diff --git a/.github/workflows/mindmodel-validation.yml b/.github/workflows/mindmodel-validation.yml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..fc5d6a1
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.github/workflows/mindmodel-validation.yml
@@ -0,0 +1,47 @@
+name: mindmodel validation
+
+on:
+  push:
+    branches: [ main ]
+  pull_request:
+    branches: [ main ]
+
+jobs:
+  validate:
+    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+    steps:
+      - name: Checkout
+        uses: actions/checkout@v4
+
+      - name: Set up Python
+        uses: actions/setup-python@v4
+        with:
+          python-version: '3.x'
+
+      - name: Install development dependencies (if present)
+        run: |
+          python -m pip install --upgrade pip
+          if [ -f requirements-dev.txt ]; then
+            pip install -r requirements-dev.txt
+          else
+            echo "requirements-dev.txt not found, skipping"
+          fi
+
+      - name: Run mindmodel validator (report-only)
+        if: ${{ always() }}
+        run: |
+          # Make this step report-only: run the validator but always exit 0 so PRs are not blocked
+          set +e
+          if [ -f .mindmodel/manifest.yaml ]; then
+            python scripts/validate_mindmodel.py --manifest .mindmodel/manifest.yaml --report reports/out.json || true
+          else
+            echo "No .mindmodel/manifest.yaml present — skipping validator"
+          fi
+          exit 0
+
+      - name: Upload mindmodel reports
+        if: ${{ always() }}
+        uses: actions/upload-artifact@v4
+        with:
+          name: mindmodel-reports
+          path: reports/mindmodel-report-*.json
diff --git a/tests/ci/test_workflow_exists.py b/tests/ci/test_workflow_exists.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..9deaa8b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/ci/test_workflow_exists.py
@@ -0,0 +1,26 @@
+import os
+
+try:
+    import yaml
+
+    _HAS_YAML = True
+except Exception:
+    _HAS_YAML = False
+
+
+def test_mindmodel_workflow_exists_and_parses():
+    path = os.path.join(".github", "workflows", "mindmodel-validation.yml")
+    assert os.path.exists(path), f"Workflow file {path} does not exist"
+
+    # Minimal parse: if PyYAML is available, try safe_load; otherwise do a token check
+    with open(path, "r", encoding="utf-8") as f:
+        content = f.read()
+
+    if _HAS_YAML:
+        data = yaml.safe_load(content)
+        assert data is not None and isinstance(data, dict)
+        assert "on" in data or "name" in data
+    else:
+        # fall back to simple checks to avoid introducing new deps
+        assert "name:" in content
+        assert "on:" in content