Validation Glossary

When you load a file, the game shows a report. Errors block the import (fix and re-export). Warnings proceed — they tell you what the game filled in or adjusted. Info summarizes the league. The report lists all errors at once, so you can fix a whole batch per attempt.

Errors (must fix)

code	means	fix
invalid-json	The file isn't valid JSON.	Check for a trailing comma, unquoted key, or a broken merge.
not-an-object	The top level isn't a JSON object.	Wrap everything in { ... }.
missing-format-version	No formatVersion.	Add "formatVersion": 1.
unsupported-format-version	A formatVersion this build doesn't read.	Use 1.
missing-required-field	A player/staff is missing name, team, position, ovr, or a staff role.	Add the named field (the path points at it).
bad-field-type	A field has the wrong type (e.g. ovr as a string).	Use the type in the format guide.
unknown-team	A team / championTeamId isn't one of the 32 ids.	Use a lowercase team id.
unknown-position	A position isn't one of the 17.	Use a valid position code.
unknown-role	A staff role isn't one of the 15.	Use a valid role code.
impossible-value	A value is out of range — ovr > 100, pot < ovr, guaranteedM > totalM, draft round > 7, a team both champion and runner-up.	Correct the number.
duplicate-player	Two players share a name on the same team.	Rename one (or fix a merge that doubled a team).
duplicate-team	A team is overridden twice.	Keep one TeamFact per team.
duplicate-staff-role	Two staff hold the same role on one team (e.g. two HCs).	One of each role per team.
forbidden-roster-shape	A team has more than 90 players.	Trim to ≤ 90.
cap-breaking	A team's stated contracts exceed the $280M cap.	The report lists the top deals driving it — trim totalM, drop a contract, or spread it over more years.
career-stat-future-season	A careerStats line's season is at or after meta.season.	A career line is a past season — use a calendar year before meta.season.
career-record-future-season	A careerRecord line's season is at or after meta.season.	A coach's record is a past season — use a year before meta.season.
record-contradicts-claim	A WON_SB careerRecord names a champion the file already gave to a different team that season.	Fix the year, the team, or the conflicting champion claim.
unknown-award	An award claim isn't COTY or EOTY.	Use COTY (Coach of the Year) or EOTY (Executive of the Year).
legacy-still-active	A legacy entry's career ends at or after your file's season.	A legacy record is a RETIRED figure — seat a working coach with a staff entry instead.
legacy-unknown-role	A legacy roles value isn't HC or GM.	Those are the only two the legacy boards track.
duplicate-legacy	The same legacy name appears twice.	Keep one entry per legend.

Warnings (import still proceeds)

code	means
filler-generation	The game generated depth/camp players to complete thin rosters. The count is shown; every filler is flagged generated: true.
feasibility-adjusted	Your stated attributes made the stated ovr unreachable; the attributes were honored and OVR landed where they put it (delta shown).
pot-clamped	A stated pot below the materialized ovr was raised to ovr (potential can't sit under current ability).
cap-approx-high	A rough parse-time estimate flags a team as possibly over-cap. The exact check runs at import; trust the blocking cap-breaking error over this heads-up.
chronology-conflict	Two claims name different champions for one season; the first (in file order) wins.
history-out-of-range	A history/accomplishment season is outside the fillable 30-year window; the claim is ignored.
history-blast-radius	You included history/accomplishments — the whole league's fabricated past is reshaped, so teams you didn't author get different coaching histories than a default game.
empty-history-fact	A history fact names neither champion nor runner-up; it does nothing.
fa-with-contract	A free agent carried a contract; it's ignored (FAs are contract-less).
fa-with-team	A freeAgents entry named a team; it's treated as unsigned.
draft-and-udfa	A player is both drafted and UDFA; the draft origin is used.
unknown-attribute	An attribute key isn't recognized (likely a typo); it's ignored.
unknown-personality / unknown-backstory / unknown-trait	A staff value isn't in the catalog; it's sampled instead.
unknown-market-size / unknown-conference / unknown-division	A team override value isn't recognized; the default is kept.
bad-color	A team color isn't a #RRGGBB hex; the default is kept.
bad-jersey	A jersey isn't an integer 0–99.
implausible-age / implausible-birthYear	An unusual (but not impossible) age; double-check it.
unknown-field	An unrecognized field name (likely a typo — e.g. positon); it's ignored.
career-stat-out-of-range	A careerStats season is more than 30 years before meta.season; the line still displays.
career-stat-unknown-team	A careerStats line's team isn't one of the 32 ids; it's shown as the raw id.
stats-vs-position	A careerStats stat doesn't fit the player's position (a QB with tackles); the line is kept as authored.
unknown-stat	A careerStats stat name isn't recognized (likely a typo); it's ignored.
career-record-out-of-range	A careerRecord season is more than 30 years before meta.season; the line still displays.
career-record-unknown-team / career-record-unknown-role	A careerRecord team/role isn't recognized; shown as-is / his current role is used.
record-length-mismatch	A careerRecord W+L+T is far from a 17-game season; double-check it.
unknown-playoff-result	A careerRecord playoffResult isn't one of MISSED WILDCARD DIVISIONAL CONF LOST_SB WON_SB; treated as MISSED.
award-on-history	An award was put on top-level history; awards belong on a coach's accomplishments, so it's ignored there.
contract-expired-at-import	A rostered player's contract already ran out before your file's season. He loads anyway, with zero years left, and hits free agency at the next roll. Almost always the extension trap — add throughSeason.
contract-starts-before-signing	throughSeason minus years puts the deal's start earlier than yearSigned. One of the three numbers is off.
legacy-unknown-team	A legacy entry names a team that doesn't exist; it's shown as the id.
legacy-accomplishment-outside-career	A title/award season falls outside the stated careerYears, so it can't be stamped on his record.
legacy-hof-before-retirement	hofYear precedes the end of his career.
legacy-claim-conflict	A legend claims a title or award season that an ACTIVE imported coach already claimed. The active coach takes precedence; the legend's claim is dropped.
unknown-tendency	A tendencies id the game does not know.
tendency-wrong-group	A tendencies id that belongs to another position group (a pressBias on a QB).
bad-tendency-level	A tendencies value that is not an integer from 1 to 5.

Info (just so you know)

Teams covered, players authored, free agents, staff imported, history facts applied, the per-team fidelity-tier profile, your league's OVR distribution vs. the default — so you know at a glance whether your league runs hot, cold, or on par — and a contract summary (how many deals you authored, how many state throughSeason, and how many expire in the file's own season). That last number is the expiry-cliff detector: if most of your league is walking into free agency at once, you have hit the extension trap.