Validator

Validate datasets against PRISM and BIDS standards.

→ For a hands-on overview of the validation workflow, see Studio Overview.

Running Validation

In PRISM Studio

1. Go to Validator in the navigation

2. Your project folder is pre-selected (if a project is loaded)

3. Or browse to select a different folder

4. Click Validate

Command Line

# Basic validation
python prism-validator /path/to/project

# With auto-fix
python prism-validator /path/to/project --fix

# JSON output
python prism-validator /path/to/project --json-pretty

Understanding Results

Severity Levels

Icon	Level	Meaning	Action
❌	Error	Dataset is invalid	Must fix
⚠️	Warning	May cause issues	Should fix
💡	Suggestion	Best practice	Consider fixing

Result Categories

• Valid files: Files that pass all checks (shown in green)

• Issues: Problems that need attention

• Summary: Count of errors, warnings, suggestions

Common Error Codes

Code	Description	Solution
PRISM101	Missing sidecar JSON	Create a .json file with the same name
PRISM102	Invalid JSON syntax	Check for missing commas, brackets
PRISM201	Invalid filename	Rename to sub-XXX_task-YYY_modality.ext
PRISM202	Missing participant ID	Add sub-XXX prefix to filename
PRISM301	Missing required field	Add the field to your JSON sidecar
PRISM302	Invalid field value	Check the value against the schema

→ See Error Codes Reference for the complete list.

Auto-Fix

Some issues can be fixed automatically:

Fixable Issues

• Missing dataset_description.json → Creates default file

• Missing sidecar JSON → Creates from template

• Invalid line endings → Converts to Unix format

Using Auto-Fix

In Studio:

1. Click the Fix button next to fixable issues

2. Review proposed changes

3. Apply fixes

Command Line:

python prism-validator /path/to/project --fix

BIDS Validation

PRISM Studio can also run the standard BIDS validator:

In Studio

Toggle Include BIDS Validation before validating.

Command Line

python prism-validator /path/to/project --bids

BIDS vs PRISM

Check	BIDS Validator	PRISM
MRI structure	✅	✅ (delegates)
MRI metadata	✅	✅ (delegates)
Survey files	❌	✅
Biometrics	❌	✅
Eyetracking	Partial	✅
Item descriptions	❌	✅

Validation Output Formats

JSON

python prism-validator /path/to/project --json-pretty > results.json

SARIF (for CI/CD)

python prism-validator /path/to/project --format sarif > results.sarif

Markdown

python prism-validator /path/to/project --format markdown > results.md