Validators

🚧 Work in Progress

This page is a work in progress.

This page provides example snippets for creating more complex, custom validators in Pydantic.

Using Custom Validators with Annotated Metadata

In this example, we'll construct a custom validator, attached to an Annotated type, that ensures a datetime object adheres to a given timezone constraint.

The custom validator supports string specification of the timezone, and will raise an error if the datetime object does not have the correct timezone.

We use __get_pydantic_core_schema__ in the validator to customize the schema of the annotated type (in this case, datetime), which allows us to add custom validation logic. Notably, we use a wrap validator function so that we can perform operations both before and after the default pydantic validation of a datetime.

Python 3.7 and abovePython 3.9 and abovePython 3.10 and above

import datetime as dt
from dataclasses import dataclass
from pprint import pprint
from typing import Any, Callable, Optional

import pytz
from pydantic_core import CoreSchema, core_schema
from typing_extensions import Annotated

from pydantic import (
    GetCoreSchemaHandler,
    PydanticUserError,
    TypeAdapter,
    ValidationError,
)


@dataclass(frozen=True)
class MyDatetimeValidator:
    tz_constraint: Optional[str] = None

    def tz_constraint_validator(
        self,
        value: dt.datetime,
        handler: Callable,  # (1)!
    ):
        """Validate tz_constraint and tz_info."""
        # handle naive datetimes
        if self.tz_constraint is None:
            assert (
                value.tzinfo is None
            ), 'tz_constraint is None, but provided value is tz-aware.'
            return handler(value)

        # validate tz_constraint and tz-aware tzinfo
        if self.tz_constraint not in pytz.all_timezones:
            raise PydanticUserError(
                f'Invalid tz_constraint: {self.tz_constraint}',
                code='unevaluable-type-annotation',
            )
        result = handler(value)  # (2)!
        assert self.tz_constraint == str(
            result.tzinfo
        ), f'Invalid tzinfo: {str(result.tzinfo)}, expected: {self.tz_constraint}'

        return result

    def __get_pydantic_core_schema__(
        self,
        source_type: Any,
        handler: GetCoreSchemaHandler,
    ) -> CoreSchema:
        return core_schema.no_info_wrap_validator_function(
            self.tz_constraint_validator,
            handler(source_type),
        )


LA = 'America/Los_Angeles'
ta = TypeAdapter(Annotated[dt.datetime, MyDatetimeValidator(LA)])
print(
    ta.validate_python(dt.datetime(2023, 1, 1, 0, 0, tzinfo=pytz.timezone(LA)))
)
#> 2023-01-01 00:00:00-07:53

LONDON = 'Europe/London'
try:
    ta.validate_python(
        dt.datetime(2023, 1, 1, 0, 0, tzinfo=pytz.timezone(LONDON))
    )
except ValidationError as ve:
    pprint(ve.errors(), width=100)
    """
    [{'ctx': {'error': AssertionError('Invalid tzinfo: Europe/London, expected: America/Los_Angeles')},
    'input': datetime.datetime(2023, 1, 1, 0, 0, tzinfo=<DstTzInfo 'Europe/London' LMT-1 day, 23:59:00 STD>),
    'loc': (),
    'msg': 'Assertion failed, Invalid tzinfo: Europe/London, expected: America/Los_Angeles',
    'type': 'assertion_error',
    'url': 'https://errors.pydantic.dev/2.8/v/assertion_error'}]
    """

1. The handler function is what we call to validate the input with standard pydantic validation
2. We call the handler function to validate the input with standard pydantic validation in this wrap validator

import datetime as dt
from dataclasses import dataclass
from pprint import pprint
from typing import Any, Callable, Optional

import pytz
from pydantic_core import CoreSchema, core_schema
from typing import Annotated

from pydantic import (
    GetCoreSchemaHandler,
    PydanticUserError,
    TypeAdapter,
    ValidationError,
)


@dataclass(frozen=True)
class MyDatetimeValidator:
    tz_constraint: Optional[str] = None

    def tz_constraint_validator(
        self,
        value: dt.datetime,
        handler: Callable,  # (1)!
    ):
        """Validate tz_constraint and tz_info."""
        # handle naive datetimes
        if self.tz_constraint is None:
            assert (
                value.tzinfo is None
            ), 'tz_constraint is None, but provided value is tz-aware.'
            return handler(value)

        # validate tz_constraint and tz-aware tzinfo
        if self.tz_constraint not in pytz.all_timezones:
            raise PydanticUserError(
                f'Invalid tz_constraint: {self.tz_constraint}',
                code='unevaluable-type-annotation',
            )
        result = handler(value)  # (2)!
        assert self.tz_constraint == str(
            result.tzinfo
        ), f'Invalid tzinfo: {str(result.tzinfo)}, expected: {self.tz_constraint}'

        return result

    def __get_pydantic_core_schema__(
        self,
        source_type: Any,
        handler: GetCoreSchemaHandler,
    ) -> CoreSchema:
        return core_schema.no_info_wrap_validator_function(
            self.tz_constraint_validator,
            handler(source_type),
        )


LA = 'America/Los_Angeles'
ta = TypeAdapter(Annotated[dt.datetime, MyDatetimeValidator(LA)])
print(
    ta.validate_python(dt.datetime(2023, 1, 1, 0, 0, tzinfo=pytz.timezone(LA)))
)
#> 2023-01-01 00:00:00-07:53

