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jsonschema-core.xml
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<?xml version="1.0" encoding="US-ASCII"?>
<!DOCTYPE rfc SYSTEM "rfc2629.dtd" [
<!ENTITY RFC2119 SYSTEM "http://xml.resource.org/public/rfc/bibxml/reference.RFC.2119.xml">
<!ENTITY RFC3986 SYSTEM "http://xml.resource.org/public/rfc/bibxml/reference.RFC.3986.xml">
<!ENTITY RFC6839 SYSTEM "http://xml.resource.org/public/rfc/bibxml/reference.RFC.6839.xml">
<!ENTITY RFC6901 SYSTEM "http://xml.resource.org/public/rfc/bibxml/reference.RFC.6901.xml">
<!ENTITY RFC7049 SYSTEM "http://xml.resource.org/public/rfc/bibxml/reference.RFC.7049.xml">
<!ENTITY RFC8259 SYSTEM "http://xml.resource.org/public/rfc/bibxml/reference.RFC.8259.xml">
<!ENTITY RFC7231 SYSTEM "http://xml.resource.org/public/rfc/bibxml/reference.RFC.7231.xml">
<!ENTITY RFC8288 SYSTEM "http://xml.resource.org/public/rfc/bibxml/reference.RFC.8288.xml">
<!ENTITY ldp SYSTEM "https://xml2rfc.tools.ietf.org/public/rfc/bibxml4/reference.W3C.REC-ldp-20150226.xml">
<!ENTITY fragid-best-practices SYSTEM "https://xml2rfc.tools.ietf.org/public/rfc/bibxml4/reference.W3C.WD-fragid-best-practices-20121025.xml">
]>
<?rfc toc="yes"?>
<?rfc symrefs="yes"?>
<?rfc compact="yes"?>
<?rfc subcompact="no"?>
<?rfc strict="no"?>
<?rfc rfcedstyle="yes"?>
<?rfc comments="yes"?>
<?rfc inline="yes" ?>
<rfc category="info" docName="draft-handrews-json-schema-02" ipr="trust200902">
<front>
<title abbrev="JSON Schema">JSON Schema: A Media Type for Describing JSON Documents</title>
<author fullname="Austin Wright" initials="A" surname="Wright" role="editor">
<address>
<email>[email protected]</email>
</address>
</author>
<author fullname="Henry Andrews" initials="H" surname="Andrews" role="editor">
<address>
<postal>
<street></street>
<city>San Francisco</city>
<region>CA</region>
<country>USA</country>
</postal>
<email>[email protected]</email>
</address>
</author>
<date year="2018"/>
<workgroup>Internet Engineering Task Force</workgroup>
<keyword>JSON</keyword>
<keyword>Schema</keyword>
<keyword>Hyper Schema</keyword>
<keyword>Hypermedia</keyword>
<abstract>
<t>
JSON Schema defines the media type "application/schema+json", a JSON-based format
for describing the structure of JSON data.
JSON Schema asserts what a JSON document must look like,
ways to extract information from it,
and how to interact with it.
The "application/schema-instance+json" media type provides additional
feature-rich integration with "application/schema+json" beyond what can be offered
for "application/json" documents.
</t>
</abstract>
<note title="Note to Readers">
<t>
The issues list for this draft can be found at
<eref target="https://github.com/json-schema-org/json-schema-spec/issues"/>.
</t>
<t>
For additional information, see <eref target="http://json-schema.org/"/>.
</t>
<t>
To provide feedback, use this issue tracker, the communication methods listed on the
homepage, or email the document editors.
</t>
</note>
</front>
<middle>
<section title="Introduction">
<t>
JSON Schema is a JSON media type for defining the structure of JSON data. JSON Schema
is intended to define validation, documentation, hyperlink navigation, and interaction
control of JSON data.
</t>
<t>
This specification defines JSON Schema core terminology and mechanisms, including
pointing to another JSON Schema by reference,
dereferencing a JSON Schema reference,
and specifying the vocabulary being used.
</t>
<t>
Other specifications define the vocabularies that perform assertions about validation,
linking, annotation, navigation, and interaction.
