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

# Validation Rules Reference

> Complete reference for request validation rules

The request node uses validation rules to verify incoming data. Rules are specified as pipe-separated strings.

## Syntax

```
"field": "rule1|rule2|rule3"
"field": "rule1|rule2:param|rule3:param1,param2"
```

## Presence Rules

Control when fields are required.

### required

Field must be present and not empty.

```json theme={null}
{
  "name": "required"
}
```

### nullable

Field can be null. If present and not null, other rules apply.

```json theme={null}
{
  "middle_name": "nullable|string|max:50"
}
```

### present

Field must exist in input (can be empty/null).

```json theme={null}
{
  "acknowledged": "present|boolean"
}
```

### sometimes

Only validate if field exists.

```json theme={null}
{
  "nickname": "sometimes|string|max:30"
}
```

## Conditional Required

Make fields conditionally required.

### required\_if

Required when another field equals a value.

```json theme={null}
{
  "company_name": "required_if:account_type,business"
}
```

### required\_unless

Required unless another field equals a value.

```json theme={null}
{
  "parent_email": "required_unless:age,18"
}
```

### required\_with

Required when another field is present.

```json theme={null}
{
  "shipping_address": "required_with:physical_product"
}
```

### required\_without

Required when another field is absent.

```json theme={null}
{
  "email": "required_without:phone"
}
```

### required\_with\_all

Required when all specified fields are present.

```json theme={null}
{
  "billing_address": "required_with_all:credit_card,save_card"
}
```

### required\_without\_all

Required when all specified fields are absent.

```json theme={null}
{
  "guest_email": "required_without_all:user_id,session_id"
}
```

## Type Rules

Validate data types.

### string

Must be a string.

```json theme={null}
{
  "name": "required|string"
}
```

### integer

Must be an integer (no decimals).

```json theme={null}
{
  "quantity": "required|integer"
}
```

### numeric

Must be a number (integer or float).

```json theme={null}
{
  "price": "required|numeric"
}
```

### boolean

Must be `true` or `false`.

```json theme={null}
{
  "active": "required|boolean"
}
```

### array

Must be an array.

```json theme={null}
{
  "tags": "required|array"
}
```

### object

Must be an object.

```json theme={null}
{
  "metadata": "required|object"
}
```

## Size Rules

Validate size, length, or value.

Size rules behave differently based on the field type:

* **Strings**: Validates character length
* **Numbers**: Validates the numeric value
* **Arrays**: Validates item count

### min

Minimum size/length/value.

```json theme={null}
{
  "password": "required|string|min:8",
  "age": "required|integer|min:18",
  "items": "required|array|min:1"
}
```

### max

Maximum size/length/value.

```json theme={null}
{
  "username": "required|string|max:20",
  "quantity": "required|integer|max:100",
  "tags": "array|max:10"
}
```

### size

Exact size/length/value.

```json theme={null}
{
  "pin": "required|string|size:4",
  "coordinates": "required|array|size:2"
}
```

### between

Value/length must be in range.

```json theme={null}
{
  "age": "required|integer|between:18,120",
  "title": "required|string|between:5,100"
}
```

## Format Rules

Validate string formats.

### email

Valid email address format.

```json theme={null}
{
  "email": "required|email"
}
```

### url

Valid URL format.

```json theme={null}
{
  "website": "sometimes|url"
}
```

### uuid

Valid UUID format.

```json theme={null}
{
  "id": "required|uuid"
}
```

### ip

Valid IP address (v4 or v6).

```json theme={null}
{
  "ip_address": "required|ip"
}
```

### ipv4

Valid IPv4 address.

```json theme={null}
{
  "ip_address": "required|ipv4"
}
```

### ipv6

Valid IPv6 address.

```json theme={null}
{
  "ip_address": "required|ipv6"
}
```

### json

Valid JSON string.

```json theme={null}
{
  "config": "required|json"
}
```

### regex

Matches regular expression pattern.

```json theme={null}
{
  "sku": "required|regex:^[A-Z]{3}-[0-9]{4}$",
  "phone": "required|regex:^\\+[0-9]{10,15}$"
}
```

## Date Rules

Validate date values.

