diff --git a/.pre-commit-hooks.yaml b/.pre-commit-hooks.yaml
index 75c0e8e..dcb6c07 100644
--- a/.pre-commit-hooks.yaml
+++ b/.pre-commit-hooks.yaml
@@ -1,7 +1,11 @@
+# Pre-commit hook: ROS 2 package.xml validator
+# We set `pass_filenames: false` because the validator scans the entire package directory
+# (reading CMakeLists.txt, launch files, etc.) to verify dependencies. It must run
+# regardless of which specific file in the package triggered the commit.
 -   id: format-package-xml
-    name: Format package.xml files
-    description: Verify the package xml schema and ordering of dependencies
+    name: Format package.xml
+    description: Validate schema, enforce standard ordering, and sync dependencies with CMake and launch files.
     entry: package-xml-validator
     language: python
-    files: ^.*package\.xml$|^.*CMakeLists\.txt$
+    pass_filenames: false
     args: [--compare-with-cmake, --auto-fill-missing-deps]
diff --git a/package_xml_validation/helpers/validation_steps.py b/package_xml_validation/helpers/validation_steps.py
index d7fc4d7..98e52bc 100644
--- a/package_xml_validation/helpers/validation_steps.py
+++ b/package_xml_validation/helpers/validation_steps.py
@@ -91,7 +91,6 @@ def perform_check(self, root, xml_file: str) -> ValidationResult:
 
         if not self.formatter.check_for_non_existing_tags(root, xml_file):
             message = f"Unknown tags found in {xml_file}."
-            result.errors.append(message)
             result.critical_errors.append(message)
             result.valid = False
 
@@ -436,7 +435,6 @@ def perform_check(self, root, xml_file: str) -> ValidationResult:
             f"Unresolvable ROS dependencies found in {pkg_name}/package.xml: "
             f"{', '.join(unresolvable)}"
         )
-        result.errors.append(message)
         result.critical_errors.append(message)
         result.valid = False
         return result
@@ -485,9 +483,10 @@ def perform_check(self, root, xml_file: str) -> ValidationResult:
             message = (
                 f"Cannot check for CMake dependencies, {cmake_file} does not exist."
             )
-            result.errors.append(message)
             if not self.config.auto_fill_missing_deps:
                 result.critical_errors.append(message)
+            else:
+                result.errors.append(message)
             result.valid = False
             return result
 
@@ -560,10 +559,11 @@ def check_dependency_group(
                         f"Missing {dependency_label} in {pkg_name}/package.xml compared to "
                         f"{pkg_name}/CMakeList.txt:{deps}"
                     )
-                    result.errors.append(message)
                     result.valid = False
                     if not self.config.auto_fill_missing_deps:
                         result.critical_errors.append(message)
+                    else:
+                        result.errors.append(message)
                 else:
                     self.formatter.add_dependencies(root, missing_deps, dependency_tag)
                     result.warnings.append(
@@ -582,7 +582,6 @@ def check_dependency_group(
                 else:
                     message = f"Unable to resolve {dependency_label} '{dep}' via rosdep resolve, mapping, or rosdep search."
                 if self.config.strict_cmake_checking:
-                    result.errors.append(message)
                     result.valid = False
                     result.critical_errors.append(message)
                 else: