Define YAML Schema for JSON Arrays

JSON Arrays to YAML Schema

JSON arrays map to type: array in YAML Schema with an items keyword that describes the element type. The converter inspects array elements to infer the correct item schema.

Primitive Array

{
  "tags": ["api", "production", "v2"],
  "ports": [80, 443, 8080]
}

type: object
properties:
  tags:
    type: array
    items:
      type: string
  ports:
    type: array
    items:
      type: integer

Array of Objects

{
  "users": [
    { "id": 1, "name": "Alice", "role": "admin" },
    { "id": 2, "name": "Bob", "role": "viewer" }
  ]
}

type: object
properties:
  users:
    type: array
    items:
      type: object
      properties:
        id:
          type: integer
        name:
          type: string
        role:
          type: string
      required:
        - id
        - name
        - role

Array Constraints

YAML Schema supports several array-specific constraints:

tags:
  type: array
  items:
    type: string
  minItems: 1
  maxItems: 10
  uniqueItems: true

Constraint	Purpose
minItems	Minimum number of elements
maxItems	Maximum number of elements
uniqueItems	All elements must be distinct

Tuple Validation

For fixed-length arrays where each position has a different type:

coordinates:
  type: array
  items:
    - type: number
      description: Latitude
    - type: number
      description: Longitude
  minItems: 2
  maxItems: 2

Empty Arrays

An empty JSON array ([]) is ambiguous -- the converter cannot determine the item type. Most converters default to items: {} (accepts anything). You should manually set the correct item type after generation.

Nested Arrays

Arrays of arrays ([[1,2],[3,4]]) produce:

matrix:
  type: array
  items:
    type: array
    items:
      type: integer

This pattern appears in matrix data, batch operations, and grid configurations.