JSON Structure Extension for Visual Studio Code
This extension provides validation support for JSON Structure schema documents and instance documents.
Features
Schema Validation
Files with the .struct.json extension are automatically validated as JSON Structure schema documents. The extension checks for:
- Valid JSON Structure schema syntax
- Correct type definitions
- Valid references (
$ref)
- Proper use of validation keywords
- And more...
Instance Validation
JSON documents containing a $schema property are automatically validated against their referenced schema:
{
"$schema": "https://example.com/schemas/person.struct.json",
"name": "John Doe",
"age": 30
}
The extension will:
- Look for a matching schema in the workspace (by
$id)
- Fetch the schema from the URI if not found locally (with caching)
- Validate the document against the schema
- Report any validation errors as VS Code diagnostics
Workspace Schema Discovery
The extension automatically discovers all .struct.json files in your workspace and indexes them by their $id. This means you can reference schemas by their canonical URI and the extension will automatically find the local file:
// schemas/person.struct.json
{
"$schema": "https://json-structure.org/meta/core/v0/#",
"$id": "https://example.com/schemas/person",
"type": "object",
"properties": { ... }
}
// data/john.json - automatically validated against the local schema!
{
"$schema": "https://example.com/schemas/person",
"name": "John Doe"
}
This enables:
- Offline development: No need for remote schema fetching during development
- Schema-first workflows: Define schemas with canonical URIs, reference them anywhere
- Automatic updates: Changes to local schemas are immediately reflected
Configuration
Schema Mapping
Map remote schema URIs to local files for development or offline use:
{
"jsonStructure.schemaMapping": {
"https://example.com/schemas/person.struct.json": "${workspaceFolder}/schemas/person.struct.json"
}
}
Settings
| Setting |
Description |
Default |
jsonStructure.enableSchemaValidation |
Enable validation of .struct.json files |
true |
jsonStructure.enableInstanceValidation |
Enable validation of JSON documents with $schema |
true |
jsonStructure.schemaMapping |
Map of $schema URIs to local file paths |
{} |
jsonStructure.cacheTTLMinutes |
Cache TTL for remote schemas (in minutes) |
60 |
jsonStructure.trace.server |
Trace level for debugging |
"off" |
Commands
| Command |
Description |
JSON Structure: Clear Schema Cache |
Clear the cached remote schemas |
JSON Structure: Validate Document |
Manually trigger validation for the active document |
Schema Caching
Remote schemas are cached for improved performance:
- Default cache TTL: 1 hour
- ETag support for efficient cache validation
- 404 responses are cached to avoid repeated requests
- Use "Clear Schema Cache" command to reset the cache
Requirements
License
MIT
