| <h1 align="center"> | |
| <img alt="Standard Schema fire logo" loading="lazy" width="50" height="50" decoding="async" data-nimg="1" style="color:transparent" src="https://standardschema.dev/favicon.svg"> | |
| </br> | |
| Standard Schema</h1> | |
| <p align="center"> | |
| A common interface for TypeScript validation libraries | |
| <br/> | |
| <a href="https://standardschema.dev">standardschema.dev</a> | |
| </p> | |
| <br/> | |
| <!-- start --> | |
| Standard Schema is a common interface designed to be implemented by JavaScript and TypeScript schema libraries. | |
| The goal is to make it easier for ecosystem tools to accept user-defined type validators, without needing to write custom logic or adapters for each supported library. And since Standard Schema is a specification, they can do so with no additional runtime dependencies. Integrate once, validate anywhere. | |
| ## Who designed it? | |
| The spec was designed by the creators of Zod, Valibot, and ArkType. Recent versions of these libraries already implement the spec (see the [full list of compatible libraries](#what-schema-libraries-implement-the-spec) below). | |
| ## The interface | |
| The specification consists of a single TypeScript interface `StandardSchemaV1` to be implemented by any schema library wishing to be spec-compliant. | |
| This interface can be found below in its entirety. Libraries wishing to implement the spec can copy/paste the code block below into their codebase. It's also available at `@standard-schema/spec` on [npm](https://www.npmjs.com/package/@standard-schema/spec) and [JSR](https://jsr.io/@standard-schema/spec). There will be zero changes without a major version bump. | |
| ```ts | |
| /** The Standard Schema interface. */ | |
| export interface StandardSchemaV1<Input = unknown, Output = Input> { | |
| /** The Standard Schema properties. */ | |
| readonly '~standard': StandardSchemaV1.Props<Input, Output>; | |
| } | |
| export declare namespace StandardSchemaV1 { | |
| /** The Standard Schema properties interface. */ | |
| export interface Props<Input = unknown, Output = Input> { | |
| /** The version number of the standard. */ | |
| readonly version: 1; | |
| /** The vendor name of the schema library. */ | |
| readonly vendor: string; | |
| /** Validates unknown input values. */ | |
| readonly validate: ( | |
| value: unknown | |
| ) => Result<Output> | Promise<Result<Output>>; | |
| /** Inferred types associated with the schema. */ | |
| readonly types?: Types<Input, Output> | undefined; | |
| } | |
| /** The result interface of the validate function. */ | |
| export type Result<Output> = SuccessResult<Output> | FailureResult; | |
| /** The result interface if validation succeeds. */ | |
| export interface SuccessResult<Output> { | |
| /** The typed output value. */ | |
| readonly value: Output; | |
| /** The non-existent issues. */ | |
| readonly issues?: undefined; | |
| } | |
| /** The result interface if validation fails. */ | |
| export interface FailureResult { | |
| /** The issues of failed validation. */ | |
| readonly issues: ReadonlyArray<Issue>; | |
| } | |
| /** The issue interface of the failure output. */ | |
| export interface Issue { | |
| /** The error message of the issue. */ | |
| readonly message: string; | |
| /** The path of the issue, if any. */ | |
| readonly path?: ReadonlyArray<PropertyKey | PathSegment> | undefined; | |
| } | |
| /** The path segment interface of the issue. */ | |
| export interface PathSegment { | |
| /** The key representing a path segment. */ | |
| readonly key: PropertyKey; | |
| } | |
| /** The Standard Schema types interface. */ | |
| export interface Types<Input = unknown, Output = Input> { | |
| /** The input type of the schema. */ | |
| readonly input: Input; | |
| /** The output type of the schema. */ | |
| readonly output: Output; | |
| } | |
| /** Infers the input type of a Standard Schema. */ | |
| export type InferInput<Schema extends StandardSchemaV1> = NonNullable< | |
| Schema['~standard']['types'] | |
| >['input']; | |
| /** Infers the output type of a Standard Schema. */ | |
| export type InferOutput<Schema extends StandardSchemaV1> = NonNullable< | |
| Schema['~standard']['types'] | |
| >['output']; | |
| } | |
| ``` | |
| ## Design goals | |
| The specification meets a few primary design objectives: | |
| - **Support runtime validation.** Given a Standard Schema compatible validator, you should be able to validate data with it (duh). Any validation errors should be presented in a standardized format. | |
| - **Support static type inference.** For TypeScript libraries that do type inference, the specification provides a standard way for them to "advertise" their inferred type, so it can be extracted and used by external tools. | |
| - **Minimal.** It should be easy for libraries to implement this spec in a few lines of code that call their existing functions/methods. | |
| - **Avoid API conflicts.** The entire spec is tucked inside a single object property called `~standard`, which avoids potential naming conflicts with the API surface of existing libraries. | |
