Speckle Agents Data Validator

speckle-agents-data-validator

Validation Decision Tree

Need to validate Speckle data?
|
+-- BEFORE sending (pre-flight)?
|   +-- Single object → OBJECT SCHEMA CHECK (Section 1)
|   +-- Geometry object → GEOMETRY INTEGRITY (Section 2)
|   +-- Object with displayValue → DISPLAY VALUE CHECK (Section 3)
|   +-- Root collection → COLLECTION TREE CHECK (Section 4)
|   +-- Root with proxies → PROXY REFERENCE CHECK (Section 5)
|   +-- Cross-object units → UNIT CONSISTENCY (Section 6)
|   +-- Full commit payload → FULL PRE-FLIGHT (Section 7)
|
+-- AFTER receiving (post-receive)?
|   +-- Received objects missing data → POST-RECEIVE AUDIT (Section 8)
|   +-- Proxy references unresolvable → PROXY RESOLUTION (Section 9)
|   +-- Geometry renders incorrectly → GEOMETRY AUDIT (Section 10)
|
+-- Continuous quality auditing?
    +-- Model-wide property coverage → COMPLETENESS AUDIT (Section 11)
    +-- Cross-version drift detection → VERSION DIFF (Section 12)

Section 1: Object Schema Validation

When: ALWAYS validate every Base object before adding it to a commit payload.

Required Properties Checklist

Dynamic Property Name Rules

• NEVER use empty strings as property names
• NEVER use names containing . or /
• NEVER use names with consecutive @@
• Names starting with @ trigger detachment during serialization
• Names starting with __ are excluded from hashing and serialization

Python Validation Pattern

def validate_base_object(obj: Base) -> list[str]:
    errors = []
    if not getattr(obj, "speckle_type", None):
        errors.append("speckle_type is missing or empty")
    if obj.id is not None and not isinstance(obj.id, str):
        errors.append("id must be None (pre-send) or a string (post-receive)")
    for name in obj.get_dynamic_member_names():
        if not name:
            errors.append("Empty dynamic property name found")
        if "." in name or "/" in name:
            errors.append(f"Invalid chars in property name: '{name}'")
        if "@@" in name:
            errors.append(f"Consecutive @@ in property name: '{name}'")
    return errors

Section 2: Geometry Integrity Validation

When: ALWAYS validate geometry objects before sending. Malformed geometry causes viewer crashes.

Mesh Validation Checklist

Python Mesh Validator

def validate_mesh(mesh: Mesh) -> list[str]:
    errors = []
    if not mesh.vertices or len(mesh.vertices) == 0:
        errors.append("Mesh has no vertices"); return errors
    if len(mesh.vertices) % 3 != 0:
        errors.append(f"Vertices length {len(mesh.vertices)} not divisible by 3")
    vertex_count = len(mesh.vertices) // 3
    if not mesh.faces or len(mesh.faces) == 0:
        errors.append("Mesh has no faces"); return errors
    i, face_idx = 0, 0
    while i < len(mesh.faces):
        n = mesh.faces[i]
        if n < 3:
            errors.append(f"Face {face_idx}: vertex count {n} < 3")
        if i + n >= len(mesh.faces):
            errors.append(f"Face {face_idx}: overflows faces array"); break
        for j in range(1, n + 1):
            idx = mesh.faces[i + j]
            if idx < 0 or idx >= vertex_count:
                errors.append(f"Face {face_idx}: index {idx} out of bounds")
        i += n + 1; face_idx += 1
    if not getattr(mesh, "units", None):
        errors.append("Mesh has no units set")
    return errors

Optional Array Validation

Section 3: displayValue Validation

When: ALWAYS validate displayValue on DataObjects before sending. Missing displayValue makes objects invisible in the viewer.