</t>
</section>
<section title="Conventions and Terminology">
<t>
<!-- The text in this section has been copied from the official boilerplate,
and should not be modified.-->
The key words "MUST", "MUST NOT", "REQUIRED", "SHALL", "SHALL NOT", "SHOULD",
"SHOULD NOT", "RECOMMENDED", "MAY", and "OPTIONAL" in this document are to be
interpreted as described in <xref target="RFC2119">RFC 2119</xref>.
</t>
<t>
The terms "JSON", "JSON text", "JSON value", "member", "element", "object", "array",
"number", "string", "boolean", "true", "false", and "null" in this document are to
be interpreted as defined in <xref target="RFC8259">RFC 8259</xref>.
</t>
</section>
<section title="Overview">
<t>
This document proposes a new media type "application/schema+json" to identify a JSON
Schema for describing JSON data.
It also proposes a further optional media type, "application/schema-instance+json",
to provide additional integration features.
JSON Schemas are themselves JSON documents.
This, and related specifications, define keywords allowing authors to describe JSON
data in several ways.
</t>
<section title="Assertions">
<t>
JSON Schema can be used to assert constraints on a JSON document, which
either passes or fails the assertions. This approach can be used to validate
conformance with the constraints, or document what is needed to satisfy them.
</t>
<t>
JSON Schema implementations produce a single boolean result when evaluating
an instance against schema assertions.
</t>
<t>
An instance can only fail an assertion that is present in the schema.
In some cases, this no-op behavior is identical to a keyword that exists with
certain values, and keyword defintions SHOULD note such values where known.
These default behaviors MUST NOT result in assertion failures.
</t>
<section title="Assertions and Instance Primitive Types">
<t>
Most assertions only constrain values within a certain
primitive type. When the type of the instance is not of the type
targeted by the keyword, the instance is considered to conform
to the assertion.
</t>
<t>
For example, the "maxLength" keyword from the companion validation
vocabulary will only restrict certain strings
(that are too long) from being valid. If the instance is a number,
boolean, null, array, or object, then it is valid against this assertion.
</t>
</section>
</section>
<section title="Annotations" anchor="annotations">
<t>
JSON Schema can annotate an instance with information, whenever the instance
validates against the schema object containing the annotation, and all of its
parent schema objects. The information can be a simple value, or can be
calculated based on the instance contents.
</t>
<t>
Annotations are attached to specific locations in an instance.
Since many subschemas can be applied to any single
location, annotation keywords need to specify any unusual handling of
multiple applicable occurrences of the keyword with different values.
The default behavior is simply to collect all values.
</t>
<t>
Unlike assertion results, annotation data can take a wide variety of forms,
which are provided to applications to use as they see fit. JSON Schema
implementations are not expected to make use of the collected information
on behalf of applications.
</t>
<t>
While "short-circuit" evaluation is possible for assertions, collecting
annotations requires examining all schemas that apply to an instance
location, even if they cannot change the overall assertion result.
</t>
</section>
<section title="Schema Vocabularies" anchor="vocabulary">
<t>
A JSON Schema vocabulary is a set of keywords defined for a particular
purpose. The vocabulary specifies the meaning of its keywords as
assertions, annotations, and/or any vocabulary-defined keyword category.
</t>
<t>
Several vocabularies are provided as
standards in this and closely related documents. These vocabularies
are used with the core keywords defined as fundamental to the
"application/schema+json" media type.
</t>
<t>
Schema authors are encouraged to define their own vocabularies for
domain-specific concepts. A vocabulary need not be a standard to
be re-usable, although users of extension vocabularies MUST NOT
assume that any JSON Schema implementation can support the vocabulary
unless it specifically documents such support.
</t>
<section title="Subschema Application">
<t>
This vocabulary provides keywords for applying subschemas to the
instance in various ways. It is defined in this document, and
it is RECOMMENDED that all JSON Schema implementations support it.
All other vocabularies in this section are designed to be used
alongside the subschema application vocabulary.
</t>
<t>
Without this vocabulary or an equivalent one, JSON Schema can only
be applied to a JSON document as a whole. In most cases, schema
keywords need to be applied to specific object properties or array items.
</t>
</section>
<section title="Validation">
<t>
This vocabulary describes the structure of a JSON document
(for instance, required properties and length limitations).
