Load your own probeinterface file in the viewer

.gitignore

@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 # Probe viewer generated files (created at build time)
 apps/probe-viewer/public/data/
 apps/probe-viewer/public/probes-manifest.json
+apps/probe-viewer/public/probe.schema.json
 apps/probe-viewer/node_modules/
 apps/probe-viewer/dist/
 apps/probe-viewer/.vite/

apps/probe-viewer/README.md

@@ -24,6 +24,8 @@ An interactive web-based visualization tool for browsing microelectrode probe de
    - Read the probe JSON files from the manufacturer folders in this repository
    - Generate `public/probes-manifest.json` with metadata for all probes
    - Copy probe JSON files to `public/data/`
+   - Download the ProbeInterface JSON schema to `public/probe.schema.json`, used to
+     validate probe files a user loads from their own computer
    - Start the Vite dev server
 
 2. **Access the app:**
@@ -78,6 +80,7 @@ apps/probe-viewer/
 │   └── hooks/           # Custom React hooks
 ├── public/
 │   ├── probes-manifest.json  # Generated probe catalog
+│   ├── probe.schema.json     # Downloaded ProbeInterface schema
 │   └── data/                 # Generated probe JSON files
 └── index.html
 ```

apps/probe-viewer/build.py

@@ -22,6 +22,11 @@
 manifest is generated directly from the manufacturer folders at the repo root.
 The manifest metadata is read straight from the ProbeInterface JSON, so this
 script has no third-party dependencies.
+
+It also downloads the ProbeInterface JSON schema into the app, so the viewer can
+tell a user whether a file they load is spec-compliant. The schema is fetched
+from the same upstream URL the data tests use (see tests.py), which keeps the
+viewer's notion of "compliant" identical to the one CI enforces on this catalog.
 """
 
 from __future__ import annotations
@@ -31,10 +36,17 @@
 import shutil
 import subprocess
 import sys
+import urllib.request
 from dataclasses import asdict, dataclass
 from pathlib import Path
 from typing import Iterable
 
+# The ProbeInterface JSON schema, from the same source tests.py validates against.
+SCHEMA_URL = (
+    "https://raw.githubusercontent.com/SpikeInterface/probeinterface/main/"
+    "src/probeinterface/schema/probe.json.schema"
+)
+
 
 # ============================================================================
 # Manifest generation
@@ -170,6 +182,20 @@ def generate_manifest(
     return entries
 
 
+def download_schema(destination_dir: Path) -> Path:
+    # Kept in step with tests.py, which validates this catalog against the same
+    # URL: the viewer must not call a file non-compliant that CI accepts. The
+    # released package is deliberately not used as the source -- its schema
+    # predates contact_sides and would reject the double-sided probes in this
+    # very catalog.
+    with urllib.request.urlopen(SCHEMA_URL) as response:
+        schema = response.read()
+
+    destination = destination_dir / "probe.schema.json"
+    destination.write_bytes(schema)
+    return destination
+
+
 def write_manifest(entries: Iterable[ManifestEntry], destination: Path) -> None:
     destination.parent.mkdir(parents=True, exist_ok=True)
     payload = [entry.to_json() for entry in entries]
@@ -240,6 +266,9 @@ def main() -> None:
     write_manifest(entries, manifest_path)
     print(f"Wrote {len(entries)} entries to {manifest_path}")
 
+    schema_path = download_schema(public_dir)
+    print(f"Downloaded probe schema to {schema_path}")
+
     if args.dev:
         # Start dev server
         print("Starting dev server...")

apps/probe-viewer/package.json

@@ -10,6 +10,7 @@
     "preview": "vite preview"
   },
   "dependencies": {
+    "ajv": "^8.20.0",
     "react": "^19.1.1",
     "react-dom": "^19.1.1",
     "react-router-dom": "^7.9.4",