# rootform validate form

Check a saved Form's structure and internal consistency.

`validate form` reads a saved Form; `-` reads the Form's JSON from
standard input. It checks structural validity and internal consistency, not
Policy compliance or live cloud state.

<!-- BEGIN GENERATED CLI: rootform validate form -->

## Usage

```text
rootform validate form <file> [options]
```

## Options

| Flag | Type | Default | Description |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| ` --format ` | ` string ` | ` "" ` | output format: `text\|json`; default: text |

### Global options

| Flag | Type | Default | Description |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| ` -h, --help ` | ` bool ` | ` false ` | show how to use rootform validate form |
| ` --color ` | ` mode ` | ` auto ` | color human output: `auto\|always\|never`; default: auto |
| ` --no-pager ` | ` bool ` | ` false ` | print a long report in full instead of opening it in less |

<!-- END GENERATED CLI -->

From a checkout of the repository, save the reviewed commerce plan as a Form,
then validate that the saved Form is structurally valid.
Validation does not reanalyze the plan or evaluate Policies.

<!-- docs-check:cli-validate-form -->
```sh
rootform run examples/playground/commerce-platform/head/plan.json \
  --plan-file examples/playground/commerce-platform/head/plan.tfplan \
  --no-serve -o analysis.json
rootform validate form analysis.json --color always
rootform validate form analysis.json --format json
```

<!-- docs-output:cli-validate-form -->
```ansi title="Validation result"
Form valid
```

Text is the default result; JSON is also available. The result goes to
standard output and diagnostics to standard error. Status `0` means the Form
is valid; `1` means it is not valid; `2` means incorrect usage; `3` means the
input was refused; `4` means the input could not be read or the report could
not be written. Use [`check`](https://docs.rootform.dev/reference/cli/check/) to evaluate Policies and
[Forms](https://docs.rootform.dev/concepts/forms/) for what a Form contains.