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ata-validator

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Ultra-fast JSON Schema validator. AOT + TypeScript first-class, simdjson native, 3-6x AJV, Draft 2020-12. Zero runtime cost.

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# ata-validator

JSON Schema validation with first-class TypeScript and zero runtime cost. AOT compile your schemas to per-schema ESM modules with no validator dependency. `Validator<T>` composes with TypeBox, Zod-from-JSON-Schema, Valibot, or hand-written types. Runtime API available for dynamic schemas. Draft 2020-12, draft 7 and the [JSON Schema v1 dialect](#dialects).

[![npm](https://img.shields.io/npm/v/ata-validator)](https://www.npmjs.com/package/ata-validator)
[![License](https://img.shields.io/npm/l/ata-validator)](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ata-core/ata-validator/master/LICENSE)

1.0 is a stability commitment: see [docs/STABILITY.md](docs/STABILITY.md) for the semver, deprecation, and error-code guarantees.

## Quick start

```bash
npm install --save-dev ata-validator
npx ata build 'schemas/*.json' --out-dir src/generated
```

The `ata-validator` package itself is pure JavaScript. The native accelerator (simdjson parsing, parallel NDJSON, buffer APIs) ships as per-platform optional packages that npm installs automatically where they fit, the same pattern Vite uses for esbuild. For a guaranteed zero-binary install:

```bash
npm install ata-validator --omit=optional
```

or set `ATA_NO_NATIVE=1` at runtime. Typical schemas compile to specialized JS; shapes the compiler cannot represent (some `$dynamicRef`, cyclic `$ref`, unusual keyword interactions) fall back to an interpreted engine, so every schema validates in every environment. The pure-JS setup scores the same on the official suite as the native one, 1294 of 1299 Draft 2020-12 cases; the two miss a different `$dynamicRef` scope corner each. Only the buffer and parallel APIs (`isValid` on raw buffers, `countValid`, `batchIsValid`, `validateAndParse`) need the native engine and say so with a clear error.

Those four also do not yet agree with `validate()`. Over the official suite they differ on 245 of 2222 cases, in both directions, concentrated in `unevaluatedProperties`, `contains`, `const` and the `$ref` family. `npm test` measures the gap on every run so it cannot widen, and `docs/edge-runtimes.md` has the detail. Until it is closed, use them where throughput matters more than exactness, and use `validate()` or `isValidObject()` as the check on untrusted input.

Where `new Function` is refused altogether, on Cloudflare Workers, Deno Deploy or under a strict Content-Security-Policy, ata drops to the interpreted engine and scores 1295 of 1299 with code generation blocked. No flags, and on Workers no `nodejs_compat` either. See [docs/edge-runtimes.md](docs/edge-runtimes.md).

In your code:

```ts
import { validate, isValid, type User } from './generated/user.compiled.mjs'

if (isValid(req.body)) {
  const user: User = req.body
  // ...
}
```

The `.compiled.mjs` modules are self-contained: zero runtime dependency on ata-validator, fully tree-shakeable, with TypeScript types emitted alongside.

## Why AOT

| Dimension | Schema | ata-AOT | AJV-runtime | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bundle (gzipped) | simple | 955 B | 52.7 KB | 56x smaller |
| Bundle (gzipped) | complex | 1.6 KB | 52.7 KB | 32x smaller |
| Cold start | simple | 21 ms | 38 ms | 1.8x faster |
| Throughput (10M ops) | simple | 345 Mops/s | 116 Mops/s | 3.0x faster |
| Compile time | simple | 6 µs | 1.5 ms | 246x faster |

Reproduce on your machine with `npm run bench:aot-vs-ajv`. Numbers measured on Apple M4 Pro, Node 25.2.1.

The wins are largest on bundle size and compile time because AOT moves work from runtime to build time. Throughput and cold start are also faster because the compiled validator is a tight straight-line function with no schema-walk overhead.

