xYang

Parse YANG modules, validate JSON instance data, and export JSON Schema—without a NETCONF stack.

xYang targets real-world modules and pipelines: agents, CI, and schema tooling that need RFC 7950-style checks (must, when, if-feature, built-in types, leafrefs, and the rest) on one consolidated JSON document (RFC 7951). It can also emit a JSON Schema (2020-12) view with x-yang metadata for round-trip where supported.

The same feature set is implemented twice:

Not every YANG statement is modeled; unsupported constructs are skipped with a warning so mixed modules still load. See FEATURES.md for the full matrix, JSON hybrid format, and known gaps.

Repository: github.com/exergy-connect/xYang · npm: @exergy-connect/xyang · Issues: github.com/exergy-connect/xYang/issues

MIT licensed.

Install

Python

pip install xyang
# development: pip install -e .

Optional: PyYAML for .yaml / .yml instance files on xyang validate.

TypeScript

npm install @exergy-connect/xyang
# from checkout:
cd ts && npm install && npm run build

Quick start

CLI

# Python
xyang parse examples/meta-model.yang
xyang validate examples/meta-model.yang data.json
xyang convert examples/meta-model.yang -o meta-model.yang.json

# TypeScript (after build, or npx from package)
xyang-ts parse examples/meta-model.yang
xyang-ts validate examples/meta-model.yang data.json
xyang-ts convert examples/meta-model.yang

Shared flags: --include-path DIR (repeatable) for imports; on validate, --anydata-validation off|complete|candidate and --anydata-module PATH for validating RFC 7951 qualified JSON under anydata (see below).

Python API

from xyang import parse_yang_file, YangValidator

module = parse_yang_file("examples/meta-model.yang")
validator = YangValidator(module)

data = {"data-model": {"name": "example", "entities": []}}
is_valid, errors, warnings = validator.validate(data)

TypeScript API

import { parseYangFile, YangValidator } from "@exergy-connect/xyang";

const module = parseYangFile("examples/meta-model.yang");
const validator = new YangValidator(module);

const result = validator.validate({ "data-model": { name: "example", entities: [] } });

Example: IETF YANG Push notification

Under examples/ietf-yang-push/ there is a captured device notification: 27-push-update.json uses the RFC 8791 envelope (ietf-yp-notification:envelope) with a ietf-yang-push:push-change-update payload in contents anydata. The modules/ directory is the publisher YANG library.

Validate the envelope and the qualified subtree under contents:

Python

xyang validate \
  examples/ietf-yang-push/modules/ietf-yp-notification@2025-06-04.yang \
  examples/ietf-yang-push/27-push-update.json \
  --include-path examples/ietf-yang-push/modules \
  --anydata-validation complete \
  --anydata-module examples/ietf-yang-push/modules/ietf-yang-push@2019-09-09.yang \
  --anydata-module examples/ietf-yang-push/modules/ietf-distributed-notif@2024-04-21.yang \
  --anydata-module examples/ietf-yang-push/modules/ietf-yp-observation@2025-02-24.yang \
  --anydata-module examples/ietf-yang-push/modules/ietf-alarms@2019-09-11.yang \
  --anydata-module examples/ietf-yang-push/modules/ietf-alarms-x733@2019-09-11.yang

TypeScript (same flags; run from repo root after cd ts && npm run build)

node ts/dist/cli.js validate \
  examples/ietf-yang-push/modules/ietf-yp-notification@2025-06-04.yang \
  examples/ietf-yang-push/27-push-update.json \
  --include-path examples/ietf-yang-push/modules \
  --anydata-validation complete \
  --anydata-module examples/ietf-yang-push/modules/ietf-yang-push@2019-09-09.yang \
  --anydata-module examples/ietf-yang-push/modules/ietf-distributed-notif@2024-04-21.yang \
  --anydata-module examples/ietf-yang-push/modules/ietf-yp-observation@2025-02-24.yang \
  --anydata-module examples/ietf-yang-push/modules/ietf-alarms@2019-09-11.yang \
  --anydata-module examples/ietf-yang-push/modules/ietf-alarms-x733@2019-09-11.yang

• Host module — ietf-yp-notification defines envelope (event-time, hostname, sequence-number, contents anydata).
• --anydata-validation complete — validates RFC 7951 module:node members under contents (push update, observation timestamps, nested alarm notification in a yang-patch edit, etc.).
• --anydata-module — loads only the modules needed for that subtree; imports resolve via --include-path. Omit it to scan every *.yang under the include path (slower).

