> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://docs.internetobject.org/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://docs.internetobject.org/collections/collection-rules.md).

# Collection Rules

## Records without a schema

If no schema is defined, each record may have a different shape, and values are mapped to positional indices (`0`, `1`, `2`, …):

```ruby
---
~ John Doe, 20, female
~ true, false
~ marketing, 123, { Z Street, Los Angeles, CA }
```

The first record loads as `{ "0": "John Doe", "1": 20, "2": "female" }`, and so on.

> It is good practice to define a schema even though collections allow schema-less records.

## Empty records

A record consisting of just `~` is an **empty object** (`{}`). It is valid only if **every** field in the schema is optional and/or nullable:

```ruby
~ $schema: { name?*: string, age?*: { int, max: 25 } }
---
~ John, 25     # ✓
~ William      # ✓ (age omitted)
~              # ✓ (empty object; all fields optional/nullable)
```

If any field is required, an empty record fails:

```ruby
~ $schema: { name: string, age?*: { int, max: 25 } }
---
~ John, 25     # ✓
~              # ✗ value-required — name is required
```

## Independent validation & error handling

Each record is validated independently. A failing record is marked as an error; the rest are unaffected:

```ruby
~ $schema: { name: string, age: { int, max: 25 } }
---
~ James, 20    # ✓
~ Alex, 30     # ✗ invalid-range — age exceeds 25
~ Bob, 22      # ✓
```

A conformant processor SHOULD collect per-record errors and continue, rather than stopping at the first failure.

## See Also

* [Collection](/collections/collection.md) · [Creating Collections](/collections/creating-collection.md)
* [Parser Behavior & Recovery](/parsing-and-errors/parser-behavior.md)


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