Applications can use this information to validate instances (check that
constraints are met), or inform interfaces to collect user input
such that the constraints are satisfied.
</t>
<t>
Validation behaviour and keywords are specified in
<xref target="json-schema-validation">a separate document</xref>.
</t>
</section>
<section title="Basic Meta-Data">
<t>
A small set of annotation keywords are defined in
<xref target="json-schema-validation">the validation specification</xref>
to allow associating common kinds of meta-data with an instance.
</t>
</section>
<section title="Hypermedia and Linking">
<t>
JSON Hyper-Schema produces hyperlinks as annotations available for
use with a JSON document. It supports resolving URI Templates
and describing the resource and data submission formats required
to use an API.
</t>
<t>
Hyper-schema behaviour and keywords are specified in
<xref target="json-hyper-schema">a separate document</xref>.
</t>
</section>
</section>
</section>
<section title="Definitions">
<section title="JSON Document">
<t>
A JSON document is an information resource (series of octets) described by the
application/json media type.
</t>
<t>
In JSON Schema, the terms "JSON document", "JSON text", and "JSON value" are
interchangeable because of the data model it defines.
</t>
<t>
JSON Schema is only defined over JSON documents. However, any document or memory
structure that can be parsed into or processed according to the JSON Schema data
model can be interpreted against a JSON Schema, including media types like
<xref target="RFC7049">CBOR</xref>.
</t>
</section>
<section title="Instance">
<t>
A JSON document to which a schema is applied is known as an "instance".
</t>
<section title="Instance Data Model">
<t>
JSON Schema interprets documents according to a data model. A JSON value
interpreted according to this data model is called an "instance".
</t>
<t>
An instance has one of six primitive types, and a range of possible values
depending on the type:
<list style="hanging">
<t hangText="null:">A JSON "null" production</t>
<t hangText="boolean:">A "true" or "false" value, from the JSON "true" or "false" productions</t>
<t hangText="object:">An unordered set of properties mapping a string to an instance, from the JSON "object" production</t>
<t hangText="array:">An ordered list of instances, from the JSON "array" production</t>
<t hangText="number:">An arbitrary-precision, base-10 decimal number value, from the JSON "number" production</t>
<t hangText="string:">A string of Unicode code points, from the JSON "string" production</t>
</list>
</t>
<t>
Whitespace and formatting concerns, including different lexical
representations of numbers that are equal within the data model, are thus
outside the scope of JSON Schema. JSON Schema
<xref target="vocabulary">vocabularies</xref> that wish
to work with such differences in lexical representations SHOULD define
keywords to precisely interpret formatted strings within the data model
rather than relying on having the original JSON representation Unicode
characters available.
</t>
<t>
Since an object cannot have two properties with the same key, behavior for a
JSON document that tries to define two properties (the "member" production) with
the same key (the "string" production) in a single object is undefined.
</t>
<t>
Note that JSON Schema vocabularies are free to define their own extended
type system. This should not be confused with the core data model types
defined here. As an example, "integer" is a reasonable type for a
vocabulary to define as a value for a keyword, but the data model
makes no distinction between integers and other numbers.
</t>
</section>
<section title="Instance Media Types">
<t>
JSON Schema is designed to fully work with "application/json" documents,
as well as media types using the "+json" structured syntax suffix.
</t>
<t>
Some functionality that is useful for working with schemas is
defined by each media type, namely media type parameters and
URI fragment identifier syntax and semantics. These features are
useful in content negotiation and in calculating URIs for specific
locations within an instance, respectively.
</t>
<t>
This specification defines the "application/schema-instance+json"
media type in order to allow instance authors to take full advantage
of parameters and fragment identifiers for these purposes.
</t>
</section>
<section title="Instance Equality">
<t>
Two JSON instances are said to be equal if and only if they are of the same type
and have the same value according to the data model. Specifically, this means:
<list>
<t>both are null; or</t>
<t>both are true; or</t>
<t>both are false; or</t>
<t>both are strings, and are the same codepoint-for-codepoint; or</t>
<t>both are numbers, and have the same mathematical value; or</t>
<t>both are arrays, and have an equal value item-for-item; or</t>
<t>both are objects, and each property in one has exactly one property with
a key equal to the other's, and that other property has an equal
value.</t>
</list>
</t>
<t>
Implied in this definition is that arrays must be the same length,
objects must have the same number of members,
properties in objects are unordered,
there is no way to define multiple properties with the same key,
and mere formatting differences (indentation, placement of commas, trailing
zeros) are insignificant.
