diff --git a/kraken/ketos/repo.py b/kraken/ketos/repo.py
index ea2f4dd9..00e48eed 100644
--- a/kraken/ketos/repo.py
+++ b/kraken/ketos/repo.py
@@ -24,20 +24,55 @@
 import click
 
 from pathlib import Path
+from difflib import get_close_matches
+
 from .util import message
 
 logging.captureWarnings(True)
 logger = logging.getLogger('kraken')
 
 
-def _get_field_list(name):
+def _validate_script(script: str) -> str:
+    from htrmopo.util import _iso15924
+    if script not in _iso15924:
+        return get_close_matches(script, _iso15924.keys())
+    return script
+
+
+def _validate_language(language: str) -> str:
+    from htrmopo.util import _iso639_3
+    if language not in _iso639_3:
+        return get_close_matches(language, _iso639_3.keys())
+    return language
+
+
+def _validate_license(license: str) -> str:
+    from htrmopo.util import _licenses
+    if license not in _licenses:
+        return get_close_matches(license, _licenses.keys())
+    return license
+
+
+def _get_field_list(name,
+                    validation_fn=lambda x: x,
+                    required: bool = False):
     values = []
     while True:
-        value = click.prompt(name, default=None)
-        if value is not None:
-            values.append(value)
+        value = click.prompt(name, default='')
+        if value:
+            if (cand := validation_fn(value)) == value:
+                values.append(value)
+            else:
+                message(f'Not a valid {name} value. Did you mean {cand}?')
         else:
-            break
+            if click.confirm(f'All `{name}` values added?'):
+                if required and not values:
+                    message(f'`{name}` is a required field.')
+                    continue
+                else:
+                    break
+            else:
+                continue
     return values
 
 
@@ -46,7 +81,7 @@ def _get_field_list(name):
 @click.option('-i', '--metadata', show_default=True,
               type=click.File(mode='r', lazy=True), help='Model card file for the model.')
 @click.option('-a', '--access-token', prompt=True, help='Zenodo access token')
-@click.option('-d', '--doi', prompt=True, help='DOI of an existing record to update')
+@click.option('-d', '--doi', help='DOI of an existing record to update')
 @click.option('-p', '--private/--public', default=False, help='Disables Zenodo '
               'community inclusion request. Allows upload of models that will not show '
               'up on `kraken list` output')
@@ -56,15 +91,16 @@ def publish(ctx, metadata, access_token, doi, private, model):
     Publishes a model on the zenodo model repository.
     """
     import json
+    import yaml
     import tempfile
 
     from htrmopo import publish_model, update_model
 
-    pub_fn = publish_model
-
     from kraken.lib.vgsl import TorchVGSLModel
     from kraken.lib.progress import KrakenDownloadProgressBar
 
+    pub_fn = publish_model
+
     _yaml_delim = r'(?:---|\+\+\+)'
     _yaml = r'(.*?)'
     _content = r'\s*(.+)$'
@@ -77,27 +113,44 @@ def publish(ctx, metadata, access_token, doi, private, model):
     # construct metadata if none is given
     if metadata:
         frontmatter, content = _yaml_regex.match(metadata.read()).groups()
+        frontmatter = yaml.safe_load(frontmatter)
     else:
         frontmatter['summary'] = click.prompt('summary')
         content = click.edit('Write long form description (training data, transcription standards) of the model in markdown format here')
 
         creators = []
+        message('To stop adding authors, leave the author name field empty.')
         while True:
-            author = click.prompt('author', default=None)
-            affiliation = click.prompt('affiliation', default=None)
-            orcid = click.prompt('orcid', default=None)
-            if author is not None:
-                creators.append({'author': author})
+            author = click.prompt('author name', default='')
+            if author:
+                creators.append({'name': author})
             else:
-                break
+                if click.confirm('All authors added?'):
+                    break
+                else:
+                    continue
+            affiliation = click.prompt('affiliation', default='')
+            orcid = click.prompt('orcid', default='')
             if affiliation is not None:
                 creators[-1]['affiliation'] = affiliation
             if orcid is not None:
                 creators[-1]['orcid'] = orcid
+        if not creators:
+            raise click.UsageError('The `authors` field is obligatory. Aborting')
+
         frontmatter['authors'] = creators
-        frontmatter['license'] = click.prompt('license')
-        frontmatter['language'] = _get_field_list('language')
-        frontmatter['script'] = _get_field_list('script')
+        while True:
+            license = click.prompt('license')
+            if (lic := _validate_license(license)) == license:
+                frontmatter['license'] = license
+                break
+            else:
+                message(f'Not a valid license identifer. Did you mean {lic}?')
+
+        message('To stop adding values to the following fields, enter an empty field.')
+
+        frontmatter['language'] = _get_field_list('language', _validate_language, required=True)
+        frontmatter['script'] = _get_field_list('script', _validate_script, required=True)
 
         if len(tags := _get_field_list('tag')):
             frontmatter['tags'] = tags + ['kraken_pytorch']
@@ -108,30 +161,33 @@ def publish(ctx, metadata, access_token, doi, private, model):
 