## Error messages

ata's error output is compiler-grade: each error carries a stable code, an inline source frame pointing at the schema file, and another pointing at the offending bytes in the request payload. Renderers ship in three styles:

```ts
import { Validator, renderPretty, renderCompact, renderJSON } from 'ata-validator'

const v = new Validator(schema, { source: { path: 'schemas/user.json', content: schemaText } })
const r = v.validateJSON(input)
if (!r.valid) {
  console.error(renderPretty(r.errors))
  // error[ATA3001]: value does not match format "email"
  //   --> schemas/user.json:5:7
  //    |
  //  5 |       "email": { "type": "string", "format": "email" }
  //    |       ^^^^^^^  expected format 'email'
  //    |
  //   --> input, byte 23
  //    |
  //  1 | {"name":"M","email":"not-an-email","age":-3}
  //    |                     ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^  got "not-an-email"
  //    |
  //    = help: missing '@' and domain part
  //    = note: see https://ata-validator.com/e/ATA3001
}
```

The `ata` CLI ships `ata validate <schema> <data>` for one-off checks. TTY auto-renders pretty; pipes default to compact; `--format=json` produces structured output for tooling.

Errors carry a stable `code` field (`ATA####`), see the [error code registry](docs/error-codes.md). Each code has a permalink at `https://ata-validator.com/e/<CODE>`.

### Custom messages

A subschema can override the human-facing message with an `errorMessage` keyword. A string replaces the message for any failing keyword on that subschema; an object overrides per keyword, with `required` keyed by the missing property name (or a single string) and `_` as a fallback. The `code`, `keyword`, and `path` fields are untouched, so dashboards and renderers keep working.

```js
const v = new Validator({
  type: 'object',
  properties: {
    age: { type: 'integer', minimum: 18, errorMessage: { minimum: 'must be 18 or older', type: 'age has to be a number' } },
    email: { type: 'string', format: 'email', errorMessage: 'enter a valid email address' },
  },
  required: ['email'],
  errorMessage: { required: { email: 'email is required' } },
})

v.validate({ age: 5 }).errors[0].message      // 'must be 18 or older'
v.validate({}).errors[0].message              // 'email is required'
```

Schemas without an `errorMessage` keyword pay nothing: the override pass is only installed when one is present.

### Opting out

For consumers who built log dashboards on the v0.14 error shape, `new Validator(schema, { richErrors: false })` returns the legacy shape exactly. For high-throughput paths, `abortEarly: true` continues to short-circuit; the returned error carries `code: 'ATA9000'` and no enrichment.

## When to use the runtime API instead

`ata build` is for schemas you know at build time. If your schemas are user-supplied at runtime (form builders, no-code platforms, dynamic API ingestion), use the runtime API:

```js
import { Validator } from 'ata-validator'

const v = new Validator(schema)
const result = v.validate(data)
```

The runtime API is unchanged from previous releases. AJV-shim users continue importing from `ata-validator/compat`.

## Usage

### Node.js

```javascript
const { Validator } = require('ata-validator');

const v = new Validator({
  type: 'object',
  properties: {
    name: { type: 'string', minLength: 1 },
    email: { type: 'string', format: 'email' },
    age: { type: 'integer', minimum: 0 },
    role: { type: 'string', default: 'user' }
  },
  required: ['name', 'email']
});

// Fast boolean check - JS codegen, 15.3M ops/sec
v.isValidObject({ name: 'Mert', email: 'mert@example.com', age: 26 }); // true

// Full validation with error details + defaults applied
const result = v.validate({ name: 'Mert', email: 'mert@example.com' });
// result.valid === true, data.role === 'user' (default applied)

// JSON string validation (simdjson fast path)
v.validateJSON('{"name": "Mert", "email": "mert@example.com"}');
v.isValidJSON('{"name": "Mert", "email": "mert@example.com"}'); // true

// Buffer input (zero-copy, raw NAPI)
v.isValid(Buffer.from('{"name": "Mert", "email": "mert@example.com"}'));

// Parallel batch - multi-core, NDJSON, 13.4M items/sec
const ndjson = Buffer.from(lines.join('\n'));
v.isValidParallel(ndjson);  // bool[]
v.countValid(ndjson);        // number
```

