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Validation lets you check a pipeline’s configuration in Designer to find out if it will run successfully. When validating a pipeline, Maia checks the pipeline’s entire configuration, including all component properties and connections between components, but doesn’t run the pipeline. This means that you can identify and fix any issues without consuming credits or performing actions on your data. In Designer, you must validate a pipeline before you can run it or sample the output of any components it contains. We recommend validating pipelines and components often to check your changes.
You can still run an invalid pipeline, but all invalid components in the pipeline will fail and the pipeline run will show as Failed in your pipeline run history. Valid upstream components will succeed—as a result, running an invalid pipeline may consume credits or perform actions on your data.

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Validating a pipeline

To validate a pipeline:
  1. Open the pipeline in Designer.
  2. Click Validate on the canvas.
The results of the validation are shown in two ways in Designer:
  • In a new row in the Task history tab:
    • A green checkmark if validation was successful (i.e. the pipeline configuration is valid)
    • A red warning if validation failed (i.e. the pipeline is invalid because it contains invalid components or connections)
  • On the canvas:
    • A green border with a checkmark icon around valid components
    • A red border with a cross icon around invalid components
To cancel validation while a pipeline is being validated, open the Task history tab, and then click Cancel in the validation task’s row.

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Validating pipeline trees

When you validate a pipeline, you can choose to validate its entire pipeline tree, i.e. any child pipelines it calls, recursively. To validate a pipeline tree, click the drop-down icon next to the Validate button on the canvas, and click Validate pipeline tree. When you validate a pipeline tree, Maia validates the current pipeline, and any pipelines referenced within that pipeline. This validates every component in each child pipeline, including children of children. If the same child pipeline is called more than once in the tree, it’s only validated once. Maia will validate child pipelines that are referenced by the following components: When validating a pipeline tree, Maia can’t validate:
  • Child pipelines called by the Run Shared Pipeline component.
  • References that use a variable, such as ${pipeline_name}, because the value isn’t known until runtime.
  • References to pipelines that don’t exist or can’t be read.
  • Circular references, where a child pipeline calls one of its own parents.

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Fixing validation errors

If validation fails, you can ask Maia Team to explain why the pipeline configuration is invalid and help you fix it. To do this:
  • Open the Task history tab, then click Ask Maia in the failed validation task’s row.
  • Click an invalid component on the canvas, then click Ask Maia in the Validation failed section at the top of the properties panel.
If available, click the down arrow in the Validation failed section of an invalid component’s properties panel to read a short explanation for why the component is invalid. This option is available if the reason can be explained concisely—otherwise, click Ask Maia to learn more.