Validate API

Validation is the recommended pre-flight step before render.

Endpoint: POST https://api.reelforger.com/v1/videos/validate

What validation checks

• request shape/schema
• semantic warnings (timing/layout risks)
• estimated duration and credit cost
• both payload families: recipe payloads (recipe_id + variables) and timeline manifest payloads

For Timeline manifests specifically, validation is where you catch:

• missing or invalid field shapes
• bad asset_id references
• duplicate IDs
• impossible or ambiguous timing setups
• image duration inference gaps
• layout/readability risks that may still render but are likely poor output

What validation does not do

• it does not queue a render job
• it does not consume credits
• it does not simulate full rendering execution

How to use it in production

Use validate before render for both recipe-first and timeline workflows when reliability matters.

1. validate payload
2. fix all hard errors first
3. review warnings and decide whether they are intentional
4. re-run validate after manifest edits
5. render only when the payload is clean or warnings are explicitly acceptable

How to interpret warnings

• Errors mean the manifest is invalid and should be revised before render.
• Warnings mean the payload is valid enough to continue, but ReelForger has detected a likely quality or intent risk.
• For agent workflows, warnings should usually trigger one revision pass rather than being ignored automatically.

Suggested agent loop

1. Build the manifest.
2. Call validate with the exact render body.
3. If there are schema or semantic errors, revise the manifest fields directly.
4. If there are warnings, decide whether they reflect intentional design or an authoring mistake.
5. Re-validate until the result matches the intended output shape.
6. Submit the same body to render.