Use candidate instead of complete for structural checks only (no must / when / types on the anydata subtree). More detail: examples/ietf-yang-push/README.md, examples/anydata_validation_usage.py.

What xYang does (and does not)

Does

• Parse YANG 1.1-shaped modules: containers, lists, leaves, choices, groupings, augments, features, imports, and common constraints.
• Validate a single JSON instance tree against the module data model (types, cardinality, must / when, if-feature, leafrefs, identityrefs, etc.).
• Optional anydata subtree validation for opaque payloads (YANG Push notifications, RPC output shapes, etc.) per draft-ietf-netmod-yang-anydata-validation.
• Export JSON Schema with x-yang annotations for tooling and round-trip where supported.

Does not (today)

• NETCONF/RESTCONF servers, XML instance encoding, or incremental edit validation.
• Full RFC 7950 surface (rpc / notification / deviation instance validation is limited or skipped—see FEATURES.md).
• A generic XPath 1.0 engine; expressions are evaluated in schema context for must / when (subset documented in FEATURES.md).

Repository layout

xYang/
├── src/xyang/          # Python library + xyang CLI
├── ts/                 # TypeScript package (@exergy-connect/xyang) + xyang-ts CLI
├── examples/           # meta-model.yang, ietf-yang-push/, samples
├── tests/              # Python tests
├── FEATURES.md         # Authoritative feature list
└── pyproject.toml      # PEP 517/621 project metadata and tooling config

Development

Python

pip install -e ".[dev]"
pytest

TypeScript

cd ts && npm install && npm test

typescript is pinned to 6.x (not 7) because tsup 8.5.1 bundles rollup-plugin-dts for dts: true builds, and that toolchain fails under TypeScript 7 with useCaseSensitiveFileNames errors during .d.ts generation. Revisit when tsup#1405 is resolved or tsup ships a compatible rollup-plugin-dts.

GitHub Actions

Workflows in this repository

Both workflows run on pushes to main and on pull requests that touch ts/** (and related paths).

Committed CI artifacts

The Build TypeScript CI artifacts workflow commits two bundled outputs produced by ts/scripts/build-ci-artifacts.mjs:

Regenerate locally:

cd ts && npm install && npm run build:ci
git add -f artifacts/xyang-ts.mjs docs/xyang.umd.min.js

On same-repo PRs and pushes to main, the workflow auto-commits when artifacts drift. On fork PRs, the check fails instead (no write access to the contributor branch).

The full npm package under ts/dist/ is not committed; use npm run build:check for publish-style validation.

xyang-ts composite action (other repositories)

Reuse .github/actions/xyang-ts to check out xYang and run the CLI from committed artifacts/xyang-ts.mjs — no npm install or build step in the consumer workflow.

Minimal validate job:

jobs:
  validate-yang:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v6

      - uses: exergy-connect/xYang/.github/actions/xyang-ts@main
        with:
          ref: main
          command: validate
          yang-file: model/example.yang
          data-file: data/instance.json
          include-path: model/

Inputs

Outputs: cli (path to artifacts/xyang-ts.mjs), xyang-root (xYang repo root).

Setup only (run multiple commands in later steps):

- uses: exergy-connect/xYang/.github/actions/xyang-ts@main
  id: xyang
  with:
    ref: v0.1.3

- run: xyang-ts parse model/example.yang
- run: xyang-ts convert model/example.yang

Anydata validation (use setup-only mode; flags are CLI-only):

- uses: exergy-connect/xYang/.github/actions/xyang-ts@main
  with:
    ref: main

- run: |
    xyang-ts validate modules/host.yang data/envelope.json \
      --include-path modules/ \
      --anydata-validation complete \
      --anydata-module modules/payload.yang

Pin ref to a release tag or SHA once this workflow is on main.

License

MIT License