### Type-safe schemas

ata infers TypeScript types straight from plain JSON Schema. Write the schema once with `defineSchema`, and both runtime validation and the static type come from it, with no builder DSL and no second type declaration to keep in sync.

```ts
import { defineSchema, Validator } from 'ata-validator'

const userSchema = defineSchema({
  type: 'object',
  properties: {
    id: { type: 'integer', minimum: 1 },
    role: { type: 'string', enum: ['admin', 'user'] },
  },
  required: ['id'],
})

const v = new Validator(userSchema)
const result = v.validate(data)
if (result.valid) {
  result.data.id   // number
  result.data.role // 'admin' | 'user' | undefined
} else {
  // result.errors: ValidationError[]
}
```

`defineSchema` returns the schema untouched at runtime; in TypeScript it gives keyword autocomplete and an error when a value has the wrong shape, with no `as const` needed. `new Validator(schema)` carries the inferred type, so a successful `validate` narrows `result.data` with no manual annotation.

#### Extracting the type: `Infer`

You can also pull the type out directly with `Infer`, with no second declaration to keep in sync.

```ts
import { defineSchema, type Infer } from 'ata-validator'

const event = defineSchema({
  $defs: {
    Point: { type: 'object', properties: { x: { type: 'number' }, y: { type: 'number' } }, required: ['x', 'y'] },
  },
  type: 'object',
  properties: {
    kind: { enum: ['click', 'scroll'] },
    at: { $ref: '#/$defs/Point' },
    path: { type: 'array', prefixItems: [{ type: 'string' }, { type: 'integer' }] },
  },
  required: ['kind', 'at'],
})

type Event = Infer<typeof event>
// {
//   kind: 'click' | 'scroll'
//   at: { x: number; y: number }
//   path?: [string, number]
// }
```

`Infer` resolves `const`/`enum` to literals, `anyOf`/`oneOf` to unions, `allOf` to intersections, `prefixItems` to tuples, and local `$ref` into `#/$defs` or `#/definitions`, including recursive references. An external or unresolvable `$ref` resolves to `unknown` rather than erroring. The exported `JSONSchema` type is available if you want to annotate a schema by hand; custom and vendor keywords are allowed. Requires TypeScript >= 5.0.

#### Chainable authoring with `ata-validator/t`

If you prefer a chainable builder over JSON Schema literals, `ata-validator/t` ships one whose output is still plain JSON Schema. The runtime validator, `Infer<S>`, and the AOT pipeline all keep working without an adapter. The migration from TypeBox is one import rename, then the same authoring shape:

```ts
import { t } from 'ata-validator/t'
import { Validator, type Infer } from 'ata-validator'

const User = t.object({
  id: t.integer(),
  name: t.string({ minLength: 1 }),
  email: t.optional(t.string({ format: 'email' })),
  role: t.union([t.literal('admin'), t.literal('user')]),
})

type User = Infer<typeof User>
// { id: number; name: string; role: 'admin' | 'user'; email?: string }

const v = new Validator(User)
```

The builder covers primitives (`string`, `number`, `integer`, `boolean`, `null`), composites (`object` with optional keys, `array`, `tuple`, `record`, `union`, `intersect`, `literal`, `const`, `enum`), plus the TypeBox-style modifiers `pick`, `omit`, `partial`, `required`, `composite`, and `recursive`. Optionality is carried by a Symbol marker that the emitted JSON Schema and ata's codegen never see, so the output is still a plain JSON Schema literal that you can pass to anything that takes one.

```ts
const User = t.object({ id: t.integer(), name: t.string(), email: t.optional(t.string()) })
const Patch = t.partial(t.omit(User, ['id']))
type Patch = Infer<typeof Patch>
// { name?: string; email?: string }
```

