In src/conf_mode/policy.py

    policy.update({'protocol': {}})
if 'vrf' not in policy['protocol']:
    policy['protocol'].update({'vrf': {}})
policy['protocol']['vrf'].update({vrf_name : vrf_config['protocols']})

Because policy['protocol']['vrf'] is keyed by VRF name, two valid names are not traversed correctly. The validator in vrf-name accepts route_map and dependent_vrfs.

• A VRF named route_map is matched as a policy field at src/conf_mode/policy.py:79. The branch at lines 80-88 does not descend into its bgp children, so its nested route-map references are not found. Deleting that route-map can pass the reference check.
• A VRF named dependent_vrfs is skipped at lines 77-78. Its route-map references are not found for the same reason.

The reference check at line 300 then cannot see these references. Deleting a referenced route-map can leave a dangling reference in the committed configuration.

Store the per-VRF protocol dictionaries in a list instead of indexing them by VRF name. The list branch at lines 94-98 already traverses each dictionary element, and the VRF name is not needed for the reference check. Check the other readers of policy['protocol']['vrf'] before making this change.

Found by CodeRabbit static analysis.

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Review comment at @src/conf_mode/policy.py at line 135:
Change the construction of policy['protocol']['vrf'] so per-VRF protocol dictionaries are stored as list elements rather than keyed by VRF name, allowing the existing list traversal to inspect every VRF regardless of its name. Check and update all readers of policy['protocol']['vrf'] to support the list shape, while preserving the protocol data needed by the reference check.