, "workload.yaml", "description: test\n")
+		writeFile(entryDir, "workload.service", "[Service]\nExecStart=/bin/test\n")
+		otherDir := filepath.Join(catalogDir, "two")
+		writeFile(otherDir, "workload.yaml", "description: test2\n")
+		writeFile(otherDir, "workload.service", "[Service]\nExecStart=/bin/test2\n")
+
+		var out bytes.Buffer
+		cmd := newValidateCmd()
+		cmd.SetOut(&out)
+		cmd.SetErr(&out)
+		cmd.SetArgs([]string{"--catalog-dir", catalogDir, "one"})
+		Expect(cmd.Execute()).To(Succeed())
+		Expect(out.String()).To(ContainSubstring("one"))
+		Expect(out.String()).NotTo(ContainSubstring("two"))
+	})
+
+	It("should exit non-zero when an entry fails validation", func() {
+		entryDir := filepath.Join(catalogDir, "bad")
+		Expect(os.MkdirAll(entryDir, 0o750)).To(Succeed())
+
+		cmd := newValidateCmd()
+		cmd.SetArgs([]string{"--catalog-dir", catalogDir})
+		Expect(cmd.Execute()).NotTo(Succeed())
+	})
+
+	It("should report placeholder warnings without failing", func() {
+		entryDir := filepath.Join(catalogDir, "warn")
+		writeFile(
+			entryDir,
+			"workload.yaml",
+			"description: test\nparams:\n  - key: unused\n    type: string\n    default: x\n",
+		)
+		writeFile(entryDir, "workload.service", "[Service]\nExecStart=/bin/test\n")
+
+		var out bytes.Buffer
+		cmd := newValidateCmd()
+		cmd.SetOut(&out)
+		cmd.SetErr(&out)
+		cmd.SetArgs([]string{"--catalog-dir", catalogDir})
+		Expect(cmd.Execute()).To(Succeed())
+		Expect(out.String()).To(ContainSubstring("unused"))
+	})
+
+	It("should fail when a placeholder has no matching param", func() {
+		entryDir := filepath.Join(catalogDir, "typo")
+		writeFile(entryDir, "workload.yaml", "description: test\n")
+		writeFile(entryDir, "workload.service", "[Service]\nExecStart=/bin/test --x={{oops}}\n")
+
+		cmd := newValidateCmd()
+		cmd.SetArgs([]string{"--catalog-dir", catalogDir})
+		Expect(cmd.Execute()).NotTo(Succeed())
+	})
+})
diff --git a/internal/config/config.go b/internal/config/config.go
index 521dd6d..8555c4e 100644
--- a/internal/config/config.go
+++ b/internal/config/config.go
@@ -151,6 +151,10 @@ func BindCleanupFlags(cmd *cobra.Command) {
 	f.BoolP("yes", "y", false, "Skip confirmation prompt and proceed with cleanup")
 }
 
+func BindValidateFlags(cmd *cobra.Command) {
+	cmd.Flags().String("catalog-dir", "", "Path to catalog directory (default ~/.virtwork/catalog)")
+}
+
 // LoadConfig loads configuration from flags, environment variables, config file,
 // and defaults using the Viper priority chain: flags > env > file > defaults.
 func LoadConfig(cmd *cobra.Command) (*Config, error) {