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Validate

The validate command is used to check if an architecture conforms to a given CALM pattern. Validation helps ensure that your architecture adheres to best practices and meets the required standards.

Basic Usage​

To validate an architecture against a pattern, use the validate command with the --pattern and --architecture options:

calm validate -p calm/pattern/api-pattern.json -a architecture.json

If the architecture does not match the pattern, the command will output a list of errors and warnings that need to be addressed.

Command Options​

  • -p, --pattern <pattern>: Path to the pattern file. This can be a local file path or a URL.
  • -a, --architecture <architecture>: Path to the architecture file to validate.
  • -s, --schema-directory <path>: Path to the directory containing the meta schemas to use.
  • -c, --calm-hub-url <url>: URL to CALMHub instance.
  • -u, --url-to-local-file-mapping <path>: Path to a JSON file that maps URLs to local file paths (see URL Mapping below).
  • --strict: When enabled, the CLI will fail if any warnings are reported (default: false).
  • -f, --format <format>: The format of the output (choices: "json", "junit", "pretty", default: "json").
  • -o, --output <file>: Path location at which to output the validation results.
  • -v, --verbose: Enable verbose logging to see detailed validation output.

Example of Validation​

Here is an example command that validates an architecture against a pattern and outputs the results in JSON format:

calm validate -p calm/pattern/api-pattern.json -a my-architecture.json -f json

This command will check if my-architecture.json conforms to the api-pattern.json and display any validation errors or warnings.

URL to Local File Mapping​

When developing patterns locally, you may want to reference Standards or other schemas via canonical URLs (e.g., https://example.com/standards/node-standard.json) while the actual files exist on your local filesystem. The -u, --url-to-local-file-mapping option allows you to map these URLs to local paths.

Mapping File Format​

Create a JSON file that maps URLs to relative file paths:

{
  "https://example.com/standards/node-standard.json": "standards/node-standard.json",
  "https://example.com/standards/relationship-standard.json": "standards/relationship-standard.json"
}

Paths in the mapping file are resolved relative to the mapping file's location.

Example Usage​

calm validate -p pattern.json -a architecture.json -u url-mapping.json

Relative Path Resolution​

For patterns that don't have an $id field, the CLI automatically resolves relative $ref paths against the pattern file's directory. For example, if your pattern is at patterns/my-pattern.json and contains:

{
  "$ref": "standards/my-standard.json"
}

The CLI will look for the standard at patterns/standards/my-standard.json.