> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.scanova.io/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Validate a bulk operation file

> POST /bulk-operation/validate/

Dry-run validates an uploaded sheet against a category's schema, on the **Management API** host (`api.scanova.io`), authenticated with your raw Management API key.

```
POST https://api.scanova.io/bulk-operation/validate/
Authorization: 401f7ac837da42b97f613d789819ff93537bee6a
```

<ParamField body="file" type="file" required>
  The sheet to validate (CSV or XLSX), typically a filled-in copy of a [sample file](/api-reference/management-api/bulk-operation/sample-file).
</ParamField>

<ParamField body="category" type="string" required>
  The QR category slug the sheet is meant for, max 100 characters.
</ParamField>

<RequestExample>
  ```bash cURL theme={null}
  curl -X POST "https://api.scanova.io/bulk-operation/validate/" \
    -H "Authorization: 401f7ac837da42b97f613d789819ff93537bee6a" \
    -F "category=vcard" \
    -F "file=@vcard-batch.csv"
  ```
</RequestExample>

<ResponseExample>
  ```json 200 theme={null}
  {
    "is_valid": true,
    "validation_errors": [],
    "validation_warnings": [],
    "file_info": { "rows": 500, "columns": ["qr code id", "name", "phone"] },
    "message": "File is valid."
  }
  ```
</ResponseExample>

Nothing is created by this call — no `BulkOperation` record, no QR Codes. Use it to surface column/row errors before spending a [Bulk-generate QR Codes](/api-reference/management-api/bulk-operation/generate) call. `200` with `is_valid: true` on success; `400` with `is_valid: false` and populated `validation_errors` otherwise.

## Related

* [Download a sample file](/api-reference/management-api/bulk-operation/sample-file) — the template this sheet should be filled from.
* [Bulk-generate QR Codes](/api-reference/management-api/bulk-operation/generate) — the real run, once validation passes.
* [Management API overview](/api-reference/management-api/overview) — the auth scheme and quota rules that apply to this endpoint.


## OpenAPI

````yaml api-reference/openapi/management-api.json POST /bulk-operation/validate/
openapi: 3.1.0
info:
  title: Scanova Management API (v2)
  description: >-
    The complete Scanova Management API — every endpoint available at
    api.scanova.io (QR codes, folders, tags, leads, forms, analytics, plans,
    shared users & roles), plus the token-creation and usage-stats endpoints
    used to authenticate against it. Every path and request/response shape below
    was verified live against a real API key and the actual running backend
    (Phase 7, 2026-08-16) — not guessed from reading urls.py alone.
  version: 2.0.0
servers:
  - url: https://api.scanova.io
    description: Management API — QR/folder/tag/lead/form/analytics/plans endpoints
security:
  - apiKeyAuth: []
paths:
  /bulk-operation/validate/:
    post:
      summary: Validate a bulk operation file
      description: >-
        A dry run: checks the uploaded sheet's columns and row data against the
        category's schema without creating a BulkOperation record or QR codes.
        Use this before `generate` to surface errors up front.
      operationId: validateBulkOperationFile
      requestBody:
        content:
          multipart/form-data:
            example:
              file: (binary file)
              category: vcard
      responses:
        '200':
          description: File is valid.
          content:
            application/json:
              example:
                is_valid: true
                validation_errors: []
                validation_warnings: []
                file_info:
                  rows: 500
                  columns:
                    - qr code id
                    - name
                    - phone
                message: File is valid.
        '400':
          description: File is invalid — see validation_errors.
          content:
            application/json:
              example:
                is_valid: false
                validation_errors:
                  - 'Row 12: missing required field ''name''.'
                validation_warnings: []
                file_info:
                  rows: 500
                  columns:
                    - qr code id
                    - name
                    - phone
components:
  securitySchemes:
    apiKeyAuth:
      type: apiKey
      in: header
      name: Authorization
      description: >-
        Send your Management API key as the raw value of the Authorization
        header — no "Bearer " or "Token " prefix, and no other characters.
        Example: `Authorization: 401f7ac837da42b97f613d789819ff93537bee6a`. A
        header containing more than one space-separated part is rejected
        outright. Requests also require the request's Host header to be the
        management API host (e.g. api.scanova.io) — the same key sent to the
        regular API host will not authenticate.

````