> 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/conformance/requirements.md).

# Conformance Requirements

The key words **MUST**, **MUST NOT**, **SHOULD**, **SHOULD NOT**, and **MAY** are used as in RFC 2119. This section states the duties of a conformant implementation. Internet Object is **language-independent**; these requirements describe behavior, not any particular API.

## All implementations

* MUST accept input encoded as UTF-8.
* MUST treat the format as case-sensitive (keys, keywords, type names).
* MUST recognize the structural characters and keywords exactly as defined.

## A conformant parser

* MUST build a document tree according to the [grammar](/appendices/grammar.md).
* MUST report syntax errors with a stable error **code** and a source **position**.
* SHOULD recover from a syntax error by skipping to the next boundary (`~` or `---`) and continuing, rather than aborting the whole document.

## A conformant validator

* MUST validate data against the schema: types, constraints, optionality, nullability.
* MUST recognize the closed set of built-in types and their allowed options (each type's [TypeDef](/schema-definition-language/advanced-schema-concepts/typedef.md)).
* MUST reject a value that violates its type or constraints, with the appropriate error code.
* MUST validate each record independently; one invalid record MUST NOT invalidate others.
* MUST NOT invent new built-in type names; document-local types are declared with `$` references.

## A conformant serializer

* MUST produce output that re-parses to equivalent data (round-trip).
* SHOULD honor schema serialization hints (e.g. number `format`, string quote style).

## Versioning

* The **specification** carries its own version (currently `1.0 Draft`).
* **Implementations** carry their own versions independently and SHOULD declare which specification version they conform to (e.g. "implements Internet Object 1.0").

## Reference implementation

The official TypeScript/JavaScript implementation, [`internet-object`](https://github.com/maniartech/InternetObject-js), serves as a reference implementation. Where this specification and an implementation disagree during the draft period, the discrepancy is tracked and resolved case by case; the specification is the intended source of truth as it stabilizes.

## See Also

* [Validation Model](/conformance/validation-model.md) · [Formal Grammar](/appendices/grammar.md)


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