Create Ajv instance:
const ajv = new Ajv()
See Options
Generate validating function and cache the compiled schema for future use.
Validating function returns a boolean value (or promise for async schemas that must have $async: true
property - see Asynchronous validation). This function has properties errors
and schema
. Errors encountered during the last validation are assigned to errors
property (it is assigned null
if there was no errors). schema
property contains the reference to the original schema.
The schema passed to this method will be validated against meta-schema unless validateSchema
option is false. If schema is invalid, an error will be thrown. See options.
In typescript returned validation function can be a type guard if you pass type parameter:
interface Foo {
foo: number
}
const FooSchema: JSONSchemaType<Foo> = {
type: "object",
properties: {foo: {type: "number"}},
required: ["foo"],
additionalProperties: false,
}
const validate = ajv.compile<Foo>(FooSchema) // type of validate extends `(data: any) => data is Foo`
const data: any = {foo: 1}
if (validate(data)) {
// data is Foo here
console.log(data.foo)
} else {
console.log(validate.errors)
}
See more advanced example in the test.
Asynchronous version of compile
method that loads missing remote schemas using asynchronous function in options.loadSchema
. This function returns a Promise that resolves to a validation function. An optional callback passed to compileAsync
will be called with 2 parameters: error (or null) and validating function. The returned promise will reject (and the callback will be called with an error) when:
loadSchema
returns a Promise that rejects).The function compiles schema and loads the first missing schema (or meta-schema) until all missing schemas are loaded.
You can asynchronously compile meta-schema by passing true
as the second parameter.
Similarly to compile
, it can return type guard in typescript.
See example in Asynchronous compilation.
Validate data using passed schema (it will be compiled and cached).
Instead of the schema you can use the key that was previously passed to addSchema
, the schema id if it was present in the schema or any previously resolved reference.
Validation errors will be available in the errors
property of Ajv instance (null
if there were no errors).
In typescript this method can act as a type guard (similarly to function returned by compile
method - see example there).
Please note: every time this method is called the errors are overwritten so you need to copy them to another variable if you want to use them later.
If the schema is asynchronous (has $async
keyword on the top level) this method returns a Promise. See Asynchronous validation.
Add schema(s) to validator instance. This method does not compile schemas (but it still validates them). Because of that dependencies can be added in any order and circular dependencies are supported. It also prevents unnecessary compilation of schemas that are containers for other schemas but not used as a whole.
Array of schemas can be passed (schemas should have ids), the second parameter will be ignored.
Key can be passed that can be used to reference the schema and will be used as the schema id if there is no id inside the schema. If the key is not passed, the schema id will be used as the key.
Once the schema is added, it (and all the references inside it) can be referenced in other schemas and used to validate data.
Although addSchema
does not compile schemas, explicit compilation is not required - the schema will be compiled when it is used first time.
By default the schema is validated against meta-schema before it is added, and if the schema does not pass validation the exception is thrown. This behaviour is controlled by validateSchema
option.
Please note: Ajv return it instance for method chaining from all methods with the prefix add*
and remove*
:
const validate = new Ajv().addSchema(schema).addFormat(name, regex).getSchema(uri)
Adds meta schema(s) that can be used to validate other schemas. That function should be used instead of addSchema
because there may be instance options that would compile a meta schema incorrectly (at the moment it is removeAdditional
option).
There is no need to explicitly add draft-07 meta schema (http://json-schema.org/draft-07/schema) - it is added by default, unless option meta
is set to false
. You only need to use it if you have a changed meta-schema that you want to use to validate your schemas. See validateSchema
.
Validates schema. This method should be used to validate schemas rather than validate
due to the inconsistency of uri
format in JSON Schema standard.
By default this method is called automatically when the schema is added, so you rarely need to use it directly.
If schema doesn't have $schema
property, it is validated against draft 6 meta-schema (option meta
should not be false).
If schema has $schema
property, then the schema with this id (that should be previously added) is used to validate passed schema.
Errors will be available at ajv.errors
.
Retrieve compiled schema previously added with addSchema
by the key passed to addSchema
or by its full reference (id). The returned validating function has schema
property with the reference to the original schema.
Remove added/cached schema. Even if schema is referenced by other schemas it can be safely removed as dependent schemas have local references.
Schema can be removed using:
addSchema
If no parameter is passed all schemas but meta-schemas will be removed and the cache will be cleared.
type Format =
| true // to ignore this format (and pass validation)
| string // will be converted to RegExp
| RegExp
| (data: string) => boolean
| Object // format definition (see below and in types)
Add format to validate strings or numbers.