</t>
</section>
</section>
<section title="JSON Schema Documents">
<t>
A JSON Schema document, or simply a schema, is a JSON document used to describe
an instance.
A schema is itself interpreted as an instance, but SHOULD always be given
the media type "application/schema+json" rather than
"application/schema-instance+json". The "application/schema+json" media
type is defined to offer a superset of the media type parameter and
fragment identifier syntax and semantics provided by
"application/schema-instance+json".
</t>
<t>
A JSON Schema MUST be an object or a boolean.
</t>
<section title="JSON Schema Objects and Keywords">
<t>
Object properties that are applied to the instance are called keywords,
or schema keywords. Broadly speaking, keywords fall into one
of three categories:
<list style="hanging">
<t hangText="assertions:">
produce a boolean result when applied to an instance
</t>
<t hangText="annotations:">
attach information to an instance for application use
</t>
<t hangText="applicators:">
apply one or more subschemas to a particular location
in the instance, and combine or modify their results
</t>
</list>
</t>
<t>
Keywords may fall into multiple categories, although applicators
SHOULD only produce assertion results based on their subschemas'
results. They should not define additional constraints independent
of their subschemas.
</t>
<t>
Extension keywords, meaning those defined outside of this document
and its companions, are free to define other behaviors as well.
</t>
<t>
A JSON Schema MAY contain properties which are not schema keywords.
Unknown keywords SHOULD be ignored.
</t>
<t>
An empty schema is a JSON Schema with no properties, or only unknown
properties.
</t>
</section>
<section title="Boolean JSON Schemas">
<t>
The boolean schema values "true" and "false" are trivial schemas that
always produce themselves as assertions results, regardless of the
instance value. They never produce annotation results.
</t>
<t>
These boolean schemas exist to clarify schema author intent and
facilitate schema processing optimizations. They behave identically
to the following schema objects (where "not" is part of the
subschema application vocabulary defined in this document).
<list style="hanging">
<t hangText="true:">
Always passes validation, as if the empty schema {}
</t>
<t hangText="false:">
Always fails validation, as if the schema { "not":{} }
</t>
</list>
While the empty schema object is unambiguous, there are many
possible equivalents to the "false" schema. Using the boolean
values ensures that the intent is clear to both human readers
and implementations.
</t>
</section>
<section title="Root Schema and Subschemas">
<t>
The root schema is the schema that comprises the entire JSON document
in question.
</t>
<t>
Some keywords take schemas themselves, allowing JSON Schemas to be nested:
</t>
<figure>
<artwork>
<![CDATA[
{
"title": "root",
"items": {
"title": "array item"
}
}
]]>
</artwork>
</figure>
<t>
In this example document, the schema titled "array item" is a subschema,
and the schema titled "root" is the root schema.
</t>
<t>
As with the root schema, a subschema is either an object or a boolean.
</t>
</section>
</section>
</section>
<section title="Fragment Identifiers" anchor="fragments">
<t>
In accordance with section 3.1 of <xref target="RFC6839"></xref>,
the syntax and semantics of fragment identifiers specified for
any +json media type SHOULD be as specified for "application/json".
(At publication of this document, there is no fragment identification
syntax defined for "application/json".)
</t>
<t>
Additionally, the "application/schema+json" media type supports two
fragment identifier structures: plain names and JSON Pointers.
The "application/schema-instance+json" media type supports one
fragment identifier structure: JSON Pointers.
</t>
<t>
The use of JSON Pointers as URI fragment identifiers is described in
<xref target="RFC6901">RFC 6901</xref>.
For "application/schema+json", which supports two fragment identifier syntaxes,
fragment identifiers matching the JSON Pointer syntax, including the empty string,
MUST be interpreted as JSON Pointer fragment identifiers.