Rules

• MUST be a list (NEVER a single object, NEVER None for visual objects)
• Every element MUST be a geometry type (Mesh, Line, Point, Polyline, Curve, Arc, Circle, Polycurve, Brep)
• Every element MUST have units set
• NEVER nest DataObjects inside displayValue

GEOMETRY_TYPES = {
    "Objects.Geometry.Mesh", "Objects.Geometry.Line", "Objects.Geometry.Point",
    "Objects.Geometry.Polyline", "Objects.Geometry.Curve", "Objects.Geometry.Arc",
    "Objects.Geometry.Circle", "Objects.Geometry.Polycurve", "Objects.Geometry.Brep",
}

def validate_display_value(obj: Base) -> list[str]:
    errors = []
    dv = getattr(obj, "displayValue", None)
    if dv is None:
        return ["displayValue is None -- object invisible in viewer"]
    if not isinstance(dv, list):
        return [f"displayValue must be a list, got {type(dv).__name__}"]
    if len(dv) == 0:
        errors.append("displayValue is empty -- object invisible in viewer")
    for i, geom in enumerate(dv):
        if not isinstance(geom, Base):
            errors.append(f"displayValue[{i}]: not a Base object"); continue
        st = getattr(geom, "speckle_type", "")
        if st not in GEOMETRY_TYPES:
            errors.append(f"displayValue[{i}]: '{st}' is not a geometry type")
        if not getattr(geom, "units", None):
            errors.append(f"displayValue[{i}]: missing units")
    return errors

Section 4: Collection Tree Validation

When: ALWAYS validate the root collection before sending. Cycles cause infinite recursion during serialization.

Rules

• Collections MUST form a strict directed tree (no cycles, no shared parents)
• Collection name MUST be a non-empty string
• Collection elements MUST be a list

def validate_collection_tree(root) -> list[str]:
    errors, visited, path = [], set(), set()
    def walk(node, depth=0):
        nid = id(node)
        if nid in path:
            errors.append(f"Cycle at depth {depth}: {getattr(node, 'name', '?')}"); return
        if nid in visited:
            errors.append(f"Shared parent: '{getattr(node, 'name', '?')}'"); return
        visited.add(nid); path.add(nid)
        for child in getattr(node, "elements", []) or []:
            if hasattr(child, "elements"):
                walk(child, depth + 1)
        path.discard(nid)
    walk(root)
    return errors

Section 5: Proxy Reference Integrity

When: ALWAYS validate proxy references before sending. Broken references cause silent data loss.

Rules

• Every applicationId in a proxy's objects list MUST exist in the commit's object tree
• Proxies MUST reference objects by applicationId, NEVER by id
• No proxy MUST reference another proxy
• InstanceProxy.definitionId MUST match an InstanceDefinitionProxy.applicationId

Validation Steps

1. Walk the object tree and collect all applicationId values into a set
2. For each proxy, verify every entry in objects exists in that set
3. For each InstanceProxy, verify definitionId matches an InstanceDefinitionProxy
4. Report all unresolvable references

See references/examples.md for the complete implementation.

Section 6: Unit Consistency Validation

When: ALWAYS check units across all geometry in a commit. Mixed units cause wrong-scale rendering.

Rules

• ALL geometry objects in a single-source commit SHOULD use the same units
• Supported values: "m", "mm", "cm", "ft", "in"
• NEVER send geometry without units
• Mixed units in federated models are acceptable but MUST be documented

def validate_unit_consistency(objects: list) -> list[str]:
    errors, units_found = [], {}
    for obj in objects:
        unit = getattr(obj, "units", None)
        if unit is None:
            errors.append(f"'{getattr(obj, 'speckle_type', '?')}' has no units")
        elif unit not in ("m", "mm", "cm", "ft", "in"):
            errors.append(f"Unknown unit '{unit}'")
        else:
            units_found[unit] = units_found.get(unit, 0) + 1
    if len(units_found) > 1:
        errors.append(f"Mixed units: {units_found}. Verify intentional.")
    return errors

Section 7: Full Pre-Flight Validation

When: ALWAYS run before operations.send(). Orchestrates all individual validators.