If object is passed it should have properties validate
, compare
and async
:
interface FormatDefinition { // actual type definition is more precise - see types.ts
validate: string | RegExp | (data: number | string) => boolean | Promise<boolean>
compare: (data1: string, data2: string): number // an optional function that accepts two strings
// and compares them according to the format meaning.
// This function is used with keywords `formatMaximum`/`formatMinimum`
// (defined in [ajv-keywords](https://github.com/ajv-validator/ajv-keywords) package).
// It should return `1` if the first value is bigger than the second value,
// `-1` if it is smaller and `0` if it is equal.
async?: true // if `validate` is an asynchronous function
type?: "string" | "number" // "string" is default. If data type is different, the validation will pass.
}
Formats can be also added via formats
option.
Add validation keyword to Ajv instance.
Keyword should be different from all standard JSON Schema keywords and different from previously defined keywords. There is no way to redefine keywords or to remove keyword definition from the instance.
Keyword must start with a letter, _
or $
, and may continue with letters, numbers, _
, $
, or -
.
It is recommended to use an application-specific prefix for keywords to avoid current and future name collisions.
Example Keywords:
"xyz-example"
: valid, and uses prefix for the xyz project to avoid name collisions."example"
: valid, but not recommended as it may collide with future versions of JSON Schema etc."3-example"
: invalid as numbers are not allowed to be the first character in a keywordKeyword definition is an object with the following properties:
interface KeywordDefinition {
// actual type definition is more precise - see types.ts
keyword: string // keyword name
type?: string | string[] // JSON data type(s) the keyword applies to. Default - all types.
schemaType?: string | string[] // the required schema JSON type
code?: Function // function to generate code, used for all pre-defined keywords
validate?: Function // validating function
compile?: Function // compiling function
macro?: Function // macro function
error?: object // error definition object - see types.ts
schema?: false // used with "validate" keyword to not pass schema to function
metaSchema?: object // meta-schema for keyword schema
dependencies?: string[] // properties that must be present in the parent schema -
// it will be checked during schema compilation
implements?: string[] // keyword names to reserve that this keyword implements
modifying?: true // MUST be passed if keyword modifies data
valid?: boolean // to pre-define validation result, validation function result will be ignored -
// this option MUST NOT be used with `macro` keywords.
$data?: true // to support [\$data reference](./validation.md#data-reference) as the value of keyword.
// The reference will be resolved at validation time. If the keyword has meta-schema,
// it would be extended to allow $data and it will be used to validate the resolved value.
// Supporting $data reference requires that keyword has `code` or `validate` function
// (the latter can be used in addition to `compile` or `macro`).
$dataError?: object // error definition object for invalid \$data schema - see types.ts
async?: true // if the validation function is asynchronous
// (whether it is returned from `compile` or passed in `validate` property).
// It should return a promise that resolves with a value `true` or `false`.
// This option is ignored in case of "macro" and "code" keywords.
errors?: boolean | "full" // whether keyword returns errors.
// If this property is not passed Ajv will determine
// if the errors were set in case of failed validation.
}
compile
, macro
and code
are mutually exclusive, only one should be used at a time. validate
can be used separately or in addition to compile
or macro
to support \$data reference.
Please note: If the keyword is validating data type that is different from the type(s) in its definition, the validation function will not be called (and expanded macro will not be used), so there is no need to check for data type inside validation function or inside schema returned by macro function (unless you want to enforce a specific type and for some reason do not want to use a separate type
keyword for that). In the same way as standard keywords work, if the keyword does not apply to the data type being validated, the validation of this keyword will succeed.
See User defined keywords for more details.
Returns keyword definition, false
if the keyword is unknown.
Removes added or pre-defined keyword so you can redefine them.
While this method can be used to extend pre-defined keywords, it can also be used to completely change their meaning - it may lead to unexpected results.
Please note: schemas compiled before the keyword is removed will continue to work without changes. To recompile schemas use removeSchema
method and compile them again.
Returns the text with all errors in a String.
Options can have properties separator
(string used to separate errors, ", " by default) and dataVar
(the variable name that dataPaths are prefixed with, "data" by default).
