Spectral is a flexible JSON and YAML linter for creating automated API style guides, with built-in support for OpenAPI (v2.0, v3.0, v3.1), AsyncAPI (v2.x), and Arazzo (v1.0). It helps you validate and lint API specs using predefined rulesets, and you can also define custom rules and functions for additional checks.
Project status
- Spectral (stoplightio/spectral) appears actively maintained, with a very recent upstream push on 2026-08-11 and continuing package updates through 2026-08 (for example, v6.16.2 on 2026-07-20 and v6.16.3 on 2026-08-03).
- Update cadence looks healthy, with multiple update events within weeks in mid 2026 (v6.16.1 on 2026-06-30, v6.16.2 on 2026-07-20, and v6.16.3 on 2026-08-03), suggesting ongoing development rather than maintenance mode.
AI summary generated
Recent updates
v6.16.3
Release v6.16.3 includes a set of fixes and dependency-related maintenance changes, including ruleset test adjustments and ruleset behavior improvements around enum entries containing null values. It also mentions various development and testing environment updates, such as TypeScript and Node.js testing matrix updates, plus a dependency bump intended to address a security issue.
Security@stoplight/spectral-rulesets-1.22.7
This release updates the @stoplight/spectral-rulesets package version from 1.22.6 to 1.22.7. The only code diff shown updates package.json and adds a CHANGELOG.md entry describing a rulesets bug fix.
@stoplight/spectral-ruleset-migrator-1.12.2
No release notes were provided for @stoplight/spectral-ruleset-migrator version 1.12.2, so the documented changes cannot be determined from the publisher content. To assess upgrade risk, you should compare this version’s changelog or git diff against your current installed version, focusing on API surface, behavior changes, and dependency updates.
v6.16.2
v6.16.2 primarily adds Scarf (telemetry) support across Spectral components, including Docker runtime telemetry and wiring Scarf into rulesets, formats, and functions. It also includes repo and release-process changes for publishing Docker images and building binaries, plus dependency/version maintenance across the monorepo packages.
Featuresv6.16.1
v6.16.1 ships a large batch of fixes and dependency bumps, including CLI output and linting improvements, and core changes around ruleset validation and severity behavior. It also adds support for richer ruleset source context (so errors can include file location information), and updates CI workflows from CircleCI to GitHub Actions.
SecurityFeaturesv6.15.0
Spectral v6.15.0 adds support for a per-diagnostic documentationUrl that can be propagated from rules through core diagnostics into multiple output formatters. It also introduces a new core ruleset function named or, and updates AsyncAPI v3 documentation support. The release notes describe these themes at a high level, but the code diff shows additional CLI flag and formatter output-shape changes not explicitly called out.
Featuresv6.14.3
This release (v6.14.3) has no publisher-provided release notes. The actual change set is limited to dependency and lockfile updates, with no direct application code diffs shown.
v6.14.2
v6.14.2 updates Spectral packages by bumping dependencies, primarily to address a CVE in jsonpath-plus and to align dependent packages on the updated spectral-core. The code diff provided shows only manifest/changelog/lockfile changes, not application logic changes.
Securityv6.14.1
v6.14.1 is a monorepo release that primarily bumps dependencies across Spectral packages (notably spectral-core) and updates the CLI/tooling inputs used for publishing, including Docker-related release automation. The release notes describe it as dependency fixes, but the diff shows a broad set of version and dependency range changes across many packages.
v6.14.0
v6.14.0 drops support for Node 12/14 and introduces AsyncAPI v3 support across Spectral's formats and rulesets. The release also includes multiple ruleset improvements and several dependency bumps (including jsonpath-plus for a CVE fix).
BreakingSecurityFeaturesv6.13.1
Spectral v6.13.1 adds initial Arazzo v1 support (format detection and predefined rulesets), and introduces two new CLI output formatters, markdown and code climate (GitLab). It also extends the built-in xor function/ruleset support to allow multiple properties, and includes a core fix related to formatter format matching.
SecurityFeaturesv6.11.1
v6.11.1 focuses on rulesets improvements and a small formats change. The release adds scope validation to the OAS operation security defined rules, improves jsonSchemaLoose enum detection, and tightens server variables and oasExample sanitization behavior.
Features