LONDON = 'Europe/London'
try:
    ta.validate_python(
        dt.datetime(2023, 1, 1, 0, 0, tzinfo=pytz.timezone(LONDON))
    )
except ValidationError as ve:
    pprint(ve.errors(), width=100)
    """
    [{'ctx': {'error': AssertionError('Invalid tzinfo: Europe/London, expected: America/Los_Angeles')},
    'input': datetime.datetime(2023, 1, 1, 0, 0, tzinfo=<DstTzInfo 'Europe/London' LMT-1 day, 23:59:00 STD>),
    'loc': (),
    'msg': 'Assertion failed, Invalid tzinfo: Europe/London, expected: America/Los_Angeles',
    'type': 'assertion_error',
    'url': 'https://errors.pydantic.dev/2.8/v/assertion_error'}]
    """

1. The handler function is what we call to validate the input with standard pydantic validation
2. We call the handler function to validate the input with standard pydantic validation in this wrap validator

import datetime as dt
from dataclasses import dataclass
from pprint import pprint
from typing import Any
from collections.abc import Callable

import pytz
from pydantic_core import CoreSchema, core_schema
from typing import Annotated

from pydantic import (
    GetCoreSchemaHandler,
    PydanticUserError,
    TypeAdapter,
    ValidationError,
)


@dataclass(frozen=True)
class MyDatetimeValidator:
    tz_constraint: str | None = None

    def tz_constraint_validator(
        self,
        value: dt.datetime,
        handler: Callable,  # (1)!
    ):
        """Validate tz_constraint and tz_info."""
        # handle naive datetimes
        if self.tz_constraint is None:
            assert (
                value.tzinfo is None
            ), 'tz_constraint is None, but provided value is tz-aware.'
            return handler(value)

        # validate tz_constraint and tz-aware tzinfo
        if self.tz_constraint not in pytz.all_timezones:
            raise PydanticUserError(
                f'Invalid tz_constraint: {self.tz_constraint}',
                code='unevaluable-type-annotation',
            )
        result = handler(value)  # (2)!
        assert self.tz_constraint == str(
            result.tzinfo
        ), f'Invalid tzinfo: {str(result.tzinfo)}, expected: {self.tz_constraint}'

        return result

    def __get_pydantic_core_schema__(
        self,
        source_type: Any,
        handler: GetCoreSchemaHandler,
    ) -> CoreSchema:
        return core_schema.no_info_wrap_validator_function(
            self.tz_constraint_validator,
            handler(source_type),
        )


LA = 'America/Los_Angeles'
ta = TypeAdapter(Annotated[dt.datetime, MyDatetimeValidator(LA)])
print(
    ta.validate_python(dt.datetime(2023, 1, 1, 0, 0, tzinfo=pytz.timezone(LA)))
)
#> 2023-01-01 00:00:00-07:53

LONDON = 'Europe/London'
try:
    ta.validate_python(
        dt.datetime(2023, 1, 1, 0, 0, tzinfo=pytz.timezone(LONDON))
    )
except ValidationError as ve:
    pprint(ve.errors(), width=100)
    """
    [{'ctx': {'error': AssertionError('Invalid tzinfo: Europe/London, expected: America/Los_Angeles')},
    'input': datetime.datetime(2023, 1, 1, 0, 0, tzinfo=<DstTzInfo 'Europe/London' LMT-1 day, 23:59:00 STD>),
    'loc': (),
    'msg': 'Assertion failed, Invalid tzinfo: Europe/London, expected: America/Los_Angeles',
    'type': 'assertion_error',
    'url': 'https://errors.pydantic.dev/2.8/v/assertion_error'}]
    """

1. The handler function is what we call to validate the input with standard pydantic validation
2. We call the handler function to validate the input with standard pydantic validation in this wrap validator

We can also enforce UTC offset constraints in a similar way. Assuming we have a lower_bound and an upper_bound, we can create a custom validator to ensure our datetime has a UTC offset that is inclusive within the boundary we define:

import datetime as dt
from dataclasses import dataclass
from pprint import pprint
from typing import Any, Callable

import pytz
from pydantic_core import CoreSchema, core_schema
from typing_extensions import Annotated

from pydantic import GetCoreSchemaHandler, TypeAdapter, ValidationError


@dataclass(frozen=True)
class MyDatetimeValidator:
    lower_bound: int
    upper_bound: int

    def validate_tz_bounds(self, value: dt.datetime, handler: Callable):
        """Validate and test bounds"""
        assert value.utcoffset() is not None, 'UTC offset must exist'
        assert self.lower_bound <= self.upper_bound, 'Invalid bounds'

        result = handler(value)

        hours_offset = value.utcoffset().total_seconds() / 3600
        assert (
            self.lower_bound <= hours_offset <= self.upper_bound
        ), 'Value out of bounds'

        return result

    def __get_pydantic_core_schema__(
        self,
        source_type: Any,
        handler: GetCoreSchemaHandler,
    ) -> CoreSchema:
        return core_schema.no_info_wrap_validator_function(
            self.validate_tz_bounds,
            handler(source_type),
        )


LA = 'America/Los_Angeles'  # UTC-7 or UTC-8
ta = TypeAdapter(Annotated[dt.datetime, MyDatetimeValidator(-10, -5)])
print(
    ta.validate_python(dt.datetime(2023, 1, 1, 0, 0, tzinfo=pytz.timezone(LA)))
)
#> 2023-01-01 00:00:00-07:53

LONDON = 'Europe/London'
try:
    print(
        ta.validate_python(
            dt.datetime(2023, 1, 1, 0, 0, tzinfo=pytz.timezone(LONDON))
        )
    )
except ValidationError as e:
    pprint(e.errors(), width=100)
    """
    [{'ctx': {'error': AssertionError('Value out of bounds')},
    'input': datetime.datetime(2023, 1, 1, 0, 0, tzinfo=<DstTzInfo 'Europe/London' LMT-1 day, 23:59:00 STD>),
    'loc': (),
    'msg': 'Assertion failed, Value out of bounds',
    'type': 'assertion_error',
    'url': 'https://errors.pydantic.dev/2.8/v/assertion_error'}]
    """