Loading from external files with `$ref`#

Any dict that is processed by check, check_value, normalize, or normalize_value may include a "$ref" key whose value is a path to an external file. Before validation or normalization, dargs will load that file and merge its contents into the dict, with any keys already present in the dict taking precedence (local overrides).

Loading from external files is disabled by default for security. Pass allow_ref=True to the relevant method to enable this feature:

argument.check(data, allow_ref=True)
argument.normalize(data, allow_ref=True)
argument.check_value(value, allow_ref=True)
argument.normalize_value(value, allow_ref=True)

Supported file formats:

JSON (.json) — no extra dependencies required.
YAML (.yml / .yaml) — requires pyyaml. Install it with pip install pyyaml or pip install dargs[yaml].

Example — split a large config into reusable pieces:

{
  "model": {
    "$ref": "model_defaults.json",
    "hidden_size": 256
  }
}

The contents of model_defaults.json are loaded first, then "hidden_size": 256 overrides (or adds to) the loaded values before the dict is validated or normalized.

Loading from external files with $ref

Loading from external files with $ref#

Loading from external files with `$ref`#