---
title: Getting Started
description: Install @zap-studio/validation and validate your first payload in a few lines.
type: package
package: "@zap-studio/validation"
---

This page walks you through installing `@zap-studio/validation` and validating your first payload. For deeper details, check the other pages in this section.

## Install

<CodeGroup>

```bash npm
npm install @zap-studio/validation
```

```bash yarn
yarn add @zap-studio/validation
```

```bash pnpm
pnpm add @zap-studio/validation
```

```bash bun
bun add @zap-studio/validation
```

```bash deno
deno add jsr:@zap-studio/validation
```

</CodeGroup>

## Define a Schema

The helpers accept any [Standard Schema](https://standardschema.dev)-compatible schema. This example uses Zod, but Valibot, ArkType, or any other compatible library works the same way.

```ts
import { z } from "zod";

const userSchema = z.object({
  name: z.string(),
  age: z.number(),
});
```

## Validate Data

Use `standardValidate` to validate a value against the schema. By default it does not throw — it returns the raw Standard Schema result, which has either a `value` or an `issues` property.

```ts
import { standardValidate } from "@zap-studio/validation";

const result = await standardValidate(input, userSchema);

if (result.issues) {
  console.error("Validation failed", result.issues);
} else {
  console.log("Validation passed", result.value);
}
```

## Throw on Failure

Pass `throwOnError: true` to get the parsed value directly. On failure, the helper throws a `ValidationError` instead of returning issues.

```ts
import { standardValidate, ValidationError } from "@zap-studio/validation";

try {
  const user = await standardValidate(input, userSchema, {
    throwOnError: true,
  });

  console.log(user.name);
} catch (error) {
  if (error instanceof ValidationError) {
    console.error("Validation failed", error.issues);
  }
}
```