Summary

The validator catalog (recipes/validators/catalog.yaml) is currently embedded in the binary and not overridable via the --data flag. This prevents external teams from adding custom validation checks without rebuilding the CLI.

Problem

The --data flag already supports layering external data over embedded recipe data:

• registry.yaml — merged (external components override by name, new ones added)
• Overlays, values, mixins — external fully replaces embedded if present

However, catalog.Load() reads exclusively from the embedded filesystem (recipes.FS.ReadFile("validators/catalog.yaml")), bypassing the DataProvider interface entirely.

This means teams that need cluster-specific or platform-specific validation checks (e.g., ComputeDomain-aware DRA tests for GB200 clusters) must fork and rebuild the CLI to add them.

Proposed Solution

Extend the --data flag to also layer validators/catalog.yaml:

1. Update catalog.Load() to use the global DataProvider instead of reading directly from recipes.FS
2. Use merge semantics similar to registry.yaml: external validators override by name, new ones are added
3. Validate external catalog entries (image, phase, timeout) the same way embedded ones are validated

Use Case

External teams maintaining custom validation suites (e.g., Dynamo cluster validators) can define additional checks in their own validators/catalog.yaml and run them alongside built-in checks using --data ./local-recipes without rebuilding aicr.