#### Async refinement

JSON Schema is synchronous, so checks that need to await, a uniqueness lookup, a remote call, a cross-field rule, attach to a schema with `t.refine` and run through `validateAsync`. The refinement rides on a Symbol marker, so `new Validator(schema)` still does plain structural validation and ignores it; only `validateAsync`/`parseAsync` evaluate it, and only after the value is structurally valid.

```ts
import { t } from 'ata-validator/t'
import { validateAsync, parseAsync } from 'ata-validator'

const Signup = t.refine(
  t.object({ username: t.string({ minLength: 3 }), email: t.string({ format: 'email' }) }),
  async (value) => !(await usernameTaken(value.username)),
  { message: 'username is already taken', path: '/username' },
)

const r = await validateAsync(Signup, body)
if (!r.valid) return reply.code(400).send(r.errors)

// or: resolves to the typed value, throws on failure with err.errors
const user = await parseAsync(Signup, body)
```

Refinements compose by wrapping again, and a failing one surfaces as an error with `keyword: 'refine'` carrying your `message` and `path`. A `check` may be sync or async.

#### Composes with TypeBox, Zod, or your own types

`Validator<T>` is generic, so if you already author schemas with a library, pass the type and ata narrows to it. No library-specific assumption.

```ts
import { Type, type Static } from '@sinclair/typebox'
import { Validator } from 'ata-validator'

const UserSchema = Type.Object({
  id: Type.Integer({ minimum: 1 }),
  name: Type.String({ minLength: 1 }),
})

const v = new Validator<Static<typeof UserSchema>>(UserSchema)
```

The same works with Zod-from-JSON-Schema, Valibot, or a hand-written `type User = {...}` alongside a JSON Schema literal.

### Cross-Schema `$ref`

```javascript
const addressSchema = {
  $id: 'https://example.com/address',
  type: 'object',
  properties: { street: { type: 'string' }, city: { type: 'string' } },
  required: ['street', 'city']
};

const v = new Validator({
  type: 'object',
  properties: {
    name: { type: 'string' },
    address: { $ref: 'https://example.com/address' }
  }
}, { schemas: [addressSchema] });

// Or use addSchema()
const v2 = new Validator(mainSchema);
v2.addSchema(addressSchema);
```

### Options

```javascript
const v = new Validator(schema, {
  coerceTypes: true,       // "42" → 42 for integer fields
  removeAdditional: true,  // strip properties not in schema
  schemas: [otherSchema],  // cross-schema $ref registry
  abortEarly: true,        // skip detailed error collection on failure (~4x faster on invalid data)
});
```

`abortEarly` returns a shared `{ valid: false, errors: [{ message: 'validation failed' }] }` on failure instead of running the detailed error collector. Useful when the caller only needs a pass/fail decision (Fastify route guards, high-throughput gatekeepers, request rejection at the edge).

### Build-time compile (`ata compile`)

The `ata` CLI turns a JSON Schema file into a self-contained JavaScript module. No runtime dependency on `ata-validator`, so only the generated validator ships to the browser. Typical output is ~1 KB gzipped compared to ~27 KB for the full runtime.

```bash
npx ata compile schemas/user.json -o src/generated/user.validator.mjs
```

The CLI emits two files: the validator itself and a paired `.d.mts` (or `.d.cts`) with the inferred TypeScript type plus an `isValid` type predicate.

```ts
import { isValid, validate, type User } from './user.validator.mjs'

const incoming: unknown = JSON.parse(req.body)

if (isValid(incoming)) {
  // TypeScript narrows to User here
  incoming.id      // number
  incoming.role    // 'admin' | 'user' | 'guest' | undefined
}

const r = validate(incoming)
// { valid: true, errors: [] } | { valid: false, errors: ValidationError[] }
```

CLI options:

| Flag | Default | Description |
|---|---|---|
| `-o, --output <file>` | `<schema>.validator.mjs` | Output path |
| `-f, --format <fmt>` | `esm` | `esm` or `cjs` |
| `--name <TypeName>` | from filename | Root type name in the `.d.ts` |
| `--abort-early` | off | Generate the stub-error variant (~0.5 KB gzipped) |
| `--no-types` | off | Skip the `.d.mts` / `.d.cts` output |

For a project with many schemas, `ata build <glob>` compiles them all in one command:

```bash
npx ata build 'schemas/*.json' --out-dir build/validators --check
```

Run with `--watch` during development for incremental rebuilds.

