Schema API, generation, and diagnostics

Provider contract

Each generated provider implements:

public interface IValiantSettingsSchemaProvider
{
    Type SettingsType { get; }
    string? SectionPath { get; }
    ValiantSettingsSchema Schema { get; }
}

Resolve all providers to build custom documentation, editors, configuration audits, or deployment tooling:

foreach (var provider in services.GetServices<IValiantSettingsSchemaProvider>())
{
    Console.WriteLine($"{provider.Schema.Name}: {provider.SectionPath}");

    foreach (var property in provider.Schema.Properties)
    {
        Console.WriteLine($"  {property.ConfigurationKey} ({property.Kind})");
    }
}

Model schema

ValiantSettingsSchema exposes SettingsType, Name, SectionPath, and Properties.

ValiantSettingsPropertySchema exposes:

• Name, ConfigurationKey, and TypeName;
• Kind, IsRequired, IsNullable, and IsSecret;
• DefaultValue when it is known at generation time;
• Item for arrays/collections;
• Properties for nested objects.

ASP.NET Core document

The UI JSON endpoint returns ValiantSettingsSchemaDocument. It contains ordered ValiantSettingsSchemaEntry values and indicates whether secrets can be revealed and whether the current response contains revealed values. Each entry can include masked runtime values or a runtime-value resolution error.

Packages

Package	Use it for	Target
Valiant.Settings	Schema generation and optional Options binding	.NET 8 and .NET Standard 2.0
Valiant.Settings.AspNetCore	Built-in explorer and JSON schema endpoint	.NET 8
Valiant.Settings.Validation	Options validation through Valiant validators	.NET 8

Integration packages forward their parent runtime and generator assets. Valiant.Settings.Validation also carries the core Valiant Validation assets it integrates with.

Generator scope and diagnostics

Only types marked with [ValiantSettings] enter the incremental generator pipeline. Generated output includes the schema provider and, when the required Microsoft configuration/DI APIs are referenced, the aggregated AddValiantSettings registration surface.

ID	Meaning
VLS001	Generic settings model types are not supported
VLS002	The settings section path is empty

The section path is deliberately required so generated binding and external tooling share one unambiguous configuration identity.