Option defaults:
// see types/index.ts for actual types
const defaultOptions = {
// strict mode options (NEW)
strict: true,
strictTypes: "log",
strictTuples: "log",
allowUnionTypes: false,
allowMatchingProperties: false,
validateFormats: true,
// validation and reporting options:
$data: false,
allErrors: false,
verbose: false,
$comment: false,
formats: {},
keywords: {},
schemas: {},
logger: undefined,
loadSchema: undefined, // function(uri: string): Promise {}
// options to modify validated data:
removeAdditional: false,
useDefaults: false,
coerceTypes: false,
// advanced options:
meta: true,
validateSchema: true,
addUsedSchema: true,
inlineRefs: true,
passContext: false,
loopRequired: Infinity,
loopEnum: Infinity, // NEW
ownProperties: false,
multipleOfPrecision: undefined,
messages: true,
code: {
// NEW
es5: false,
lines: false,
source: false,
process: undefined, // (code: string) => string
optimize: true,
},
}
true
(default) - use strict mode and throw an exception when any strict mode restriction is violated."log"
- log warning when any strict mode restriction is violated.false
- ignore all strict mode restrictions. Also ignores strictTypes
restrictions unless it is explicitly passed.true
- throw exception when any strictTypes restriction is violated."log"
(default, unless option strict is false
) - log warning when any strictTypes restriction is violated.false
- ignore all strictTypes restrictions violations.true
- throw exception."log"
(default, unless option strict is false
) - log warning.false
- ignore strictTuples restriction violations.strictTypes
restrictions). see Strict typestrue
(default) - validate formats (see Formats). In strict mode unknown formats will throw exception during schema compilation (and fail validation in case format keyword value is \$data reference).false
- do not validate any format keywords (TODO they will still collect annotations once supported).schema
and parentSchema
) and validated data in errors (false by default).$comment
keyword to a function. Option values:
false
(default): ignore \$comment keyword.true
: log the keyword value to console.addFormat
method. Pass true
as format definition to ignore some formats.addKeyword
method.addSchema(value, key)
will be called for each schema in this object.console
object that should have methods log
, warn
and error
. See Error logging. Option values:
log
, warn
and error
. If any of these methods is missing an exception will be thrown.false
- logging is disabled.compileAsync
method is used and some reference is missing (option missingRefs
should NOT be 'fail' or 'ignore'). This function should accept remote schema uri as a parameter and return a Promise that resolves to a schema. See example in Asynchronous compilation.addMetaSchema
method. Option values:
false
(default) - not to remove additional properties"all"
- all additional properties are removed, regardless of additionalProperties
keyword in schema (and no validation is made for them).true
- only additional properties with additionalProperties
keyword equal to false
are removed."failing"
- additional properties that fail schema validation will be removed (where additionalProperties
keyword is false
or schema).default
keywords. Default behaviour is to ignore default
keywords. This option is not used if schema is added with addMetaSchema
method. See examples in Assigning defaults. Option values:
false
(default) - do not use defaultstrue
- insert defaults by value (object literal is used)."empty"
- in addition to missing or undefined, use defaults for properties and items that are equal to null
or ""
(an empty string).type
keyword. See the example in Coercing data types and coercion rules. Option values:
false
(default) - no type coercion.true
- coerce scalar data types."array"
- in addition to coercions between scalar types, coerce scalar data to an array with one element and vice versa (as required by the schema).$schema
keyword. This default meta-schema MUST have $schema
keyword.$schema
property in the schema can be http://json-schema.org/draft-07/schema or absent (draft-07 meta-schema will be used) or can be a reference to the schema previously added with addMetaSchema
method. Option values:
true
(default) - if the validation fails, throw the exception."log"
- if the validation fails, log error.false
- skip schema validation.compile
and validate
add schemas to the instance if they have $id
(or id
) property that doesn't start with "#". If $id
is present and it is not unique the exception will be thrown. Set this option to false
to skip adding schemas to the instance and the $id
uniqueness check when these methods are used. This option does not affect addSchema
method.true
(default) - the referenced schemas that don't have refs in them are inlined, regardless of their size - it improves performance.false
- to not inline referenced schemas (they will always be compiled as separate functions).true
and you pass some context to the compiled validation function with validate.call(context, data)
, the context
will be available as this
in your keywords. By default this
is Ajv instance.required
keyword is compiled into a single expression (or a sequence of statements in allErrors
mode). In case of a very large number of properties in this keyword it may result in a very big validation function. Pass integer to set the number of properties above which required
keyword will be validated in a loop - smaller validation function size but also worse performance.enum
keyword is compiled into a single expression. In case of a very large number of allowed values it may result in a large validation function. Pass integer to set the number of values above which enum
keyword will be validated in a loop.true
only own enumerable object properties (i.e. found directly on the object rather than on its prototype) are iterated. Contributed by @mbroadst.multipleOf
keyword is validated by comparing the result of division with parseInt() of that result. It works for dividers that are bigger than 1. For small dividers such as 0.01 the result of the division is usually not integer (even when it should be integer, see issue #84). If you need to use fractional dividers set this option to some positive integer N to have multipleOf
validated using this formula: Math.abs(Math.round(division) - division) < 1e-N
(it is slower but allows for float arithmetic deviations).true
by default. false
can be passed when messages are generated outside of Ajv code (e.g. with ajv-i18n).type CodeOptions = {
es5?: boolean // to generate es5 code - by default code is es6, with "for-of" loops, "let" and "const"
lines?: boolean // add line-breaks to code - to simplify debugging of generated functions
source?: boolean // add `source` property (see Source below) to validating function.
process?: (code: string, schema?: SchemaEnv) => string // an optional function to process generated code
// before it is passed to Function constructor.
