AstraLint 0.4.2

A data model linter

AstraLint

AstraLint is a Python linter for Space Physics data files, validating conformance to standards such as ISTP and PDS4.

🚀 Try it online — no installation required!

Overview

AstraLint validates data files against conformance suites using a codec-agnostic architecture:

1. Codecs transform file formats (e.g., CDF) into a common abstract representation ( File)
2. Suites define collections of validation rules (e.g., ISTP, PDS4)
3. Rules check specific requirements, defined either in Python or YAML

Usage

# Lint a file against the default ISTP suite
astralint lint myfile.cdf

# Lint against a specific suite
astralint lint myfile.cdf --suite PDS4

# Select specific rules to run filtering by reference ID or name, regex supported
astralint lint myfile.cdf --suite ISTP --select "ISTP-MD-003" --select ".*GlobalAttributes"

# Ignore specific rules by reference ID or name, regex supported
astralint lint myfile.cdf --suite ISTP --ignore "ISTP-MD-00[0-9]" --ignore "MandatoryGlobalAttributes"

# List available suites
astralint list-suites

# Strict mode: exit with error on warnings too
astralint lint myfile.cdf --strict

AstraLint returns exit code 1 on validation errors (or warnings with --strict), making it suitable for CI/CD pipelines.

Configuration

AstraLint can be configured via pyproject.toml or .astralint.yaml. Configuration is loaded with the following precedence (highest to lowest):

1. CLI arguments
2. .astralint.yaml (project root)
3. pyproject.toml [tool.astralint]
4. Built-in defaults

Quick Start

# Generate a starter config file
astralint config init

# Validate your config file
astralint config validate

# Show resolved configuration (merged from all sources)
astralint config show

Example .astralint.yaml

suite: ISTP

select:
  - "MandatoryGlobalAttributes"
  - "ISTP-VAR-.*"

ignore:
  - "DeprecatedRule"

severity_overrides:
  ISTP-VAR-001: WARNING

extra_rules:
  - "./custom_rules/"

output:
  format: console
  verbose: false
  show_passed: true

Example pyproject.toml

[tool.astralint]
suite = "ISTP"
select = ["MandatoryGlobalAttributes"]

[tool.astralint.output]
format = "html"
verbose = true

📖 Full Configuration Reference →

Architecture

flowchart TD
    subgraph Input["📥 Input"]
        A[📄 Data File]
    end
    
    subgraph Codecs["🔌 Codecs (pluggable)"]
        B1[CDF Codec]
        B2[NetCDF Codec]
        B3[... more]
    end
    
    subgraph Core["⚙️ Core"]
        C[📦 Abstract File Model]
        D[📋 Conformance Suite]
        E[✅ Rules & Assertions]
    end
    
    subgraph Suites["📚 Suites (pluggable)"]
        S1[ISTP]
        S2[PDS4]
        S3[... more]
    end
    
    subgraph Reports["📊 Reports (pluggable)"]
        R1[Console]
        R2[JSON]
        R3[... more]
    end
    
    A --> B1 & B2 & B3
    B1 & B2 & B3 --> C
    C --> D
    S1 & S2 & S3 -.->|loads| D
    D --> E
    E --> R1 & R2 & R3
    
    style C fill:#fff3e0
    style Core fill:#f5f5f5,stroke:#999
    style Codecs fill:#e3f2fd,stroke:#1976d2
    style Suites fill:#fce4ec,stroke:#c2185b
    style Reports fill:#e8f5e9,stroke:#388e3c

File Model

The abstract File model is the core data structure that all codecs produce. Rules and assertions operate on this unified representation:

File
├── filename: str                            # File name or identifier
├── extension: str                           # File extension (e.g., "cdf")
├── compression: str                     # e.g., "gzip", "none"
├── attributes: {name → Attribute}       # Global metadata
│   ├── "Project"      → Attribute
│   ├── "PI_name"      → Attribute
│   └── ...
└── variables: {name → Variable}         # Data variables
    ├── "Epoch" → Variable
    │   ├── name: str                    # "Epoch"
    │   ├── shape: [int]                 # e.g., [1440]
    │   ├── compression: str             # "gzip", "none"
    │   ├── data_type: DataType          # TT2000, FLOAT64, ...
    │   ├── record_variance: bool
    │   └── attributes: {name → Attribute}
    │       ├── "CATDESC"  → Attribute
    │       ├── "FILLVAL"  → Attribute
    │       └── ...
    ├── "Temperature" → Variable
    └── ...

