scout config validate

Validate an OpenTelemetry Collector YAML configuration file without needing a running collector or Scout backend. Checks structure, component names, pipeline references, and best practices.

Usage

scout config validate [flags]

You can also pipe a config via stdin:

cat otel-collector.yaml | scout config validate

Flags

Flag	Type	Default	Description
--file	path	—	Path to the YAML config file. Reads from stdin if omitted
--raw	bool	false	Output structured JSON instead of human-readable text

Examples

Validate a config file:

scout config validate --file otel-collector-config.yaml

Validate from stdin:

cat otel-collector-config.yaml | scout config validate

Output structured JSON for CI integration:

scout config validate --file otel-collector-config.yaml --raw

Validation Stages

The validator checks your configuration in five stages:

1. YAML parsing — syntax correctness
2. Top-level structure — required sections (service, pipelines, components)
3. Component names — checked against the otelcol-contrib registry (v0.111.0)
4. Cross-reference integrity — pipeline references match defined components
5. Best practices — unused components, missing health check extensions

Errors fail validation. Warnings are reported but don't affect the exit code.

Exit Codes

Code	Meaning
0	Valid configuration (warnings allowed)
1	Validation errors found
2	I/O or usage error (file not found, no input)

tip

Use exit codes in CI pipelines to gate deployments on valid configurations:

scout config validate --file otel-collector-config.yaml || exit 1

See Also

• config init — generate a configuration file
• config test — live-test a configuration