open-nomad/website/source/docs/commands/validate.html.md.erb

---
layout: "docs"
page_title: "Commands: validate"
sidebar_current: "docs-commands-validate"
description: >
  The validate command is used to check a job specification for syntax errors and validation problems.
---

# Command: validate

The `validate` command is used to check a [HCL job specification](/docs/jobspec/index.html)
for any syntax errors or validation problems.

## Usage

```
nomad validate <file>
```

The validate command requires a single argument, specifying the path to a file
containing a [HCL job specification](/docs/jobspec/index.html). This file
will be read and the job checked for any problems. If the
supplied path is "-", the jobfile is read from STDIN. Otherwise it is read
from the file at the supplied path or downloaded and read from URL specified.
Nomad downloads jobfile using [`go-getter`](https://github.com/hashicorp/go-getter)
and support `go-getter` syntax.

On successful validation, exit code 0 will be returned, otherwise an exit code
of 1 indicates an error.