diff --git a/languageservice/src/validate-format-string.ts b/languageservice/src/validate-format-string.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..eaeaa23
--- /dev/null
+++ b/languageservice/src/validate-format-string.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,199 @@
+/**
+ * Format string validation for format() function calls.
+ * Port of Go's format_validator.go from actions-workflow-parser.
+ */
+
+import {Expr, FunctionCall, Literal, Binary, Unary, Logical, Grouping, IndexAccess} from "@actions/expressions/ast";
+import {Kind} from "@actions/expressions/data/expressiondata";
+
+/**
+ * Error types for format string validation
+ */
+export type FormatStringError =
+  | {type: "invalid-syntax"; message: string}
+  | {type: "arg-count-mismatch"; expected: number; provided: number};
+
+/**
+ * Validates a format string and returns the maximum placeholder index.
+ * Port of Go's validateFormatString from format_validator.go.
+ *
+ * @param formatString The format string to validate
+ * @returns { valid: boolean, maxArgIndex: number } where maxArgIndex is -1 if no placeholders
+ */
+export function validateFormatString(formatString: string): {valid: boolean; maxArgIndex: number} {
+  let maxIndex = -1;
+  let i = 0;
+
+  while (i < formatString.length) {
+    // Find next left brace
+    let lbrace = -1;
+    for (let j = i; j < formatString.length; j++) {
+      if (formatString[j] === "{") {
+        lbrace = j;
+        break;
+      }
+    }
+
+    // Find next right brace
+    let rbrace = -1;
+    for (let j = i; j < formatString.length; j++) {
+      if (formatString[j] === "}") {
+        rbrace = j;
+        break;
+      }
+    }
+
+    // No more braces
+    if (lbrace < 0 && rbrace < 0) {
+      break;
+    }
+
+    // Left brace comes first (or only left brace exists)
+    if (lbrace >= 0 && (rbrace < 0 || lbrace < rbrace)) {
+      // Check if it's escaped
+      if (lbrace + 1 < formatString.length && formatString[lbrace + 1] === "{") {
+        // Escaped left brace
+        i = lbrace + 2;
+        continue;
+      }
+
+      // This is a placeholder opening - find the closing brace
+      rbrace = -1;
+      for (let j = lbrace + 1; j < formatString.length; j++) {
+        if (formatString[j] === "}") {
+          rbrace = j;
+          break;
+        }
+      }
+
+      if (rbrace < 0) {
+        // Missing closing brace
+        return {valid: false, maxArgIndex: -1};
+      }
+
+      // Validate placeholder content (must be digits only)
+      if (rbrace === lbrace + 1) {
+        // Empty placeholder {}
+        return {valid: false, maxArgIndex: -1};
+      }
+
+      // Parse the index and validate it's all digits
+      let index = 0;
+      for (let j = lbrace + 1; j < rbrace; j++) {
+        const c = formatString[j];
+        if (c < "0" || c > "9") {
+          // Non-numeric character
+          return {valid: false, maxArgIndex: -1};
+        }
+        index = index * 10 + (c.charCodeAt(0) - "0".charCodeAt(0));
+      }
+
+      if (index > maxIndex) {
+        maxIndex = index;
+      }
+
+      i = rbrace + 1;
+      continue;
+    }
+
+    // Right brace comes first (or only right brace exists)
+    // Check if it's escaped
+    if (rbrace + 1 < formatString.length && formatString[rbrace + 1] === "}") {
+      // Escaped right brace
+      i = rbrace + 2;
+      continue;
+    }
+
+    // Unescaped right brace outside of placeholder
+    return {valid: false, maxArgIndex: -1};
+  }
+
+  return {valid: true, maxArgIndex: maxIndex};
+}
+
+/**
+ * Walks an expression AST to find and validate all format() function calls.
