YAML with TAB Indentation, Intentionally Invalid
An intentionally invalid YAML file indented with real TAB characters, which the spec forbids for indentation. The final key shows the legal case (a tab inside a quoted scalar), so a parser can be checked for rejecting one without rejecting the other.
# INTENTIONALLY INVALID. YAML forbids the TAB character as indentation; only spaces may
# indent a node. The lines below are indented with real TAB characters (U+0009), so a
# conforming loader must raise rather than guess. Tabs inside a scalar VALUE are legal,
# which is why the last key is fine and the ones above it are not.
pipeline:
name: broken
stages:
- build
- test
legal_tab_inside_value: "a tab inside a quoted scalar is allowed"
Specifications
- Variant
- intentionally invalid
- Indent Character
- TAB (U+0009)
- Tab Indented Lines
- 4
- Legal Tab In Scalar
- 1
Testing contract
Expected to fail- Scenario
- Reject TAB indentation while still accepting a TAB inside a quoted scalar
- Expected result
- The loader raises a scanner error naming the tab character at the first indented line, and does not raise on the quoted scalar containing a tab
What is a .yaml file?
YAML (YAML Ain't Markup Language) is a human-readable data-serialization format using indentation, key-value pairs, and lists, and is a superset of JSON. It supports comments, anchors, and multiple documents per file, favoring readability for configuration. Its indentation sensitivity makes it error-prone to hand-edit.
How to use this file
Use an example YAML file to test config parsers, indentation and anchor handling, multi-document streams, and safe-loading to avoid arbitrary object construction.
How to use this file for testing
“YAML with TAB Indentation, Intentionally Invalid” is a deterministic Testaroo fixture for Error handling, Config parsing, Schema validation. Deliberately corrupt and invalid files, clearly labelled, for testing how your tool fails.
Documented properties for this file: YAML · 447 bytes. Compare results against paired or grouped companions on this page when present (clean↔damaged, searchable↔scanned, or format twins) so scores stay reproducible across runs.
Download the file once, keep the path stable in CI or local scripts, and treat the spec table as the contract: dimensions, seeds, field lists, and roles are intentional. Corrupt or invalid samples are labelled as such, expect parsers to fail loudly rather than silently accept them.
Pipeline and infrastructure fixtures are inert configuration: steps reference fictional images and scripts, and nothing here executes. Run your linter, schema validator, migrator, or policy engine against them, and expect the deprecated-syntax and intentionally invalid variants to be rejected.
Code examples
import yaml # pip install pyyaml
with open("tabs-for-indentation.yaml") as f:
data = yaml.safe_load(f)
print(data)Generated by generation/pipelines.py. Free for any use, no attribution required, license.
Related files
- yamlYAML Unclosed Flow Collection, Intentionally InvalidAn intentionally invalid YAML file whose flow sequence is opened and never closed, so the parser consumes the rest of the document and fails at end of stream. A good error message names the opening bracket, not the last line, which is what this fixture measures.
- ymlAzure Pipelines, Intentionally InvalidAn intentionally invalid Azure Pipelines file: valid YAML that mixes top-level steps with a stages block, depends on an undeclared stage, and gives `pool` a bare string. For testing that a validator rejects it and reports all three faults.
- ymlCircleCI Config, Intentionally InvalidAn intentionally invalid CircleCI config: an unquoted `version: 2.10` that YAML loads as the float 2.1, a workflow referencing an undefined job, and a job with no execution environment. For testing that a validator rejects it and explains each fault.
- cwlCWL Workflow, Intentionally InvalidAn intentionally invalid CWL document: a nonexistent cwlVersion, an unknown class, a step consuming an output no step produces, and outputs given as a bare string. Four documented faults for a CWL validator to report.
- yamlDocker Compose File, Intentionally InvalidAn intentionally invalid Compose file: services as a list, a service with both image and an empty build, an unquoted 8080:8080 port that YAML 1.1 reads as a base-60 integer, and a depends_on naming an undefined service.
- ymlGitHub Actions Workflow, Intentionally InvalidAn intentionally invalid GitHub Actions workflow: well-formed YAML that breaks the workflow schema in four documented ways, no jobs mapping, a scalar `on`, a mapping `runs-on`, and a step carrying both uses and run. For testing that a validator rejects, and reports why.
