Constraints

Constraint rules extend JSON Schema with cross-file and path-aware integrity checks.

Table of contents

1. Overview
2. Selector Basics
3. Available Constraints
   1. unique
      1. Attributes
      2. Example
   2. foreign_key
      1. Attributes
      2. Example
   3. path_equals_attr
      1. Attributes
      2. Example

Overview

Constraints are configured under each type’s constraints array in .datacur8. For validation error troubleshooting, see the Conditions page.

Each constraint has:

Field	Type	Required	Description
type	string	yes	Constraint kind (unique, foreign_key, path_equals_attr)
id	string	no	Optional stable identifier used in reporting

Selector Basics

Constraint selectors use the same JSONPath-like selector syntax:

• $.id
• $.team.id
• $.items[*].id

Path-based constraints use path_selector with one of:

• path.file (filename without extension)
• path.parent (direct parent folder)
• path.ext (normalized extension)
• path.<capture> from named regex groups in match.include

Available Constraints

Goal	Constraint
Ensure IDs are never duplicated	unique
Ensure a value exists in another type	foreign_key
Ensure path naming matches data fields	path_equals_attr

unique

Use unique to prevent duplicate identifiers in one type, or duplicate values inside a single item.

Attributes

Field	Type	Required	Default	Description
type	string	yes	—	Must be unique
key	string	yes	—	Selector for value(s) to check
scope	string	no	type	type = across all items, item = within each item
case_sensitive	boolean	no	true	String comparison mode
id	string	no	—	Optional identifier

Example

constraints:
  - type: unique
    key: "$.id"

foreign_key

Use foreign_key to enforce referential integrity between types (for example, service.teamId must exist in team.id).

Attributes

Field	Type	Required	Description
type	string	yes	Must be foreign_key
key	string	yes	Selector on the owning item
references.type	string	yes	Referenced type name
references.key	string	yes	Selector on referenced type items
id	string	no	Optional identifier

Example

constraints:
  - type: foreign_key
    key: "$.teamId"
    references:
      type: team
      key: "$.id"

path_equals_attr

Use path_equals_attr to enforce filename/folder conventions against data attributes.

Typical use cases:

• file name must match id
• folder name must match teamId
• named path capture must match an attribute

Attributes

Field	Type	Required	Default	Description
type	string	yes	—	Must be path_equals_attr
path_selector	string	yes	—	Path source (path.file, path.parent, path.ext, or path.<capture>)
references.key	string	yes	—	Selector on the same item
case_sensitive	boolean	no	true	String comparison mode
id	string	no	—	Optional identifier

Example

match:
  include:
    - "^configs/teams/(?P<team>[^/]+)/services/[^/]+\\.ya?ml$"
constraints:
  - type: path_equals_attr
    path_selector: "path.team"
    references:
      key: "$.teamId"