</t>
<t>
Per the W3C's
<xref target="W3C.WD-fragid-best-practices-20121025">best practices for fragment identifiers</xref>,
plain name fragment identifiers in "application/schema+json" are reserved for referencing
locally named schemas. All fragment identifiers that do
not match the JSON Pointer syntax MUST be interpreted as
plain name fragment identifiers.
</t>
<t>
Defining and referencing a plain name fragment identifier within an
"application/schema+json" document are specified
in the <xref target="id-keyword">"$id" keyword</xref> section.
</t>
<t>
</t>
</section>
<section title="General Considerations">
<section title="Range of JSON Values">
<t>
An instance may be any valid JSON value as defined by <xref target="RFC8259">JSON</xref>.
JSON Schema imposes no restrictions on type: JSON Schema can describe any JSON
value, including, for example, null.
</t>
</section>
<section title="Programming Language Independence" anchor="language">
<t>
JSON Schema is programming language agnostic, and supports the full range of
values described in the data model.
Be aware, however, that some languages and JSON parsers may not be able to
represent in memory the full range of values describable by JSON.
</t>
</section>
<section title="Mathematical Integers" anchor="integers">
<t>
Some programming languages and parsers use different internal representations
for floating point numbers than they do for integers.
</t>
<t>
For consistency, integer JSON numbers SHOULD NOT be encoded with a fractional
part.
</t>
</section>
<section title="Extending JSON Schema">
<t>
Additional schema keywords and schema vocabularies MAY be defined
by any entity. Save for explicit agreement, schema authors SHALL NOT
expect these additional keywords and vocabularies to be supported by
implementations that do not explicitly document such support.
Implementations SHOULD ignore keywords they do not support.
</t>
<t>
Vocabulary authors SHOULD
take care to avoid keyword name collisions if the vocabulary is intended
for broad use, and potentially combined with other vocabularies. JSON
Schema does not provide any formal namespacing system, but also does
not constrain keyword names, allowing for any number of namespacing
approaches.
</t>
<t>
Vocabularies may build on each other, such as by defining the behavior
of their keywords with respect to the behavior of keywords from another
vocabulary, or by using a keyword from another vocabulary with
a restricted or expanded set of acceptable values. Not all such
vocabulary re-use will result in a new vocabulary that is compatible
with the vocabulary on which it is built. Vocabulary authors SHOULD
clearly document what level of compatibility, if any, is expected.
</t>
<t>
A schema that itself describes a schema is called a meta-schema.
Meta-schemas are used to validate JSON Schemas and specify which vocabulary
it is using.
</t>
<t>
Authors of extensions to JSON Schema are encouraged to write their own
meta-schemas, which extend the existing meta-schemas using "allOf".
This extended meta-schema SHOULD be referenced using the "$schema" keyword, to
allow tools to follow the correct behaviour.
</t>
<t>
Note that the recursive nature of meta-schemas requires re-defining
recursive keywords in the extended meta-schema, as can be seen in
the JSON Hyper-Schema meta-schema.
</t>
</section>
</section>
<section title='The "$schema" Keyword'>
<!-- TODO a custom $schema keyword might also be used to enforce minimum required functionality of a validator -->
<t>
The "$schema" keyword is both used as a JSON Schema version identifier and the
location of a resource which is itself a JSON Schema, which describes any schema
written for this particular version.
</t>
<t>
The value of this keyword MUST be a <xref target="RFC3986">URI</xref>
(containing a scheme) and this URI MUST be normalized.
The current schema MUST be valid against the meta-schema identified by this URI.
</t>
<t>
If this URI identifies a retrievable resource, that resource SHOULD be of
media type "application/schema+json".
</t>
<t>
The "$schema" keyword SHOULD be used in a root schema.
It MUST NOT appear in subschemas.
</t>
<t>
<cref>
Using multiple "$schema" keywords in the same document would imply that the
vocabulary and therefore behavior can change within a document. This would
necessitate resolving a number of implementation concerns that have not yet
been clearly defined. So, while the pattern of using "$schema" only in root
schemas is likely to remain the best practice for schema authoring,
implementation behavior is subject to be revised or liberalized in
future drafts.
</cref>
<!--
In particular, the process of validating an instance, including validating a
schema as an instance against its meta-schema, only allows for a single set
of rules across the entire instance document. There is no equivalent of
changing the meta-schema partway through the validation for non-schema
instances.