| - **Do no harm to DX.** The `~standard` property is tilde-prefixed to [de-prioritize it in autocompletion](https://x.com/colinhacks/status/1816860780459073933). By contrast, an underscore-prefixed property would show up before properties/methods with alphanumeric names. | |
| ## What schema libraries implement the spec? | |
| These are the libraries that have already implemented the Standard Schema interface. (If you maintain a library that implements the spec, [create a PR](https://github.com/standard-schema/standard-schema/compare) to add yourself!) | |
| | Implementer | Version(s) | Docs | | |
| | ----------- | ---------- | -------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | |
| | Zod | 3.24.0+ | [zod.dev](https://zod.dev/) | | |
| | Valibot | v1.0+ | [valibot.dev](https://valibot.dev/) | | |
| | ArkType | v2.0+ | [arktype.io](https://arktype.io/) | | |
| | Arri Schema | v0.71.0+ | [github.com/modiimedia/arri](https://github.com/modiimedia/arri) | | |
| | TypeMap | v0.8.0+ | [github.com/sinclairzx81/typemap](https://github.com/sinclairzx81/typemap) | | |
| ## What tools / frameworks accept spec-compliant schemas? | |
| The following tools accept user-defined schemas conforming to the Standard Schema spec. (If you maintain a tool that supports Standard Schemas, [create a PR](https://github.com/standard-schema/standard-schema/compare) to add yourself!) | |
| | Integrator | Description | Link | | |
| | ------------------------------------------------------- | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ---------------------------------------------------------------------- | | |
| | [tRPC](https://trpc.io) | 🧙♀️ Move fast and break nothing. End-to-end typesafe APIs made easy | [PR](https://github.com/trpc/trpc/pull/6079) | | |
| | [TanStack Form](https://github.com/TanStack/form) | 🤖 Headless, performant, and type-safe form state management for TS/JS, React, Vue, Angular, Solid, and Lit | [PR](https://github.com/TanStack/form/issues/1015) | | |
| | [TanStack Router](https://github.com/tanstack/router) | A fully type-safe React router with built-in data fetching, stale-while revalidate caching and first-class search-param APIs | [PR](https://github.com/TanStack/router/pull/2602) | | |
| | [Hono Middleware 🚧](https://hono.dev) | Fast, lightweight server, built on Web Standards | [PR](https://github.com/honojs/middleware/pull/887) | | |
| | [Qwik 🚧](https://github.com/QwikDev/qwik) | Instant-loading web apps, without effort | [PR](https://github.com/QwikDev/qwik/pull/7281) | | |
| | [UploadThing](https://github.com/pingdotgg/uploadthing) | File uploads for modern web devs | [Docs](https://docs.uploadthing.com/file-routes#input) | | |
| | [T3 Env](https://github.com/t3-oss/t3-env) | Framework agnostic validation for type-safe environment variables | [PR](https://github.com/t3-oss/t3-env/pull/299) | | |
| | [OpenAuth](https://github.com/openauthjs/openauth) | Universal, standards-based auth provider | [Docs](https://openauth.js.org/docs/#server) | | |
| | [renoun](https://www.renoun.dev/) | The Documentation Toolkit for React | [Docs](https://www.renoun.dev/utilities/file-system#schema-validation) | | |
| | [Formwerk](https://github.com/formwerkjs/formwerk) | A Vue.js Framework for building high-quality, accessible, delightful forms. | [PR](https://github.com/formwerkjs/formwerk/pull/68) | | |
| | [GQLoom](https://github.com/modevol-com/gqloom) | Weave GraphQL schema and resolvers using Standard Schema | [PR](https://github.com/modevol-com/gqloom/pull/7) | | |
| | [Nuxt UI (v3)](https://github.com/nuxt/ui) | A UI Library for modern web apps, powered by Vue & Tailwind CSS | [PR](https://github.com/nuxt/ui/pull/2303) | | |
| | [oRPC](https://github.com/unnoq/orpc) | Typesafe APIs made simple 🪄 | [PR](https://github.com/unnoq/orpc/pull/50) | | |
| | [Regle](https://github.com/victorgarciaesgi/regle) | Type-safe model-based form validation library for Vue.js | [PR](https://github.com/victorgarciaesgi/regle/pull/46) | | |
| ## How can my schema library implement the spec? | |
| Schemas libraries that want to support Standard Schema must implement the `StandardSchemaV1` interface. Start by copying the specification file above into your library. It consists of types only. | |
| Then implement the spec by adding the `~standard` property to your validator objects/instances. We recommend using `extends` / `implements` to ensure static agreement with the interface. It doesn't matter whether your schema library returns plain objects, functions, or class instances. The only thing that matters is that the `~standard` property is defined somehow. | |
| Here's a simple worked example of a string validator that implements the spec. | |
| ```ts | |
| import type {StandardSchemaV1} from '@standard-schema/spec'; | |
| // Step 1: Define the schema interface | |
| interface StringSchema extends StandardSchemaV1<string> { | |
| type: 'string'; | |
| message: string; | |
| } | |
| // Step 2: Implement the schema interface | |
| function string(message: string = 'Invalid type'): StringSchema { | |
| return { | |
| type: 'string', | |
| message, | |
| '~standard': { | |
| version: 1, | |
| vendor: 'valizod', | |
| validate(value) { | |
| return typeof value === 'string' ? {value} : {issues: [{message}]}; | |
| }, | |
| }, | |
| }; | |
| } | |
| ``` | |
