diff --git a/bin/_validate.sh b/bin/_validate.sh
index 331c160..db2e09e 100755
--- a/bin/_validate.sh
+++ b/bin/_validate.sh
@@ -12,6 +12,7 @@ REPO_DIR="$( cd "${SCRIPT_DIR}/.." && pwd )"
 
 SCHEMA_YAML=${1:-BAD}
 YAML_DIR=${2:-BAD}
+REF_SCHEMA_YAML=${3:-}
 if [ "${SCHEMA_YAML}" = "BAD" ]; then
 	echo "ERROR: schema file not specified"
 	echo "Usage: $0 <schema.yaml> <target_dir>"
@@ -29,6 +30,11 @@ if [ ! -f "${SCHEMA_YAML}" ]; then
 	exit 1
 fi
 
+if [ -n "${REF_SCHEMA_YAML}" ] && [ ! -f "${REF_SCHEMA_YAML}" ]; then
+	echo "ERROR: ref schema file not found: ${REF_SCHEMA_YAML}"
+	exit 1
+fi
+
 # check that ajv is installed
 if ! command -v ajv > /dev/null; then
 	echo "ERROR: ajv is not installed: try 'npm install -g ajv-cli'"
@@ -39,11 +45,20 @@ echo "INFO: validation starting at $(date -u +'%Y-%m-%dT%H:%M:%SZ')"
 
 for YAML_FILE in "${YAML_DIR}"/*.yaml; do
 	echo "INFO: validating ${YAML_FILE}"
-	ajv validate \
-		--errors=text \
-		--spec=draft2020 \
-		-s "${SCHEMA_YAML}" \
-		-d "${YAML_FILE}"
+	if [ -z "${REF_SCHEMA_YAML}" ]; then
+		ajv validate \
+			--errors=text \
+			--spec=draft2020 \
+			-s "${SCHEMA_YAML}" \
+			-d "${YAML_FILE}"
+	else
+		ajv validate \
+			--errors=text \
+			--spec=draft2020 \
+			-s "${SCHEMA_YAML}" \
+			-d "${YAML_FILE}" \
+			-r "${REF_SCHEMA_YAML}"
+	fi
 done
 
 echo "INFO: validation complete at $(date -u +'%Y-%m-%dT%H:%M:%SZ')"
diff --git a/bin/validate-configs.sh b/bin/validate-configs.sh
index 6c83937..246a554 100755
--- a/bin/validate-configs.sh
+++ b/bin/validate-configs.sh
@@ -11,6 +11,7 @@ SCRIPT_DIR="$( cd "$( dirname "${BASH_SOURCE[0]}" )" && pwd )"
 REPO_DIR="$( cd "${SCRIPT_DIR}/.." && pwd )"
 
 SCHEMA_YAML="${REPO_DIR}/docs/namelint-config-schema.yaml"
+REF_SCHEMA_YAML="${REPO_DIR}/docs/namelint-rule-schema.yaml"
 YAML_DIR="${REPO_DIR}/config"
 
-"${SCRIPT_DIR}/_validate.sh" "${SCHEMA_YAML}" "${YAML_DIR}"
+"${SCRIPT_DIR}/_validate.sh" "${SCHEMA_YAML}" "${YAML_DIR}" "${REF_SCHEMA_YAML}"
diff --git a/config/default.yaml b/config/default.yaml
index 3a7cf05..2ff64a8 100644
--- a/config/default.yaml
+++ b/config/default.yaml
@@ -3,7 +3,8 @@
 #
 dirs: [ "." ]
 lints:
-  - paths:
+  - lint_id: default
+    paths:
       - "**/*"
     rules:
       - no-msdos-reserved
diff --git a/config/self.yaml b/config/self.yaml
index 248db31..48e9df2 100644
--- a/config/self.yaml
+++ b/config/self.yaml
@@ -8,7 +8,8 @@ ignore-dirs:
   - "target"
   - "_site"
 lints:
-  - paths:
+  - lint_id: self
+    paths:
       - "**/*"
     rules:
       - no-msdos-reserved
diff --git a/docs/namelint-config-schema.yaml b/docs/namelint-config-schema.yaml
index 41f4554..645c0b3 100644
--- a/docs/namelint-config-schema.yaml
+++ b/docs/namelint-config-schema.yaml
@@ -28,6 +28,8 @@ properties:
           description: Rules to specifically disable
           items:
             type: string
+        lint_id:
+          type: string
         paths:
           type: array
           description: Path patterns to apply these rules to
@@ -45,11 +47,17 @@ properties:
             type: string
       anyOf:
         - required:
+          - lint_id
           - rulesets
           - paths
         - required:
+          - lint_id
           - rules
           - paths
+  rules:
+    $ref: namelint-rule-schema.json#/properties/rules
+  rulesets:
+    $ref: namelint-rule-schema.json#/properties/rulesets
 required:
   - dirs
   - lints
diff --git a/docs/namelint-rule-schema.yaml b/docs/namelint-rule-schema.yaml
index 9329370..cccb8dd 100644
--- a/docs/namelint-rule-schema.yaml
+++ b/docs/namelint-rule-schema.yaml
@@ -97,3 +97,8 @@ properties:
             type: string
       required:
         - ruleset_id
+anyOf:
+  - required:
+      - rules
+  - required:
+      - rulesets