diff --git a/NEWS.md b/NEWS.md
index 26cad305..01764eb9 100644
--- a/NEWS.md
+++ b/NEWS.md
@@ -5,6 +5,11 @@
 * Do not use `getOption("available_packages_filters")` option when calling
   `available.packages()`. (#1002)
 
+* Improve reporting of errors returned by shinyapps.io. (#997)
+
+* Remove most directory layout validation checks. (#998)
+
+
 # rsconnect 1.1.0
 
 * Fixed analysis of directories that were smaller than the
diff --git a/R/appMetadata.R b/R/appMetadata.R
index 3dfb249b..105e097f 100644
--- a/R/appMetadata.R
+++ b/R/appMetadata.R
@@ -82,8 +82,6 @@ appMetadata <- function(appDir,
 
 checkAppLayout <- function(appDir, appPrimaryDoc = NULL) {
   appFilesBase <- tolower(list.files(appDir))
-  wwwFiles <- tolower(list.files(file.path(appDir, "www/")))
-
   primaryIsRScript <- identical(tolower(tools::file_ext(appPrimaryDoc)), "r")
 
   # check for single-file app collision
@@ -93,29 +91,8 @@ checkAppLayout <- function(appDir, appPrimaryDoc = NULL) {
     )
   }
 
-  # Do some checks for a valid application structure
-  satisfiedLayouts <- c(
-    shinyAndUi = all(c("server.r", "ui.r") %in% appFilesBase),
-    shinyAndIndex = "server.r" %in% appFilesBase && "index.html" %in% wwwFiles,
-    app = primaryIsRScript || any("app.r" %in% appFilesBase),
-    Rmd = any(grepl(glob2rx("*.rmd"), appFilesBase)),
-    Qmd = any(grepl(glob2rx("*.qmd"), appFilesBase)),
-    static = any(grepl("(?:html?|pdf)$", appFilesBase)),
-    plumber = any(c("entrypoint.r", "plumber.r") %in% appFilesBase)
-  )
-
-  if (any(satisfiedLayouts)) {
-    return()
-  }
-
-  cli::cli_abort(c(
-    "Cancelling deployment: invalid project layout.",
-    i = "Expecting one of the following publication types:",
-    " " = "1. A Shiny app with `app.R` or `server.R` + `ui.R`",
-    " " = "2. R Markdown (`.Rmd`) or Quarto (`.qmd`) documents.",
-    " " = "3. A website containing `.html` and/or `.pdf` files.",
-    " " = "4. A plumber API with `plumber.R` or `entrypoint.R`."
-  ))
+  # all other layouts are allowed; the server determines (with the required packages) if the content
+  # can be run/served.
 }
 
 # infer the mode of the application from files in the root dir
diff --git a/tests/testthat/_snaps/appMetadata.md b/tests/testthat/_snaps/appMetadata.md
index b5327b67..d105f445 100644
--- a/tests/testthat/_snaps/appMetadata.md
+++ b/tests/testthat/_snaps/appMetadata.md
@@ -18,24 +18,11 @@
 # checkLayout() errors if primary doc & app.R
 
     Code
-      checkAppLayout(dir, "myscript.R")
+      checkAppLayout(dir, appPrimaryDoc = "myscript.R")
     Condition
       Error in `checkAppLayout()`:
       ! Project must not contain both 'app.R' and a single-file Shiny app.
 
-# checkLayout fails if no known structure
-
-    Code
-      checkAppLayout(dir)
-    Condition
-      Error in `checkAppLayout()`:
-      ! Cancelling deployment: invalid project layout.
-      i Expecting one of the following publication types:
-        1. A Shiny app with `app.R` or `server.R` + `ui.R`
-        2. R Markdown (`.Rmd`) or Quarto (`.qmd`) documents.
-        3. A website containing `.html` and/or `.pdf` files.
-        4. A plumber API with `plumber.R` or `entrypoint.R`.
-
 # errors if no files with needed extension
 
     Code
diff --git a/tests/testthat/test-appMetadata.R b/tests/testthat/test-appMetadata.R
index ef8fcff7..bd1841dc 100644
--- a/tests/testthat/test-appMetadata.R
+++ b/tests/testthat/test-appMetadata.R
@@ -65,30 +65,43 @@ test_that("checkLayout() errors if primary doc & app.R", {
     "myscript.R" = ""
   ))
 
-  expect_snapshot(checkAppLayout(dir, "myscript.R"), error = TRUE)
-})
-
-test_that("checkLayout fails if no known structure", {
-  dir <- local_temp_app(list(
-    "data.txt" = "",
-    "cats.csv" = ""
-  ))
-
-  expect_snapshot(checkAppLayout(dir), error = TRUE)
+  expect_snapshot(checkAppLayout(dir, appPrimaryDoc = "myscript.R"), error = TRUE)
 })
 
 test_that("checkLayout succeeds with some common app structures", {
   rmd <- local_temp_app(list("foo.Rmd" = ""))
   expect_no_error(checkAppLayout(rmd))
 
+  qmd <- local_temp_app(list("foo.qmd" = ""))
+  expect_no_error(checkAppLayout(qmd))
+
+  # perhaps script.R is a pre-render script that generates *.qmd
+  project <- local_temp_app(list("_quarto.yml" = "", "script.R" = ""))
+  expect_no_error(checkAppLayout(project))
+
+  md <- local_temp_app(list("_quarto.yml" = "", "index.md" = ""))
+  expect_no_error(checkAppLayout(md))
+
   shiny1 <- local_temp_app(list("app.R" = ""))
-  expect_no_error(checkAppLayout(rmd))
+  expect_no_error(checkAppLayout(shiny1))
 
   shiny2 <- local_temp_app(list("server.R" = "", "ui.R" = ""))
-  expect_no_error(checkAppLayout(rmd))
+  expect_no_error(checkAppLayout(shiny2))
+
+  api <- local_temp_app(list("plumber.R" = ""))
+  expect_no_error(checkAppLayout(api))
 
   static <- local_temp_app(list("foo.html" = ""))
-  expect_no_error(checkAppLayout(rmd))
+  expect_no_error(checkAppLayout(static))
+
+  staticxml <- local_temp_app(list("data.xml" = ""))
+  expect_no_error(checkAppLayout(staticxml))
+
+  staticdata <- local_temp_app(list(
+    "data.txt" = "",
+    "cats.csv" = ""
+  ))
+  expect_no_error(checkAppLayout(staticdata))
 })
 
 # inferAppMode ------------------------------------------------------------