Dry-run, strict & warnings

Every write can be checked before it happens. Two control keys and a structured warnings list make that possible.

Dry-run

"_dry_run": true resolves and validates the whole document but writes nothing to the database. The response tells you exactly what would happen, including create vs update, the resolved record ID, and every warning.

On the REST API, add _dry_run to preview.
In the bulk importer, a dry-run always runs first, and nothing is written until you confirm.
In the editor panel, a dry-run preview is shown before each save.

Use it as the default first step for any automated write.

Strict mode

"_strict": true turns any warning into a hard failure. If validation raises any warning, the whole document is rejected and nothing is written. This is recommended for automation, where a silent octa_unknown_field (for example, a typo’d field name) should stop the write rather than quietly drop a value.

Without _strict, warnings are informational and the write proceeds.

Warnings

Every dry-run and every write returns a list of structured warnings.

{ "code": "octa_unknown_field", "path": "fields.hero.headng", "message": "…" }

Each warning has a machine-readable code, a path into the document, and a human message. A clean document produces an empty list.

Common codes

Code	Meaning
`octa_unknown_key`	A top-level key without `_` that isn’t recognised, often a typo. Its value is not saved.
`octa_unknown_control_key`	An unrecognised `_*` control key.
`octa_unknown_field`	A `fields` key not present in the field definition. Value dropped.
`octa_unknown_layout`	A flexible-content layout that isn’t defined. That section is not saved.
`octa_term_not_found`	A taxonomy term slug that doesn’t exist. Assignment skipped.
`octa_relation_not_found`	A relation target that doesn’t exist. Skipped.
`octa_parent_not_found`	The referenced parent doesn’t exist. No fallback to root.
`octa_slug_adjusted`	The slug collided and was auto-suffixed.
`octa_status_adjusted`	The requested status was downgraded, for example with no publish capability.
`octa_author_skipped`	The author couldn’t be set, for lack of capability.

An ideal document produces zero warnings in the preview.

For identity errors like octa_not_found and octa_slug_ambiguous, see Record identity.