GEDCOM Validator vs. Research Audit: What’s the Difference?

A GEDCOM validator checks the file

A GEDCOM validator asks: is this file well-formed? It checks that the file follows the GEDCOM format — that tags are structured correctly, that records reference each other properly, and that the file will open cleanly in genealogy software. This is useful when a file fails to import somewhere, or when you’re troubleshooting a corrupted export. It tells you nothing about whether the family history recorded in that file is actually supported by evidence.

A research audit checks the conclusions

A research audit asks a different question: does the evidence in this file support the conclusions it records? A file can be perfectly well-formed GEDCOM and still assert a birth date with no source behind it, a family relationship with two conflicting parents, or a person who was born after they died. None of those are file-format problems — a validator would pass the file. They’re research problems.

This is what KinSift does. It reads your GEDCOM export and checks it against the five research standards of the Genealogical Proof Standard (GPS): whether you’ve searched a reasonable range of sources, whether the facts you’ve recorded have citations attached, whether the dates and relationships are chronologically and biologically possible, whether contradictions have been resolved, and whether your evidence is ready to support a written conclusion. The result is a Research Readiness Score and a specific, prioritised list of what to look at — not a pass/fail on the file itself.

What KinSift is not

KinSift is not a GEDCOM syntax checker. It cannot connect to Ancestry, FamilySearch, or any other platform, and it cannot fix, merge, or clean anything in your tree — every change stays a decision you make in whichever software you already use. If your export itself won’t open in your genealogy software, that’s a file-format problem to resolve there first; if it opens but you want to know whether the research inside it holds up, that’s the question a research audit answers.

It also isn’t a certification. A Research Readiness Score identifies potential issues and gives you a prioritised worklist — it is not professional genealogical advice, and it doesn’t replace your own judgment about the evidence.

Which one do you need?

• File won’t open, or import fails with an error — that’s a format problem. Check the export in the software you created it with.
• File opens fine, but you want to know whether your sourcing and conclusions hold up — that’s what a research audit is for.