Attribute
├── name: str
├── data_type: [DataType]                # List of data types
└── shape: [int]                         # Attribute dimensions

DataType = CHAR | UINT8 | UINT16 | UINT32 | UINT64
         | INT8 | INT16 | INT32 | INT64
         | FLOAT32 | FLOAT64
         | TT2000 | CDFEPOCH | CDFEPOCH16

Path Navigation

Rules use /-separated paths with regex support to navigate the model:

Path Example	Description
attributes	Global attributes dictionary
attributes/Project	Specific global attribute
variables	All variables dictionary
variables/Epoch	Specific variable
variables/.*/attributes	Attributes of all variables
variables/Epoch/data_type	Data type of a specific variable
variables/Epoch/shape/0	First dimension of variable shape
attributes/Project/data_type/0	First data type of attribute

Lists are accessed using numeric indices: path/to/list/0, path/to/list/1, etc.

Defining Rules in YAML

Rules can be defined declaratively in YAML files. Example from MandatoryAttributes.yaml:

name: MandatoryGlobalAttributes
description: "All mandatory global attributes must be present"
url: "https://..."
reference: "ISTP-MD-003"
severity: ERROR
suite: ISTP

assertions:
  - path: "attributes"
    check: contains_keys
    keys:
      - Data_type
      - Logical_source
      - PI_name
    message: "Missing mandatory global attribute: {key}"

  - path: "variables/.*/attributes"
    check: contains_keys
    keys: [ CATDESC, FIELDNAM, FILLVAL ]
    message: "Variable missing required attribute: {key}"

Available Assertions

Category	Checks
Existence	exists, not_exists
Value	comparison, range, is_type
String	matches
Collection	contains_keys, in, not_in, length, not_empty, requires, array_shape
Relationship	reference_variable
Combinators	all_of, any_of, not

📖 Full Assertions Reference →

Supported File Formats

Format	Extension	Library
CDF	.cdf	pycdfpp

Available Conformance Suites (WIP/Demo)

• ISTP - ISTP Metadata Guidelines
• PDS4 - Planetary Data System v4

Extending AstraLint

Adding a New Codec

Create a new codec in src/astralint/codecs/:

from astralint.base import Codec, File, classproperty


class MyCodec(Codec):
    @classproperty
    def supported_extensions(cls) -> list[str]:
        return ["ext"]

    @staticmethod
    def load(file_url_or_bytes: str | bytes) -> File | None:
        # Transform your file format into the abstract File model
        ...

For remote files, AstraLint provides a get_remote_file function that handles downloading remote files and is_remote_file checks if a file is remote.

Adding a New Assertion Type

Create a new assertion in src/astralint/base/yaml_rules/assertions/:

from typing import Literal, Any
from .base import BaseAssertion, resolve_path, ValidationResult, File


class MyAssertion(BaseAssertion):
    check: Literal["my_check"] = "my_check"

    # Add custom fields as needed, they will be populated from the YAML rule definition
    # e.g., expected_value: Any

    def single_assertion(self, file: File, path: str, value: Any) -> ValidationResult:
        # Implement your validation logic here, this method will be called for each path/value pair that matches the base assertion's path pattern
        # path is the resolved path in the File model, value is the value at that path
        ...

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Project Docs

For how to install uv and Python, see installation.md.

For development workflows, see development.md.

For instructions on publishing to PyPI, see publishing.md.

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This project was built from simple-modern-uv.