> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://docs.dataspace.ch/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://docs.dataspace.ch/api-reference/health-checks.md).

# Health Checks

`pyrunner_lib` provides a declarative and fluent API for defining health checks on your data transformations. These checks are designed to be efficient, working lazily on Polars `LazyFrame` objects to collect only the necessary aggregate statistics without loading the entire dataset into memory.

Health checks are defined using the `Check` class, which allows you to chain multiple validation methods for a specific column.

### Severity Levels

Each check can have an optional `severity` level:

* **`warn`** (Default): If the check fails, it is recorded in the health report, but the transformation continues and no exception is raised.
* **`fail`**: If any check with `fail` severity fails, a `HealthCheckFailure` exception is raised after all checks have been executed, preventing the build from succeeding.

### API Reference

```py
Check(column_name: str)
```

Initializes a check builder for the specified column.

***

#### Basic Checks

```py
.no_nulls(severity=None)
```

Ensures that the column contains no null values.

```py
.non_empty_strings(severity=None)
```

Ensures that all string values in the column are non-empty after stripping whitespace.

```py
.unique(severity=None)
```

Ensures that all values in the column are unique. Note: This defaults to `warn` in many contexts as it can be a common occurrence.

***

#### Range & Value Checks

```py
.valid_range(min_val=None, max_val=None, severity=None)
```

Checks if all values are within the specified inclusive range.

```py
.in_values(allowed: list, severity=None, ignore_case=False)
```

Checks if all values in the column are present in the `allowed` list.

```py
.regex_match(pattern: str, severity=None)
```

Ensures that all string values match the provided regular expression pattern.

```py
.null_percentage(max_pct: float, severity=None)
```

Allows up to `max_pct` (0-100) of the values in the column to be null.

***

#### Numeric Checks

```py
.numeric_check(
    eq=None, gt=None, gte=None, lt=None, lte=None, not_eq=None, sum_eq=None, severity=None
)
```

Provides various numeric comparisons:

* `eq`: Equal to
* `gt`: Greater than
* `gte`: Greater than or equal to
* `lt`: Less than
* `lte`: Less than or equal to
* `not_eq`: Not equal to
* `sum_eq`: The sum of the column must equal this value.

***

#### Aggregate Checks

```py
.distinct_count(expected_count: int, severity=None)
```

Ensures the column has exactly the specified number of distinct values.

***

#### Custom Checks

```py
.custom_check(name: str, severity: str, func: callable)
```

Allows you to provide a custom validation function. The function should have the signature `func(lf: pl.LazyFrame, col: str)` and should raise a `ValueError` with a descriptive message if the check fails.

### Examples

```python
import polars as pl
import pyrunner_lib.health_check as hc

def transform(data):
    lf = data

    # Define checks declaratively
    health_checks = [
        hc.Check("name")
            .no_nulls()
            .non_empty_strings()
            .unique(severity="warn"),

        hc.Check("age")
            .no_nulls()
            .valid_range(0, 120),

        hc.Check("city").no_nulls(),
        hc.Check("occupation").no_nulls(),
        hc.Check("country")
            .no_nulls()
            .non_empty_strings(),
    ]

    return lf, health_checks
```

### Health Report

When health checks are run (usually handled by the runner), a `health_report.json` file is generated in the `META_FOLDER`. This report contains a summary of passed and failed checks, along with error messages for any failures.


---

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