A few improvements to validation.

tools/pre-commit-composite

@@ -125,6 +125,43 @@ else
     VALIDATION_FAILED=1
 fi
 
+# 2a2. PEP8/flake8 Validation (for staged Python files only)
+echo -e "\n${YELLOW}  2a2. Checking PEP8 compliance...${NC}"
+if command -v flake8 >/dev/null 2>&1 && [ -n "$STAGED_PYTHON_FILES" ]; then
+    PEP8_ISSUES=0
+    
+    # Check staged Python files with flake8
+    # Focus on critical issues, ignore cosmetic ones for pre-commit
+    FLAKE8_SELECT="E9,F63,F7,F82"  # Critical syntax/import errors only
+    FLAKE8_IGNORE="E501,W503,E203"  # Ignore line length and some formatting
+    
+    for file in $STAGED_PYTHON_FILES; do
+        if [ -f "$file" ]; then
+            flake8_output=$(flake8 --select="$FLAKE8_SELECT" --ignore="$FLAKE8_IGNORE" "$file" 2>/dev/null || true)
+            if [ -n "$flake8_output" ]; then
+                if [ $PEP8_ISSUES -eq 0 ]; then
+                    echo -e "${RED}  ✗ Critical PEP8 issues found:${NC}"
+                fi
+                echo -e "${RED}    $file:${NC}"
+                echo "$flake8_output" | sed 's/^/      /'
+                PEP8_ISSUES=1
+            fi
+        fi
+    done
+    
+    if [ $PEP8_ISSUES -eq 0 ]; then
+        echo -e "${GREEN}  ✓ No critical PEP8 issues in staged files${NC}"
+    else
+        echo -e "${RED}  ✗ Critical PEP8 issues found${NC}"
+        echo -e "${YELLOW}    Run: flake8 --select=E9,F63,F7,F82 <file> for details${NC}"
+        VALIDATION_FAILED=1
+    fi
+elif [ -n "$STAGED_PYTHON_FILES" ]; then
+    echo -e "${YELLOW}  ⚠ flake8 not available (install with: pip install flake8)${NC}"
+else
+    echo -e "${GREEN}  ✓ No Python files to check${NC}"
+fi
+
 # 2b. Check for common issues in modified files
 echo -e "\n${YELLOW}  2b. Checking modified files for common issues...${NC}"