---
title: "Validate a workflow or a dataset without running it"
method: POST
path: "/validate"
tags: ["Datasets"]
---

# Validate a workflow or a dataset without running it

`POST /validate`

## Request

- Base URL: `https://api.indexone.io`
- URL: `https://api.indexone.io/validate`
- Auth: API key in header `x-api-key` and API key in header `Authorization`

Two things can be validated, told apart by whether the body carries `dataset_id`.

**Workflow** (no `dataset_id`) — checks the operation graph against the operation manifest: unknown operations, missing required parameters, broken `$ref` wiring, structural rules.

**Dataset** (`dataset_id` present) — checks a dataset's data against its optional semantic-type schema. Pass `source` to check a file you have uploaded but not yet committed; omit it to report on the dataset as it stands. Reports unresolvable symbols (against the securities reference), unparseable dates, columns that differ from the stored data only by case, duplicate keys, out-of-range numbers and which dates are new — i.e. what will fire a `dataset_trigger`.

**Advisory only.** This never blocks a commit and changes nothing; `ok: false` is information. Both shapes answer the same issues array (`severity`, `code`, `message`, `scope`). Column meanings come from the semantic type registry — `GET /schema` returns it as `semantic_manifest`.

## Request body

- object
  - `dataset_id` string: Validate this dataset. Omit to validate a workflow instead.
  - `source` string: s3 uri/key of an uploaded file to check BEFORE committing it. Omit to check the dataset's current data.
  - `mutation` 'append' | 'replace': How `source` would be committed. `append` compares against the stored rows, so new dates and duplicates are visible; `replace` judges the file on its own.
  - `schema` object: Column meanings to check against; defaults to the dataset's own. Omit on a dataset with no schema to get a `suggested_schema` back.
  - `resolve` boolean: Confirm identifiers against the securities reference. `false` checks shape only and is much faster.
  - `preview_rows` number: Rows of the incoming data to return with the report.
  - `index_parameters` object: Workflow to validate, when no `dataset_id` is given.

## Response `200`

Validation report.

- object
  - `ok` boolean: No errors were found. Never means "you may not commit".
  - `type` string: `dataset` for a dataset report.
  - `row_count` number
  - `state` object: Aggregate flags: error / warning / info.
  - `issues` object[]: severity, code, message, scope, and for a dataset the `column` and example values.
  - `columns` object[]: Per column: dtype, declared semantic type, invalid counts and reference-resolution results.
  - `dates` object: Parsed/unparsed counts, min, max, and `new_dates` — the ones that will fire a dataset trigger.
  - `suggested_schema` object: Returned when no schema was supplied. A suggestion to pre-fill a form, never applied on its own.

## Other responses

- `400`: Unknown dataset, unreadable source file, or no dataset_id and no workflow.

---

[API](https://skmtc.dev/indexone/apis/index-one-rest-api.md) · [All operations](https://skmtc.dev/indexone/apis/index-one-rest-api/llms.txt) · [OpenAPI document](https://skmtc.dev/indexone/apis/index-one-rest-api/revisions/df5a92216a9c?raw)