Typical bundle sizes (10-field user schema, gzipped):

| Variant | Size | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| `ata-validator` runtime | ~27 KB | Full compiler + all keywords |
| `ata compile` (standard) | **~1.1 KB** | Validator + detailed error collector |
| `ata compile --abort-early` | **~0.5 KB** | Validator + stub errors only |

Programmatic API if you prefer to script it:

```javascript
const fs = require('fs');
const { toStandaloneModule } = require('ata-validator/build');

fs.writeFileSync('./user.validator.mjs', toStandaloneModule(schema, { format: 'esm' }));
```

**Fastify startup (10 routes cold): ajv 12.6ms → ata 0.5ms (24x faster boot, no build step required)**

### Standard Schema V1

```javascript
const v = new Validator(schema);

// Works with Fastify, tRPC, TanStack, etc.
const result = v['~standard'].validate(data);
// { value: data } on success
// { issues: [{ message, path }] } on failure
```

### Fastify Plugin

Measured against Fastify's own schema and validation test files with ata swapped in as the default validator: 181 of 187 tests pass, and the remaining six assert the default validator's own extension API rather than validation behavior. Validation errors follow the schema's keyword declaration order, so error-message plugins and `transformErrors` hooks written against the default validator see the same order.

```bash
npm install fastify-ata
```

```javascript
const fastify = require('fastify')();
fastify.register(require('fastify-ata'), {
  coerceTypes: true,
  removeAdditional: true,
});

// All existing JSON Schema route definitions work as-is
```

### C++

```cpp
#include "ata.h"

auto schema = ata::compile(R"({
  "type": "object",
  "properties": { "name": {"type": "string"} },
  "required": ["name"]
})");

auto result = ata::validate(schema, R"({"name": "Mert"})");
// result.valid == true
```

## Framework integrations

Copy-paste recipes for the common frameworks. Most need 10-20 lines of glue. See [docs/integrations](docs/integrations/) for the full set.

| Framework | Pattern | Recipe |
|---|---|---|
| Fastify | dedicated plugin | [`fastify-ata`](https://github.com/ata-core/fastify-ata) |
| Vite (build-time compile) | dedicated plugin | [`ata-vite`](https://github.com/ata-core/ata-vite) |
| Hono | async middleware | [docs/integrations/hono.md](docs/integrations/hono.md) |
| Elysia | direct handler check | [docs/integrations/elysia.md](docs/integrations/elysia.md) |
| tRPC | Standard Schema V1 input | [docs/integrations/trpc.md](docs/integrations/trpc.md) |
| TanStack Form | Standard Schema V1 validator | [docs/integrations/tanstack-form.md](docs/integrations/tanstack-form.md) |
| Express | sync middleware | [docs/integrations/express.md](docs/integrations/express.md) |
| Koa | async ctx middleware | [docs/integrations/koa.md](docs/integrations/koa.md) |
| NestJS | validation pipe | [docs/integrations/nestjs.md](docs/integrations/nestjs.md) |
| SvelteKit | form action, API route | [docs/integrations/sveltekit.md](docs/integrations/sveltekit.md) |
| Astro | API route, server action | [docs/integrations/astro.md](docs/integrations/astro.md) |