| We recommend defining the `~standard.validate()` function in terms of your library's existing validation functions/methods. Ideally implementing the spec only requires a handful of lines of code. | |
| Avoid returning `Promise` from `~standard.validate()` unless absolutely necessary. Some third-party libraries may not support async validation. | |
| ## How do I accept Standard Schemas in my library? | |
| Third-party libraries and frameworks can leverage the Standard Schema spec to accept user-defined schemas in a type-safe way. | |
| To get started, copy and paste the specification file into your project. Alternatively (if you are okay with the extra dependency), you can install the `@standard-schema/spec` package from [npm](https://www.npmjs.com/package/@standard-schema/spec) or [JSR](https://jsr.io/@standard-schema/spec) as a dependency. _It is not recommended to install as a dev dependency, see the [associated FAQ](#can-i-add-it-as-a-dev-dependency) for details_. | |
| ```sh | |
| npm install @standard-schema/spec # npm | |
| yarn add @standard-schema/spec # yarn | |
| pnpm add @standard-schema/spec # pnpm | |
| bun add @standard-schema/spec # bun | |
| deno add jsr:@standard-schema/spec # deno | |
| ``` | |
| Here's is an simple example of a generic function that accepts an arbitrary spec-compliant validator and uses it to parse some data. | |
| ```ts | |
| import type {StandardSchemaV1} from '@standard-schema/spec'; | |
| export async function standardValidate<T extends StandardSchemaV1>( | |
| schema: T, | |
| input: StandardSchemaV1.InferInput<T> | |
| ): Promise<StandardSchemaV1.InferOutput<T>> { | |
| let result = schema['~standard'].validate(input); | |
| if (result instanceof Promise) result = await result; | |
| // if the `issues` field exists, the validation failed | |
| if (result.issues) { | |
| throw new Error(JSON.stringify(result.issues, null, 2)); | |
| } | |
| return result.value; | |
| } | |
| ``` | |
| This concise function can accept inputs from any spec-compliant schema library. | |
| ```ts | |
| import * as z from 'zod'; | |
| import * as v from 'valibot'; | |
| import {type} from 'arktype'; | |
| const zodResult = await standardValidate(z.string(), 'hello'); | |
| const valibotResult = await standardValidate(v.string(), 'hello'); | |
| const arktypeResult = await standardValidate(type('string'), 'hello'); | |
| ``` | |
| ## FAQ | |
| These are the most frequently asked questions about Standard Schema. If your question is not listed, feel free to create an issue. | |
| ### Do I need to add `@standard-schema/spec` as a dependency? | |
| No. The `@standard-schema/spec` package is completely optional. You can just copy and paste the types into your project. We guarantee no breaking changes without a major version bump. | |
| If you don't mind additional dependencies, you can add `@standard-schema/spec` as a dependency and consume it with `import type`. The `@standard-schema/spec` package contains no runtime code and only exports types. | |
| ### Can I add it as a dev dependency? | |
| Despite being types-only, you should _not_ install `@standard-schema/spec` as a dev dependency. By accepting Standard Schemas as part of your public API, the Standard Schema interface becomes a part of your library's public API. As such, it _must_ be available whenever/wherever your library gets installed, even in production installs. For this to happen, it must be installed as a regular dependency. | |
| ### Why did you prefix the `~standard` property with `~`? | |
| The goal of prefixing the key with `~` is to both avoid conflicts with existing API surfaces and to de-prioritize these keys in auto-complete. The `~` character is one of the few ASCII characters that occurs after `A-Za-z0-9` lexicographically, so VS Code puts these suggestions at the bottom of the list. | |
|  | |
| ### Why not use a symbol key? | |
| In TypeScript, using a plain `Symbol` inline as a key always collapses to a simple `symbol` type. This would cause conflicts with other schema properties that use symbols. | |
| ```ts | |
| const object = { | |
| [Symbol.for('~output')]: 'some data', | |
| }; | |
| // { [k: symbol]: string } | |
| ``` | |
| Unique symbols can also be declared in a "nominal" way that won't collapse. In this case the symbol key is sorted alphabetically in autocomplete according to the symbol's variable name. | |
|  | |
| Thus, these symbol keys don't get sorted to the bottom of the autocomplete list, unlike tilde-prefixed string keys. | |
| ### How to only allow synchronous validation? | |
| The `~validate` function might return a synchronous value _or_ a `Promise`. If you only accept synchronous validation, you can simply throw an error if the returned value is an instance of `Promise`. Libraries are encouraged to preferentially use synchronous validation whenever possible. | |
| ```ts | |
| import type {StandardSchemaV1} from '@standard-schema/spec'; | |
| function validateInput(schema: StandardSchemaV1, data: unknown) { | |
| const result = schema['~standard'].validate(data); | |
| if (result instanceof Promise) { | |
| throw new TypeError('Schema validation must be synchronous'); | |
| } | |
| // ... | |
| } | |
| ``` | |