-->
</t>
<t>
Values for this property are defined in other documents and by other parties.
JSON Schema implementations SHOULD implement support for current and previous
published drafts of JSON Schema vocabularies as deemed reasonable.
</t>
</section>
<section title="Base URI and Dereferencing">
<t>
To differentiate between schemas in a vast ecosystem, schemas are
identified by <xref target="RFC3986">URI</xref>, and can embed references to other schemas by specifying their URI.
</t>
<section title="Initial Base URI">
<t>
<xref target="RFC3986">RFC3986 Section 5.1</xref> defines how to determine the
default base URI of a document.
</t>
<t>
Informatively, the initial base URI of a schema is the URI at which it was
found, or a suitable substitute URI if none is known.
</t>
</section>
<section title='The "$id" Keyword' anchor="id-keyword">
<t>
The "$id" keyword defines a URI for the schema, and the base URI that
other URI references within the schema are resolved against.
A subschema's "$id" is resolved against the base URI of its parent schema.
If no parent sets an explicit base with "$id", the base URI is that of the
entire document, as determined per
<xref target="RFC3986">RFC 3986 section 5</xref>.
</t>
<t>
If present, the value for this keyword MUST be a string, and MUST represent a
valid <xref target="RFC3986">URI-reference</xref>.
This value SHOULD be normalized, and SHOULD NOT be an empty fragment <#>
or an empty string <>.
</t>
<section title="Identifying the root schema">
<t>
The root schema of a JSON Schema document SHOULD contain an "$id" keyword with
an <xref target="RFC3986">absolute-URI</xref> (containing a scheme, but no fragment),
or this absolute URI but with an empty fragment.
<!-- All of the standard meta-schemas use an empty fragment in their id/$id values. -->
</t>
</section>
<section title="Changing the base URI within a schema file">
<t>
When an "$id" sets the base URI, the object containing that "$id" and all of
its subschemas can be identified by using a JSON Pointer fragment starting
from that location. This is true even of subschemas that further change the
base URI. Therefore, a single subschema may be accessible by multiple URIs,
each consisting of base URI declared in the subschema or a parent, along with
a JSON Pointer fragment identifying the path from the schema object that
declares the base to the subschema being identified. Examples of this are
shown in section <xref target="idExamples" format="counter"></xref>.
</t>
</section>
<section title="Location-independent identifiers">
<t>
Using JSON Pointer fragments requires knowledge of the structure of the schema.
When writing schema documents with the intention to provide re-usable
schemas, it may be preferable to use a plain name fragment that is not tied to
any particular structural location. This allows a subschema to be relocated
without requiring JSON Pointer references to be updated.
</t>
<t>
To specify such a subschema identifier,
the "$id" keyword is set to a URI reference with a plain name fragment (not a JSON Pointer fragment).
This value MUST begin with the number sign that specifies a fragment ("#"),
then a letter ([A-Za-z]),
followed by any number of letters, digits ([0-9]), hyphens ("-"), underscores ("_"),
colons (":"), or periods (".").
</t>
<t>
The effect of using a fragment in "$id" that isn't blank or doesn't follow the
plain name syntax is undefined.
<cref>
How should an "$id" URI reference containing a fragment with other components
be interpreted? There are two cases: when the other components match
the current base URI and when they change the base URI.