## Supported Keywords

| Category | Keywords |
|----------|----------|
| Type | `type` |
| Numeric | `minimum`, `maximum`, `exclusiveMinimum`, `exclusiveMaximum`, `multipleOf` |
| String | `minLength`, `maxLength`, `pattern`, `format` |
| Array | `items`, `prefixItems`, `minItems`, `maxItems`, `uniqueItems`, `contains`, `minContains`, `maxContains`, `unevaluatedItems` |
| Object | `properties`, `required`, `additionalProperties`, `patternProperties`, `minProperties`, `maxProperties`, `propertyNames`, `dependentRequired`, `dependentSchemas`, `unevaluatedProperties` |
| Enum/Const | `enum`, `const` |
| Composition | `allOf`, `anyOf`, `oneOf`, `not` |
| Conditional | `if`, `then`, `else` |
| References | `$ref`, `$defs`, `definitions`, `$id`, `$anchor`, `$dynamicRef`, `$dynamicAnchor` |
| Boolean | `true`, `false` |
| v1 | `propertyDependencies` |

### Dialects

`$schema` selects the dialect. Draft 2020-12 is the default, draft-07 is normalized on the way in, and `https://json-schema.org/v1` (or the dated `https://json-schema.org/v1/2026`) selects JSON Schema v1.

Two things differ under v1. `propertyDependencies` selects a subschema by the value of a property rather than by its presence, which is what `dependentSchemas` does. And `$dynamicRef` no longer requires bookending: the reference resolves through the dynamic scope whether or not the schema it first lands on carries a matching `$dynamicAnchor`, so the outermost matching anchor still in scope wins. Everything else ata implements is identical under both dialects, so a schema that declares no `$schema` behaves exactly as before.

Both are implemented in the interpreted engine, so a v1 schema that uses `$dynamicRef` validates there rather than through the compiler or the native addon, which resolve the 2020-12 way. Schemas that use neither keyword take the same compiled path they always did.

### Format Validators (hand-written, no regex)

`email`, `date`, `date-time`, `time`, `uri`, `uri-reference`, `ipv4`, `ipv6`, `uuid`, `hostname`

### Known limitations

Running the whole Draft 2020-12 suite with nothing excluded, `format` and `default` under specification semantics (`assertFormat: false`, `useDefaults: false`), gives 1294 of 1299 cases, 99.6%. Draft 7 gives 916 of 927, 98.8%. The v1 dialect gives 1131 of 1133, 99.8%, and the two it misses are among the five that fail on 2020-12. `npm run test:suite` reproduces all three and lists the remaining failures by name.

Areas that remain deliberate scope decisions for 1.x:

- **Remote `$ref` over the network** is not fetched. Register cross-schema refs explicitly with `schemas: [...]` or `addSchema()`.
- **`$vocabulary`** is not implemented; custom vocabularies are ignored rather than enforced. The keyword was extracted from the specification for the stable release as incomplete, so it is not part of v1.
- **`contentEncoding` / `contentMediaType` / `contentSchema`** are annotation-only, as the spec permits, and are not validated.
- **`minLength`/`maxLength`** count UTF-16 code units, not grapheme clusters.
- **Infinite-loop detection** relies on a recursion depth guard that cuts off circular `$ref` chains.
- **`default`** values are applied to validated data by default, where the spec treats `default` as a non-enforcing annotation. Pass `useDefaults: false` for the specification behavior.
- **`format`** is asserted by default rather than treated as an annotation. Pass `assertFormat: false` for the specification behavior.

If one of these blocks you, open an issue; scope decisions get revisited with real use cases.

## Building from Source

This section applies to contributors building the repository. Regular `npm install` users need not have a C++ toolchain.

### Development prerequisites

Native builds require C/C++ toolchain support and the following libraries:

- `re2`
- `abseil`
- `mimalloc`

Install them before running `npm run build`:

```bash
# macOS (Homebrew)
brew install re2 abseil mimalloc
```

```bash
# Ubuntu/Debian (apt)
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install -y libre2-dev libabsl-dev libmimalloc-dev
```

```bash
# C++ library + tests
cmake -B build
cmake --build build
./build/ata_tests

# Node.js addon
npm install
npm run build
npm test

# JSON Schema Test Suite
npm run test:suite
```

## License

MIT

## Authors

[Mert Can Altin](https://github.com/mertcanaltin)
[Daniel Lemire](https://github.com/lemire)

ata-validator

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