+ *
+ * @param expr The expression AST to validate
+ * @returns Array of validation errors found
+ */
+export function validateFormatCalls(expr: Expr): FormatStringError[] {
+  const errors: FormatStringError[] = [];
+  const stack: Expr[] = [expr];
+
+  while (stack.length > 0) {
+    const node = stack.pop();
+    if (!node) {
+      continue;
+    }
+
+    if (node instanceof FunctionCall) {
+      if (node.functionName.lexeme.toLowerCase() === "format") {
+        const error = validateSingleFormatCall(node);
+        if (error) {
+          errors.push(error);
+        }
+      }
+      // Push args for further processing (to find nested format calls)
+      for (const arg of node.args) {
+        stack.push(arg);
+      }
+    } else if (node instanceof Binary) {
+      stack.push(node.left, node.right);
+    } else if (node instanceof Unary) {
+      stack.push(node.expr);
+    } else if (node instanceof Logical) {
+      for (const arg of node.args) {
+        stack.push(arg);
+      }
+    } else if (node instanceof Grouping) {
+      stack.push(node.group);
+    } else if (node instanceof IndexAccess) {
+      stack.push(node.expr, node.index);
+    }
+    // Literal, ContextAccess - no children to process
+  }
+
+  return errors;
+}
+
+/**
+ * Validates a single format() function call.
+ *
+ * @param fc The FunctionCall AST node
+ * @returns Validation error if found, undefined if valid
+ */
+function validateSingleFormatCall(fc: FunctionCall): FormatStringError | undefined {
+  // Must have at least one argument (the format string)
+  if (fc.args.length < 1) {
+    return undefined;
+  }
+
+  // First argument must be a string literal
+  const firstArg = fc.args[0];
+  if (!(firstArg instanceof Literal) || firstArg.literal.kind !== Kind.String) {
+    return undefined; // Can't validate dynamic format strings
+  }
+
+  const formatString = firstArg.literal.coerceString();
+  const numArgs = fc.args.length - 1; // Subtract 1 for format string itself
+
+  const {valid, maxArgIndex} = validateFormatString(formatString);
+
+  if (!valid) {
+    return {
+      type: "invalid-syntax",
+      message: "Format string has invalid syntax (missing closing brace, unescaped braces, or invalid placeholder)"
+    };
+  }
+
+  if (maxArgIndex >= numArgs) {
+    return {
+      type: "arg-count-mismatch",
+      expected: maxArgIndex + 1, // Convert 0-based index to count
+      provided: numArgs
+    };
+  }
+
+  return undefined;
+}
diff --git a/languageservice/src/validate.format-string.test.ts b/languageservice/src/validate.format-string.test.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..ce5a6bd
--- /dev/null
+++ b/languageservice/src/validate.format-string.test.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,273 @@
+import {DiagnosticSeverity} from "vscode-languageserver-types";
+import {createDocument} from "./test-utils/document.js";
+import {validate} from "./validate.js";
+import {clearCache} from "./utils/workflow-cache.js";
+import {validateFormatString} from "./validate-format-string.js";
+
+beforeEach(() => {
+  clearCache();
+});
+
+describe("format string validation", () => {
+  describe("validateFormatString unit tests", () => {
+    it("returns valid for simple placeholder", () => {
+      const result = validateFormatString("{0}");
+      expect(result).toEqual({valid: true, maxArgIndex: 0});
+    });
+
+    it("returns valid for multiple placeholders", () => {
+      const result = validateFormatString("{0} {1} {2}");
+      expect(result).toEqual({valid: true, maxArgIndex: 2});
+    });
+
+    it("returns valid for text with placeholder", () => {
+      const result = validateFormatString("hello {0} world");
+      expect(result).toEqual({valid: true, maxArgIndex: 0});
+    });
+
+    it("returns valid for escaped left braces", () => {
+      const result = validateFormatString("{{0}} {0}");
+      expect(result).toEqual({valid: true, maxArgIndex: 0});
+    });
+
+    it("returns valid for escaped right braces", () => {
+      const result = validateFormatString("{0}}}");
+      expect(result).toEqual({valid: true, maxArgIndex: 0});
+    });
+
+    it("returns valid for no placeholders", () => {
+      const result = validateFormatString("hello world");
