Recursive Self Referencing JSON-Schema

Question

Is it a valid json schema:

  object:
    $ref: '#/definitions/object'

Would you recommend to use such format?

Answer 1

Self references are allowed and useful. However, your example looks like it would just be a referential infinite loop. Here is an example of a JSON Schema that uses recursive references to define a tree structure of unlimited depth.

{
  "type": "object",
  "properties": {
    "name": { "type": "string" },
    "tree": { "$ref": "#/definitions/tree" }
  },
  "definitions": {
    "tree": {
      "type": "object",
      "properties": {
        "value": { "type": "string" },
        "branches": {
          "type": "array",
          "items": { "$ref": "#/definitions/tree" },
          "minItems": 1
        }
      },
      "required": ["value"]
    }
  }
}