Checklist

1. Validate collection tree structure (Section 4)
2. Walk all objects -- validate schema (1), geometry (2), displayValue (3)
3. Validate proxy references (Section 5)
4. Validate unit consistency (Section 6)
5. Report: total objects, total errors, errors by category

def pre_flight_validate(root_collection, proxies: list) -> dict:
    all_errors, geometry_objects = [], []
    stats = {"objects": 0, "geometry": 0}
    all_errors.extend(validate_collection_tree(root_collection))
    def walk(node):
        stats["objects"] += 1
        all_errors.extend(validate_base_object(node))
        st = getattr(node, "speckle_type", "")
        if st in GEOMETRY_TYPES:
            stats["geometry"] += 1; geometry_objects.append(node)
            if "Mesh" in st: all_errors.extend(validate_mesh(node))
        if hasattr(node, "displayValue"):
            all_errors.extend(validate_display_value(node))
        for child in getattr(node, "elements", []) or []:
            walk(child)
    walk(root_collection)
    all_errors.extend(validate_proxy_references(root_collection, proxies))
    all_errors.extend(validate_unit_consistency(geometry_objects))
    return {"errors": all_errors, "stats": stats}

Section 8: Post-Receive Validation

When: ALWAYS validate received data when downstream workflows depend on specific properties.

Post-Receive Checklist

Duplicate applicationId Detection

def check_duplicate_app_ids(objects: list) -> list[str]:
    errors, seen = [], {}
    for obj in objects:
        app_id = getattr(obj, "applicationId", None)
        if app_id:
            if app_id in seen:
                errors.append(f"Duplicate '{app_id}': {seen[app_id]} and {getattr(obj, 'speckle_type', '?')}")
            else:
                seen[app_id] = getattr(obj, "speckle_type", "?")
    return errors

Section 9: Proxy Resolution After Receive

When: After receiving data with proxies, ALWAYS verify references resolve.

Build a map of applicationId -> object from all received objects. For each proxy, look up every entry in its objects list. Log unresolvable references. See references/examples.md for the resolve_proxies() implementation.

Section 10: Geometry Audit After Receive

When: Received geometry renders incorrectly in the viewer.

Geometry renders incorrectly
|
+-- Invisible? → Check displayValue (Section 3), vertices/faces, units
+-- Wrong scale? → Check units field, unit mismatch (Section 6)
+-- Missing faces? → Run mesh integrity (Section 2), check face encoding
+-- No colors/materials? → Check proxy resolution (Section 9), mesh.colors length

Section 11: Completeness Audit

When: Model-wide QA -- verify all objects meet minimum property standards.

Pass a list of objects and required property keys to audit_property_coverage(). Returns per-key coverage percentages and lists of objects missing each property. See references/examples.md for the implementation and usage pattern.

Section 12: Cross-Version Drift Detection

When: Compare two model versions to detect unexpected changes.

Match objects by applicationId across versions. Objects with same applicationId but different id (content hash) are modified. Objects present in only one version are added or removed. See references/examples.md for the detect_drift() implementation.

Critical Warnings

NEVER set id manually on a Base object. The id is a content-addressed hash computed during serialization. Manual assignment causes hash mismatches and data corruption.

NEVER modify an object after calling get_id(). Any property change invalidates the hash. ALWAYS finalize all properties before computing the ID.

NEVER use id in proxy objects lists. Proxies reference by applicationId. Using id breaks resolution because id changes on every content update.

NEVER create cycles in collection hierarchies. Collections MUST form a strict directed tree. Cycles cause infinite recursion during serialization.

NEVER omit units on geometry objects. The viewer has no reliable default. Objects without units render at unpredictable scales.

NEVER assume applicationId is globally unique. It is unique only within a single source application.

ALWAYS validate mesh face encoding. Each face starts with vertex count n followed by n indices. One off-by-one error corrupts all subsequent faces.

ALWAYS run pre-flight validation before operations.send(). Catching errors before transport prevents storing malformed data on the server.

Reference Links

• references/methods.md -- Validation method signatures for Python and C#
• references/examples.md -- Complete validation workflow examples
• references/anti-patterns.md -- What NOT to do when validating Speckle data

Official Sources

• https://docs.speckle.systems/developers/data-schema/overview
• https://docs.speckle.systems/developers/data-schema/object-schema
• https://docs.speckle.systems/developers/data-schema/proxy-schema
• https://speckle.guide/dev/base.html