+      expect(result).toEqual({valid: true, maxArgIndex: -1});
+    });
+
+    it("returns invalid for missing closing brace", () => {
+      const result = validateFormatString("{0");
+      expect(result).toEqual({valid: false, maxArgIndex: -1});
+    });
+
+    it("returns invalid for empty placeholder", () => {
+      const result = validateFormatString("{}");
+      expect(result).toEqual({valid: false, maxArgIndex: -1});
+    });
+
+    it("returns invalid for non-numeric placeholder", () => {
+      const result = validateFormatString("{abc}");
+      expect(result).toEqual({valid: false, maxArgIndex: -1});
+    });
+
+    it("returns invalid for unescaped closing brace", () => {
+      const result = validateFormatString("text } more");
+      expect(result).toEqual({valid: false, maxArgIndex: -1});
+    });
+
+    it("handles out-of-order placeholders", () => {
+      const result = validateFormatString("{2} {0} {1}");
+      expect(result).toEqual({valid: true, maxArgIndex: 2});
+    });
+
+    it("handles repeated placeholders", () => {
+      const result = validateFormatString("{0} {0} {0}");
+      expect(result).toEqual({valid: true, maxArgIndex: 0});
+    });
+  });
+
+  describe("InvalidFormatString workflow validation", () => {
+    it("errors on missing closing brace", async () => {
+      const input = `
+on: push
+jobs:
+  build:
+    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+    steps:
+      - run: echo \${{ format('{0', github.event_name) }}
+`;
+      const result = await validate(createDocument("wf.yaml", input));
+      expect(result).toContainEqual(
+        expect.objectContaining({
+          code: "invalid-format-string",
+          severity: DiagnosticSeverity.Error
+        })
+      );
+    });
+
+    it("errors on empty braces", async () => {
+      const input = `
+on: push
+jobs:
+  build:
+    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+    steps:
+      - run: echo \${{ format('{}', github.event_name) }}
+`;
+      const result = await validate(createDocument("wf.yaml", input));
+      expect(result).toContainEqual(
+        expect.objectContaining({
+          code: "invalid-format-string"
+        })
+      );
+    });
+
+    it("errors on non-numeric placeholder", async () => {
+      const input = `
+on: push
+jobs:
+  build:
+    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+    steps:
+      - run: echo \${{ format('{abc}', github.event_name) }}
+`;
+      const result = await validate(createDocument("wf.yaml", input));
+      expect(result).toContainEqual(
+        expect.objectContaining({
+          code: "invalid-format-string"
+        })
+      );
+    });
+
+    it("allows valid format strings", async () => {
+      const input = `
+on: push
+jobs:
+  build:
+    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+    steps:
+      - run: echo \${{ format('{0} {1}', github.event_name, github.ref) }}
+`;
+      const result = await validate(createDocument("wf.yaml", input));
+      expect(result).not.toContainEqual(
+        expect.objectContaining({
+          code: "invalid-format-string"
+        })
+      );
+    });
+
+    it("allows escaped braces", async () => {
+      const input = `
+on: push
+jobs:
+  build:
+    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+    steps:
+      - run: echo \${{ format('{{0}} {0}', github.event_name) }}
+`;
+      const result = await validate(createDocument("wf.yaml", input));
+      expect(result).not.toContainEqual(
+        expect.objectContaining({
+          code: "invalid-format-string"
+        })
+      );
+    });
+  });
+
+  describe("FormatArgCountMismatch workflow validation", () => {
+    it("errors when placeholder exceeds arg count", async () => {
+      const input = `
+on: push
+jobs:
+  build:
+    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+    steps:
+      - run: echo \${{ format('{2}', 'arg0', 'arg1') }}
+`;
+      const result = await validate(createDocument("wf.yaml", input));
+      expect(result).toContainEqual(
+        expect.objectContaining({
+          code: "format-arg-count-mismatch",
+          severity: DiagnosticSeverity.Error
+        })
+      );
+    });
+
+    it("errors when referencing arg 0 with no args", async () => {