</cref>
</t>
</section>
<section title="Schema identification examples" anchor="idExamples">
<figure>
<preamble>
Consider the following schema, which shows "$id" being used to identify
the root schema, change the base URI for subschemas, and assign plain
name fragments to subschemas:
</preamble>
<artwork>
<![CDATA[
{
"$id": "http://example.com/root.json",
"$defs": {
"A": { "$id": "#foo" },
"B": {
"$id": "other.json",
"$defs": {
"X": { "$id": "#bar" },
"Y": { "$id": "t/inner.json" }
}
},
"C": {
"$id": "urn:uuid:ee564b8a-7a87-4125-8c96-e9f123d6766f"
}
}
}
]]>
</artwork>
</figure>
<t>
The schemas at the following URI-encoded <xref target="RFC6901">JSON
Pointers</xref> (relative to the root schema) have the following
base URIs, and are identifiable by any listed URI in accordance with
Section <xref target="fragments" format="counter"></xref> above:
</t>
<t>
<list style="hanging">
<t hangText="# (document root)">
<list>
<t>http://example.com/root.json</t>
<t>http://example.com/root.json#</t>
</list>
</t>
<t hangText="#/$defs/A">
<list>
<t>http://example.com/root.json#foo</t>
<t>http://example.com/root.json#/$defs/A</t>
</list>
</t>
<t hangText="#/$defs/B">
<list>
<t>http://example.com/other.json</t>
<t>http://example.com/other.json#</t>
<t>http://example.com/root.json#/$defs/B</t>
</list>
</t>
<t hangText="#/$defs/B/$defs/X">
<list>
<t>http://example.com/other.json#bar</t>
<t>http://example.com/other.json#/$defs/X</t>
<t>http://example.com/root.json#/$defs/B/$defs/X</t>
</list>
</t>
<t hangText="#/$defs/B/$defs/Y">
<list>
<t>http://example.com/t/inner.json</t>
<t>http://example.com/t/inner.json#</t>
<t>http://example.com/other.json#/$defs/Y</t>
<t>http://example.com/root.json#/$defs/B/$defs/Y</t>
</list>
</t>
<t hangText="#/$defs/C">
<list>
<t>urn:uuid:ee564b8a-7a87-4125-8c96-e9f123d6766f</t>
<t>urn:uuid:ee564b8a-7a87-4125-8c96-e9f123d6766f#</t>
<t>http://example.com/root.json#/$defs/C</t>
</list>
</t>
</list>
</t>
</section>
</section>
<section title='Schema References With "$ref"'>
<t>
The "$ref" keyword is used to reference a schema, and provides the ability to
validate recursive structures through self-reference.
</t>
<t>
An object schema with a "$ref" property MUST be interpreted as a "$ref" reference.
The value of the "$ref" property MUST be a URI Reference.
Resolved against the current URI base, it identifies the URI of a schema to use.
All other properties in a "$ref" object MUST be ignored.
</t>
<t>
The URI is not a network locator, only an identifier. A schema need not be
downloadable from the address if it is a network-addressable URL, and
implementations SHOULD NOT assume they should perform a network operation when they
encounter a network-addressable URI.
</t>
<t>
A schema MUST NOT be run into an infinite loop against a schema. For example, if two
schemas "#alice" and "#bob" both have an "allOf" property that refers to the other,
a naive validator might get stuck in an infinite recursive loop trying to validate
the instance.
Schemas SHOULD NOT make use of infinite recursive nesting like this; the behavior is
undefined.
</t>
<section title="Loading a referenced schema">
<t>
The use of URIs to identify remote schemas does not necessarily mean anything is downloaded,
but instead JSON Schema implementations SHOULD understand ahead of time which schemas they will be using,
and the URIs that identify them.
</t>
<t>
When schemas are downloaded,
for example by a generic user-agent that doesn't know until runtime which schemas to download,
see <xref target="hypermedia">Usage for Hypermedia</xref>.
</t>
<t>
Implementations SHOULD be able to associate arbitrary URIs with an arbitrary
schema and/or automatically associate a schema's "$id"-given URI, depending
on the trust that the validator has in the schema. Such URIs and schemas
can be supplied to an implementation prior to processing instances, or may
be noted within a schema document as it is processed, producing associations
as shown in section <xref target="idExamples" format="counter"></xref>.
</t>
<t>
A schema MAY (and likely will) have multiple URIs, but there is no way for a
URI to identify more than one schema. When multiple schemas try to identify
as the same URI, validators SHOULD raise an error condition.
</t>
</section>
<section title="Dereferencing">
<t>
Schemas can be identified by any URI that has been given to them, including
a JSON Pointer or their URI given directly by "$id". In all cases,
dereferencing a "$ref" reference involves first resolving its value as a
URI reference against the current base URI per
<xref target="RFC3986">RFC 3986</xref>.
</t>
<t>
If the resulting URI identifies a schema within the current document, or
within another schema document that has been made available to the implementation,
then that schema SHOULD be used automatically.