### date

Valid date format.

```json theme={null}
{
  "birth_date": "required|date"
}
```

### datetime

Valid datetime format.

```json theme={null}
{
  "scheduled_at": "required|datetime"
}
```

### before

Date must be before specified date.

```json theme={null}
{
  "start_date": "required|date|before:2025-01-01"
}
```

### after

Date must be after specified date.

```json theme={null}
{
  "end_date": "required|date|after:start_date"
}
```

### before\_or\_equal

Date must be before or equal to specified date.

```json theme={null}
{
  "expiry": "required|date|before_or_equal:2030-12-31"
}
```

### after\_or\_equal

Date must be after or equal to specified date.

```json theme={null}
{
  "publish_date": "required|date|after_or_equal:today"
}
```

## File Rules

Validate uploaded files. These rules work with files uploaded via `multipart/form-data` requests.

### file

Must be an uploaded file.

```json theme={null}
{
  "document": "required|file"
}
```

### image

Must be an image file (jpeg, png, gif, bmp, webp).

```json theme={null}
{
  "avatar": "required|image"
}
```

### mimes

Must be one of the specified MIME types.

```json theme={null}
{
  "document": "required|file|mimes:application/pdf,application/msword",
  "photo": "required|file|mimes:image/jpeg,image/png"
}
```

### extensions

Must have one of the specified file extensions.

```json theme={null}
{
  "document": "required|file|extensions:pdf,doc,docx",
  "image": "required|file|extensions:jpg,jpeg,png,gif"
}
```

### dimensions

Image dimension constraints. Only applies to image files.

```json theme={null}
{
  "avatar": "required|image|dimensions:min_width=100,min_height=100",
  "banner": "required|image|dimensions:width=1200,height=630",
  "photo": "required|image|dimensions:ratio=16/9"
}
```

**Dimension Constraints:**

| Constraint   | Description                               |
| ------------ | ----------------------------------------- |
| `min_width`  | Minimum width in pixels                   |
| `max_width`  | Maximum width in pixels                   |
| `min_height` | Minimum height in pixels                  |
| `max_height` | Maximum height in pixels                  |
| `width`      | Exact width in pixels                     |
| `height`     | Exact height in pixels                    |
| `ratio`      | Aspect ratio (e.g., `16/9`, `1/1`, `4/3`) |

**Examples:**

```json theme={null}
{
  "thumbnail": "required|image|dimensions:max_width=200,max_height=200",
  "profile_photo": "required|image|dimensions:min_width=200,min_height=200,ratio=1/1",
  "og_image": "required|image|dimensions:width=1200,height=630"
}
```

## Comparison Rules

Compare fields to each other.

### same

Must match another field's value.

```json theme={null}
{
  "password_confirmation": "required|same:password"
}
```

### different

Must differ from another field's value.

```json theme={null}
{
  "new_password": "required|different:current_password"
}
```

### confirmed

Field must have a matching `_confirmation` field.

```json theme={null}
{
  "email": "required|email|confirmed"
}
```

This expects an `email_confirmation` field with the same value.

### gt

Greater than another field.

```json theme={null}
{
  "max_price": "required|numeric|gt:min_price"
}
```

### gte

Greater than or equal to another field.

```json theme={null}
{
  "end_date": "required|date|gte:start_date"
}
```

### lt

Less than another field.

```json theme={null}
{
  "min_price": "required|numeric|lt:max_price"
}
```

### lte

Less than or equal to another field.

```json theme={null}
{
  "discount": "required|numeric|lte:total"
}
```

## Inclusion Rules

Validate against a list of values.

### in

Must be one of the specified values.

```json theme={null}
{
  "status": "required|in:pending,active,suspended,closed",
  "role": "required|in:admin,editor,viewer"
}
```

### not\_in

Must not be one of the specified values.

```json theme={null}
{
  "username": "required|string|not_in:admin,root,system"
}
```

## Control Rules

Control validation behavior.

### bail

Stop validating the field on first error.

```json theme={null}
{
  "email": "bail|required|email|unique"
}
```

Without `bail`, all rules are checked. With `bail`, validation stops at first failure.

## Array Validation

Validate nested array items using `.*` wildcard.