     # take last metrics field, falling back to accuracy field in model metadata
     metrics = {}
-    if 'metrics' in nn.user_metadata and nn.user_metadata['metrics']:
-        metrics['cer'] = 100 - nn.user_metadata['metrics'][-1][1]['val_accuracy']
-        metrics['wer'] = 100 - nn.user_metadata['metrics'][-1][1]['val_word_accuracy']
-    elif 'accuracy' in nn.user_metadata and nn.user_metadata['accuracy']:
-        metrics['cer'] = 100 - nn.user_metadata['accuracy']
+    if nn.user_metadata.get('metrics', None) is not None:
+        if (val_accuracy := nn.user_metadata['metrics'][-1][1].get('val_accuracy', None)) is not None:
+            metrics['cer'] = 100 - (val_accuracy * 100)
+        if (val_word_accuracy := nn.user_metadata['metrics'][-1][1].get('val_word_accuracy', None)) is not None:
+            metrics['wer'] = 100 - (val_word_accuracy * 100)
+    elif (accuracy := nn.user_metadata.get('accuracy', None)) is not None:
+        metrics['cer'] = 100 - accuracy
     frontmatter['metrics'] = metrics
     software_hints = ['kind=vgsl']
 
     # some recognition-specific software hints
     if nn.model_type == 'recognition':
-        software_hints.append([f'seg_type={nn.seg_type}', f'one_channel_mode={nn.one_channel_mode}', 'legacy_polygons={nn.user_metadata["legacy_polygons"]}'])
+        software_hints.extend([f'seg_type={nn.seg_type}', f'one_channel_mode={nn.one_channel_mode}', f'legacy_polygons={nn.user_metadata["legacy_polygons"]}'])
     frontmatter['software_hints'] = software_hints
 
     frontmatter['software_name'] = 'kraken'
+    frontmatter['model_type'] = [nn.model_type]
 
     # build temporary directory
     with tempfile.TemporaryDirectory() as tmpdir, KrakenDownloadProgressBar() as progress:
         upload_task = progress.add_task('Uploading', total=0, visible=True if not ctx.meta['verbose'] else False)
 
-        model = Path(model)
+        model = Path(model).resolve()
         tmpdir = Path(tmpdir)
-        (tmpdir / model.name).symlink_to(model)
-        # v0 metadata only supports recognition models
+        (tmpdir / model.name).resolve().symlink_to(model)
         if nn.model_type == 'recognition':
+            # v0 metadata only supports recognition models
             v0_metadata = {
                 'summary': frontmatter['summary'],
                 'description': content,
@@ -145,7 +201,7 @@ def publish(ctx, metadata, access_token, doi, private, model):
             with open(tmpdir / 'metadata.json', 'w') as fo:
                 json.dump(v0_metadata, fo)
         kwargs = {'model': tmpdir,
-                  'model_card': f'---\n{frontmatter}---\n{content}',
+                  'model_card': f'---\n{yaml.dump(frontmatter)}---\n{content}',
                   'access_token': access_token,
                   'callback': lambda total, advance: progress.update(upload_task, total=total, advance=advance),
                   'private': private}
diff --git a/kraken/repo.py b/kraken/repo.py
index f283deb7..5168da3c 100644
--- a/kraken/repo.py
+++ b/kraken/repo.py
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 #
-# Copyright 2015 Benjamin Kiessling
+# Copyright 2025 Benjamin Kiessling
 #
 # Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
 # you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
@@ -17,15 +17,12 @@
 ~~~~~~~~~~~
 
 Wrappers around the htrmopo reference implementation implementing
-kraken-specific filtering.
+kraken-specific filtering for repository querying operations.
 """
-import logging
-import warnings
-from pathlib import Path
 from collections import defaultdict
-from typing import IO, Any, Dict, List, Union, cast, Optional, TypeVar, Iterable, Literal
-
 from collections.abc import Callable
+from typing import Any, Dict, Optional, TypeVar, Literal
+
 
 from htrmopo import get_description as mopo_get_description
 from htrmopo import get_listing as mopo_get_listing