</t>
<t>
For example, consider this schema:
</t>
<figure>
<artwork>
<![CDATA[
{
"$id": "http://example.net/root.json",
"items": {
"type": "array",
"items": { "$ref": "#item" }
},
"$defs": {
"single": {
"$id": "#item",
"type": "object",
"additionalProperties": { "$ref": "other.json" }
}
}
}
]]>
</artwork>
</figure>
<t>
When an implementation encounters the <#/$defs/single> schema,
it resolves the "$id" URI reference against the current base URI to form
<http://example.net/root.json#item>.
</t>
<t>
When an implementation then looks inside the <#/items> schema, it
encounters the <#item> reference, and resolves this to
<http://example.net/root.json#item>, which it has seen defined in
this same document and can therefore use automatically.
</t>
<t>
When an implementation encounters the reference to "other.json", it resolves
this to <http://example.net/other.json>, which is not defined in this
document. If a schema with that identifier has otherwise been supplied to
the implementation, it can also be used automatically.
<cref>
What should implementations do when the referenced schema is not known?
Are there circumstances in which automatic network dereferencing is
allowed? A same origin policy? A user-configurable option? In the
case of an evolving API described by Hyper-Schema, it is expected that
new schemas will be added to the system dynamically, so placing an
absolute requirement of pre-loading schema documents is not feasible.
</cref>
</t>
</section>
</section>
<section title='Schema Re-Use With "$defs"'>
<t>
The "$defs" keyword provides a standardized location for schema
authors to inline re-usable JSON Schemas into a more general schema.
The keyword does not directly affect the validation result.
</t>
<t>
This keyword's value MUST be an object.
Each member value of this object MUST be a valid JSON Schema.
</t>
<t>
As an example, here is a schema describing an array of positive
integers, where the positive integer constraint is a subschema in
"$defs":
<figure>
<artwork>
<![CDATA[
{
"type": "array",
"items": { "$ref": "#/$defs/positiveInteger" },
"$defs": {
"positiveInteger": {
"type": "integer",
"exclusiveMinimum": 0
}
}
}
]]>
</artwork>
</figure>
</t>
</section>
</section>
<section title='Comments With "$comment"'>
<t>
This keyword is reserved for comments from schema authors to readers or
maintainers of the schema.
The value of this keyword MUST be a string. Implementations MUST NOT present this
string to end users. Tools for editing schemas SHOULD support displaying and
editing this keyword. The value of this keyword MAY be used in debug or error
output which is intended for developers making use of schemas.
Schema vocabularies SHOULD allow "$comment" within any object containing
vocabulary keywords. Implementations MAY assume "$comment" is allowed
unless the vocabulary specifically forbids it. Vocabularies MUST NOT
specify any effect of "$comment" beyond what is described in this
specification.
Tools that translate other media types or programming languages
to and from application/schema+json MAY choose to convert that media type or
programming language's native comments to or from "$comment" values.
The behavior of such translation when both native comments and "$comment"
properties are present is implementation-dependent.
Implementations SHOULD treat "$comment" identically to an unknown extension
keyword. They MAY strip "$comment" values at any point during processing.
In particular, this allows for shortening schemas when the size of deployed
schemas is a concern.
Implementations MUST NOT take any other action based on the presence, absence,
or contents of "$comment" properties.
</t>
</section>
<section title="A Vocabulary for Applying Subschemas">
<t>
Evaluation of an instance against a schema begins by applying the root schema
to the complete instance document. From there, various keywords are used
to determine which additional subschemas are applied to either the current
location, or a child location. These keywords also define how subschema
assertion results are modified and/or combined. Annotation results are
combined according to the rules specified by each annotation keyword.
</t>
<t>
Keyword that apply subschemas are called applicators, and do not assert
conditions on their own. Rather, they control how assertions are applied
and evaluated. This section defines a set of applicator keywords that
are RECOMMENDED for use as the basis of other vocabularies.
</t>
<section title="Keyword Independence">
<t>
Schema keywords typically operate independently, without
affecting each other's outcomes.
</t>
<t>
For schema author convenience, there are some exceptions among the
keywords in this vocabulary:
<list>
<t>
"additionalProperties", whose behavior is defined in terms of
"properties" and "patternProperties"; and
</t>