// It can be used to either beautify or to transpile code.
optimize?: boolean | number // code optimization flag or number of passes, 1 pass by default,
// code optimizations reduce the size of the generated code (bytes, based on the tests) by over 10%,
// the number of code tree nodes by nearly 17%.
// You would almost never need more than one optimization pass, unless you have some really complex schemas -
// the second pass in the tests (it has quite complex schemas) only improves optimization by less than 0.1%.
// See [Code optimization](./codegen.md#code-optimization) for details.
}
type Source = {
code: string // unlike func.toString() it includes assignments external to function scope
scope: Scope // see Code generation (TODO)
}
In case of validation failure, Ajv assigns the array of errors to errors
property of validation function (or to errors
property of Ajv instance when validate
or validateSchema
methods were called). In case of asynchronous validation, the returned promise is rejected with exception Ajv.ValidationError
that has errors
property.
Each error is an object with the following properties:
interface ErrorObject {
keyword: string // validation keyword.
dataPath: string // JSON pointer to the part of the data that was validated (e.g., `"/prop/1/subProp"`).
schemaPath: string // the path (JSON-pointer as a URI fragment) to the schema of the failing keyword.
// the object with the additional information about error that can be used to generate error messages
// (e.g., using [ajv-i18n](https://github.com/ajv-validator/ajv-i18n) package).
// See below for parameters set by all keywords.
params: object // type is defined by keyword value, see below
propertyName?: string // set for errors in `propertyNames` keyword schema.
// `dataPath` still points to the object in this case.
message?: string // the standard error message (can be excluded with option `messages` set to false).
schema?: any // the schema of the keyword (added with `verbose` option).
parentSchema?: object // the schema containing the keyword (added with `verbose` option)
data?: any // the data validated by the keyword (added with `verbose` option).
}
Properties of params
object in errors depend on the keyword that failed validation.
In typescript, the ErrorObject is a discriminated union that allows to determine the type of error parameters based on the value of keyword:
const ajv = new Ajv()
const validate = ajv.compile<MyData>(schema)
if (validate(data)) {
// data is MyData here
// ...
} else {
// DefinedError is a type for all pre-defined keywords errors,
// validate.errors has type ErrorObject[] - to allow user-defined keywords with any error parameters.
// Users can extend DefinedError to include the keywords errors they defined.
for (const err of validate.errors as DefinedError[]) {
switch (err.keyword) {
case "maximum":
console.log(err.limit)
break
case "pattern":
console.log(err.pattern)
break
// ...
}
}
}
Also see an example in this test
maxItems
, minItems
, maxLength
, minLength
, maxProperties
, minProperties
:type ErrorParams = {limit: number} // keyword value
additionalItems
:// when `items` is an array of schemas and `additionalItems` is false:
type ErrorParams = {limit: number} // the maximum number of allowed items
additionalProperties
:type ErrorParams = {additionalProperty: string}
// the property not defined in `properties` and `patternProperties` keywords
dependencies
:type ErrorParams = {
property: string // dependent property,
missingProperty: string // required missing dependency - only the first one is reported
deps: string // required dependencies, comma separated list as a string (TODO change to string[])
depsCount: number // the number of required dependencies
}
format
:type ErrorParams = {format: string} // keyword value
maximum
, minimum
, exclusiveMaximum
, exclusiveMinimum
:type ErrorParams = {
limit: number // keyword value
comparison: "<=" | ">=" | "<" | ">" // operation to compare the data to the limit,
// with data on the left and the limit on the right
}
multipleOf
:type ErrorParams = {multipleOf: number} // keyword value
pattern
:type ErrorParams = {pattern: string} // keyword value
required
:type ErrorParams = {missingProperty: string} // required property that is missing
propertyNames
:type ErrorParams = {propertyName: string} // invalid property name
User-defined keywords can define other keyword parameters.
A logger instance can be passed via logger
option to Ajv constructor. The use of other logging packages is supported as long as the package or its associated wrapper exposes the required methods. If any of the required methods are missing an exception will be thrown.
log
, warn
, error
const otherLogger = new OtherLogger()
const ajv = new Ajv({
logger: {
log: console.log.bind(console),
warn: function warn() {
otherLogger.logWarn.apply(otherLogger, arguments)
},
error: function error() {
otherLogger.logError.apply(otherLogger, arguments)
console.error.apply(console, arguments)
},
},
})