validate-data

Validate loaded data

After a successful pipeline load, verify the schema and data make sense. Fix data types, nested structures, and missing columns as needed.

Parse $ARGUMENTS:

• pipeline-name (optional): the dlt pipeline name. If omitted, infer from session context. If ambiguous, ask the user and stop.
• hints (optional, after --): specific validation concerns

1. Inspect schema

Export schema as mermaid

dlt pipeline <pipeline_name> schema --format mermaid

Show the mermaid diagram to the user. This gives a quick overview of tables, columns, types, and relationships (parent/child).

2. View the data

For the human: Workspace Dashboard

Tell the user to run Workspace Dashboard:

dlt pipeline <pipeline_name> show

This opens a browser with table schemas, row counts, and sample data.

For the agent: set up pipeline MCP server to query the data

You have mcp with a right set of tools available

3. Review with user

Ask the user if the schema and data look right. Common issues to address:

Data type fixes

Use processing_steps in the resource config to transform data before loading. Available steps: map, filter, yield_map.

"processing_steps": [
    {"map": lambda item: {**item, "amount": Decimal(item["amount"])}},
]

IMPORTANT: NEVER convert monetary amounts or precision-sensitive values to float. Always use Decimal.

Nested structures

dlt auto-unnests nested arrays into child tables (e.g., results inside a response becomes <resource>__results). This is often fine for analytics. If the user wants a flat structure, use yield_map to flatten, or adjust data_selector to point deeper into the response.

Missing columns

Columns that are all-null on first load won't have inferred types. Options:

• Add columns hints to the resource config: "columns": {"field": {"data_type": "text"}}
• Add group_by or other API params to populate the columns

4. Iterate

Re-run the pipeline after changes (dev_mode gives a fresh dataset each time). Use debug-pipeline to inspect traces and load packages after each run. Inspect again with MCP or dlt pipeline <name> schema --format mermaid. Repeat until the user is happy with the schema.

Next steps

• User is happy with data → suggest new-endpoint for more resources, view-data for querying, or the data-exploration toolkit for interactive notebooks and reports
• Need to fix pipeline code → edit and re-run with debug-pipeline
• User wants to see the data -> Workspace Dashboard with command above