bounding keyword (v5 proposal) - switch as an alternative

var schema = { "id": "http://some.site.somewhere/entry-schema#", "$schema": "http://json-schema.org/draft-04/schema#", "description": "schema for an fstab entry", "type": "object", "required": [ "record" ], "properties": { "record": { "type": "object", "oneOf": [ { "$ref": "#/definitions/student" }, { "$ref": "#/definitions/book" } ] } }, "definitions": { "student": { "properties": { "type": { "enum": [ "student" ], "bounding": true }, "age": { "type": "integer" } }, "required": [ "age" ], "additionalProperties": false }, "book": { "properties": { "type": { "enum": [ "book" ], "bounding": true }, "pages": { "type": "integer" } }, "required": [ "pages" ], "additionalProperties": false } } }; var data = { "record": { "type": "student" } }; var ajv = require('ajv')({allErrors: true, v5: true}); console.log(ajv.validate(schema, data)); console.log(ajv.errorsText()); var schema2 = { "type": "object", "required": [ "record" ], "properties": { "record": { "type": "object", "switch": [ { "if": { "properties": { "type": { "constant": "student" } } }, "then": { "$ref": "#/definitions/student" } }, { "if": { "properties": { "type": { "constant": "student" } } }, "then": { "$ref": "#/definitions/book" } }, { "then": false } ] } }, "definitions": { "student": { "properties": { "type": {}, "age": { "type": "integer" } }, "required": [ "age" ], "additionalProperties": false }, "book": { "properties": { "type": {}, "pages": { "type": "integer" } }, "required": [ "pages" ], "additionalProperties": false } } }; console.log(ajv.validate(schema2, data)); console.log(ajv.errorsText());