Step‑by‑Step JSON Validation in Spring Boot Using JSON Schema

JSON is a common data‑exchange format, and JSON Schema provides a standardized way to describe and enforce the structure of JSON data. To actually verify JSON instances against a schema, a JSON Schema validator is required.

Hands‑On Example

Create a basic Spring Boot project (see the quick‑start guide if needed).

Add the json-schema-validator dependency to pom.xml:

<dependency>
  <groupId>com.networknt</groupId>
  <artifactId>json-schema-validator</artifactId>
  <version>1.4.0</version>
</dependency>

Create a JSON Schema file ( validation.json) under src/main/resources with rules such as:

{
  "$schema": "http://json-schema.org/draft-07/schema#",
  "title": "Order Event",
  "description": "Order event schema for example",
  "required": ["order_id", "total_price", "products"],
  "properties": {
    "order_id": {"type": "string"},
    "event": {"type": "string", "enum": ["PLACED", "DELIVERED", "RETURNED"]},
    "total_price": {"type": "number", "minimum": 0},
    "products": {
      "type": "array",
      "items": {
        "additionalProperties": true,
        "required": ["product_id", "price"],
        "minItems": 1,
        "properties": {
          "product_id": {"type": "string"},
          "price": {"type": "number", "minimum": 0},
          "quantity": {"type": "integer"}
        }
      }
    }
  }
}

Define a Spring bean that loads the schema:

@Configuration
public class JsonSchemaConfiguration {
    private static final String SCHEMA_VALIDATION_FILE = "validation.json";

    @Bean
    public JsonSchema jsonSchema() {
        return JsonSchemaFactory
                .getInstance(SpecVersion.VersionFlag.V7)
                .getSchema(getClass().getResourceAsStream(SCHEMA_VALIDATION_FILE));
    }
}

Implement a service that validates JSON against the schema:

@Slf4j
@Service
public class JsonSchemaValidationService {
    @Autowired
    private JsonSchema jsonSchema;

    public String validateJson(JsonNode jsonNode) {
        Set<ValidationMessage> errors = jsonSchema.validate(jsonNode);
        if (errors.isEmpty()) {
            log.info("event is valid");
        } else {
            log.info("event is invalid");
        }
        return errors.toString();
    }
}

Create a controller to expose a validation endpoint:

import com.fasterxml.jackson.databind.JsonNode;
@RestController
public class JsonSchemaController {
    @Autowired
    private JsonSchemaValidationService service;

    @PostMapping("/test")
    public String validateEvent(@RequestBody JsonNode jsonNode) {
        return service.validateJson(jsonNode);
    }
}

Test the endpoint with curl. A valid request returns an empty array, while an invalid request (e.g., missing order_id) returns an error such as [$.order_id: is missing but it is required].

Example of a valid curl request:

curl --location 'localhost:8080/test' \
  --header 'Content-Type: application/json' \
  --data '{
    "order_id":"order134",
    "event":"PLACED",
    "products":[{"product_id":"product_1","price":20.5,"quantity":2}],
    "total_price":41
}'

Example of an invalid request (missing order_id) returns the corresponding validation error.

References

Spring Boot quick start: https://www.didispace.com/spring-boot-2/1-2-quick-start.html

Spring technology discussion group: https://www.didispace.com/jiaqun.html

Spring Boot tutorial: https://www.didispace.com/spring-boot-2/

What is JSON Schema?: https://json-schema.org/overview/what-is-jsonschema

JSON Schema validator: https://www.jsonschemavalidator.net/