> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.screenjson.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# validate

> Validate a ScreenJSON document against the schema.

```
screenjson validate -i <input.json> [options]
```

Validates a ScreenJSON document against the [ScreenJSON JSON Schema](https://screenjson.com/schema.json). Prints a report and returns an exit code.

## Flags

| Flag                    | Default | Description                                                 |
| ----------------------- | ------- | ----------------------------------------------------------- |
| `-i` · `--input <path>` | —       | ScreenJSON file to validate. **Required.**                  |
| `--strict`              | `false` | Exit with code `1` when the document has validation errors. |
| `--verbose`             | `false` | Print the schema version used.                              |

## Exit codes

| Code | Meaning                                                                      |
| ---- | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| `0`  | Document is valid, **or** invalid but `--strict` was not set.                |
| `1`  | Document is invalid **and** `--strict` was set, or a runtime error occurred. |

## Examples

```bash theme={null}
# Basic check, always returns 0
screenjson validate -i screenplay.json

# CI-friendly: fail on invalid documents
screenjson validate -i screenplay.json --strict

# Verbose
screenjson validate -i screenplay.json --verbose

# Batch over a folder (bash)
for f in screenplays/*.json; do
  screenjson validate -i "$f" --strict || echo "INVALID: $f"
done
```

## Output format

Success:

```
✓ Document is valid
```

Failure (exit `1` under `--strict`):

```
✗ Document is invalid
  - /document/scenes/0/heading: missing required property: setting
  - /authors: array must have at least 1 item
```

## Validator used

The validator uses the schema version bundled with the binary. The current version is reported with `--verbose`. The same schema is available at [`https://screenjson.com/schema.json`](https://screenjson.com/schema.json) for use with any external validator (Ajv, jsonschema, gojsonschema).