### Basic Array Items

```json theme={null}
{
  "tags": "required|array",
  "tags.*": "string|max:50"
}
```

### Object Array Items

```json theme={null}
{
  "items": "required|array|min:1",
  "items.*.product_id": "required|uuid",
  "items.*.quantity": "required|integer|min:1",
  "items.*.price": "required|numeric|min:0"
}
```

### Nested Array Validation

```json theme={null}
{
  "orders": "required|array",
  "orders.*.items": "required|array|min:1",
  "orders.*.items.*.sku": "required|string"
}
```

## Complete Examples

### User Registration

```json theme={null}
{
  "source": "request.body",
  "schema": {
    "username": "required|string|min:3|max:20|regex:^[a-zA-Z0-9_]+$",
    "email": "required|email",
    "password": "required|string|min:8",
    "password_confirmation": "required|same:password",
    "date_of_birth": "required|date|before:2010-01-01",
    "terms_accepted": "required|boolean"
  }
}
```

### Product Creation

```json theme={null}
{
  "source": "request.body",
  "schema": {
    "name": "required|string|min:2|max:200",
    "description": "nullable|string|max:5000",
    "price": "required|numeric|min:0",
    "compare_price": "nullable|numeric|gt:price",
    "sku": "required|string|regex:^[A-Z0-9-]+$",
    "category": "required|in:electronics,clothing,home,sports",
    "tags": "array|max:10",
    "tags.*": "string|max:30",
    "variants": "sometimes|array",
    "variants.*.name": "required|string",
    "variants.*.price": "required|numeric|min:0",
    "variants.*.stock": "required|integer|min:0"
  }
}
```

### Order Placement

```json theme={null}
{
  "source": "request.body",
  "schema": {
    "items": "required|array|min:1|max:50",
    "items.*.product_id": "required|uuid",
    "items.*.quantity": "required|integer|min:1|max:100",
    "shipping_address": "required|object",
    "shipping_address.street": "required|string|max:200",
    "shipping_address.city": "required|string|max:100",
    "shipping_address.postal_code": "required|string|max:20",
    "shipping_address.country": "required|string|size:2",
    "billing_same_as_shipping": "required|boolean",
    "billing_address": "required_if:billing_same_as_shipping,false|object",
    "payment_method": "required|in:card,paypal,bank_transfer",
    "card_token": "required_if:payment_method,card|string",
    "notes": "nullable|string|max:500"
  }
}
```

### Profile Update

```json theme={null}
{
  "source": "request.body",
  "schema": {
    "display_name": "sometimes|string|min:2|max:50",
    "bio": "nullable|string|max:500",
    "website": "nullable|url",
    "social_links": "sometimes|object",
    "social_links.twitter": "nullable|url",
    "social_links.linkedin": "nullable|url",
    "notification_preferences": "sometimes|object",
    "notification_preferences.email": "boolean",
    "notification_preferences.push": "boolean"
  }
}
```

### File Upload

```json theme={null}
{
  "source": "request.files",
  "schema": {
    "avatar": "required|image|dimensions:min_width=200,min_height=200,ratio=1/1",
    "resume": "required|file|extensions:pdf,doc,docx|mimes:application/pdf,application/msword",
    "portfolio": "sometimes|file|extensions:pdf"
  }
}
```

### Document Upload with Metadata

```json theme={null}
{
  "source": "request.body",
  "schema": {
    "title": "required|string|max:200",
    "description": "nullable|string|max:1000",
    "category": "required|in:report,invoice,contract,other"
  }
}
```

Combined with file validation:

```json theme={null}
{
  "source": "request.files",
  "schema": {
    "document": "required|file|extensions:pdf,doc,docx",
    "thumbnail": "sometimes|image|dimensions:max_width=400,max_height=400"
  }
}
```

## Error Messages

Each rule generates a specific error message:

| Rule         | Message Example                                          |
| ------------ | -------------------------------------------------------- |
| required     | The name field is required                               |
| email        | The email field must be a valid email address            |
| min (string) | The password field must be at least 8 characters         |
| min (number) | The age field must be at least 18                        |
| min (array)  | The items field must have at least 1 items               |
| max          | The title field may not be greater than 100 characters   |
| in           | The status field must be one of: pending, active, closed |
| uuid         | The id field must be a valid UUID                        |
| same         | The password\_confirmation field must match password     |

## Related

* [Request Node](/nodes/request) - Validation node usage
* [Condition Node](/nodes/condition) - Branch on validation results
* [Abort Node](/nodes/abort) - Error responses