+      const input = `
+on: push
+jobs:
+  build:
+    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+    steps:
+      - run: echo \${{ format('{0}') }}
+`;
+      const result = await validate(createDocument("wf.yaml", input));
+      expect(result).toContainEqual(
+        expect.objectContaining({
+          code: "format-arg-count-mismatch"
+        })
+      );
+    });
+
+    it("allows when arg count matches", async () => {
+      const input = `
+on: push
+jobs:
+  build:
+    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+    steps:
+      - run: echo \${{ format('{0} {1} {2}', 'a', 'b', 'c') }}
+`;
+      const result = await validate(createDocument("wf.yaml", input));
+      expect(result).not.toContainEqual(
+        expect.objectContaining({
+          code: "format-arg-count-mismatch"
+        })
+      );
+    });
+
+    it("handles no placeholders correctly", async () => {
+      const input = `
+on: push
+jobs:
+  build:
+    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+    steps:
+      - run: echo \${{ format('hello world') }}
+`;
+      const result = await validate(createDocument("wf.yaml", input));
+      expect(result).not.toContainEqual(
+        expect.objectContaining({
+          code: "format-arg-count-mismatch"
+        })
+      );
+    });
+
+    it("skips validation for dynamic format strings", async () => {
+      const input = `
+on: push
+jobs:
+  build:
+    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+    steps:
+      - run: echo \${{ format(env.FORMAT_STRING, 'arg') }}
+`;
+      const result = await validate(createDocument("wf.yaml", input));
+      // Should not have format errors since we can't validate dynamic strings
+      expect(result).not.toContainEqual(
+        expect.objectContaining({
+          code: "invalid-format-string"
+        })
+      );
+      expect(result).not.toContainEqual(
+        expect.objectContaining({
+          code: "format-arg-count-mismatch"
+        })
+      );
+    });
+
+    it("validates nested format calls", async () => {
+      const input = `
+on: push
+jobs:
+  build:
+    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+    steps:
+      - run: echo \${{ format('{0}', format('{2}', 'a')) }}
+`;
+      const result = await validate(createDocument("wf.yaml", input));
+      // The inner format call has an error
+      expect(result).toContainEqual(
+        expect.objectContaining({
+          code: "format-arg-count-mismatch"
+        })
+      );
+    });
+  });
+});
diff --git a/languageservice/src/validate.ts b/languageservice/src/validate.ts
index e2ddc76..71d9216 100644
--- a/languageservice/src/validate.ts
+++ b/languageservice/src/validate.ts
@@ -27,6 +27,7 @@ import {mapRange} from "./utils/range.js";
 import {getOrConvertWorkflowTemplate, getOrParseWorkflow} from "./utils/workflow-cache.js";
 import {validateActionReference} from "./validate-action-reference.js";
 import {validateAction} from "./validate-action.js";
+import {validateFormatCalls} from "./validate-format-string.js";
 import {ValueProviderConfig, ValueProviderKind} from "./value-providers/config.js";
 import {defaultValueProviders} from "./value-providers/default.js";
 
@@ -735,6 +736,28 @@ async function validateExpression(
       continue;
     }
 
+    // Validate format() function calls
+    const formatErrors = validateFormatCalls(expr);
+    for (const formatError of formatErrors) {
+      if (formatError.type === "invalid-syntax") {
+        diagnostics.push({
+          message: `Invalid format string: ${formatError.message}`,
+          range: mapRange(expression.range),
+          severity: DiagnosticSeverity.Error,
+          code: "invalid-format-string"
+        });
+      } else if (formatError.type === "arg-count-mismatch") {
+        diagnostics.push({
+          message: `Format string references argument {${formatError.expected - 1}} but only ${
+            formatError.provided
+          } argument(s) provided`,
+          range: mapRange(expression.range),
+          severity: DiagnosticSeverity.Error,
+          code: "format-arg-count-mismatch"
+        });
+      }
+    }
+
     const context = await getWorkflowExpressionContext(
       namedContexts,
       contextProviderConfig,