validateRecord

Checks whether a value is a record-like object with string keys. This helper uses the isRecord type guard internally. A record is any non-null, non-array object whose own enumerable property keys are strings. The object's prototype does not matter.

It never throws and never mutates input. Use it when you need to validate dictionary-like objects before applying further structural or value-level validation.

Signature

function validateRecord(
  value: unknown,
  field: string
): ValidationResult<Record<string, unknown>>

Parameters

Name	Data type	Description
value	unknown	The value to validate.
field	string	The name of the field being validated, used in error reporting.

Returns

One of:

• { ok: true, value: Record<string, unknown> }: If value is a record.
• { ok: false, field: string, message: string }: If value is not a record.

Behavior

• Uses isRecord internally.
• Accepts objects with any prototype, including class instances.
• Accepts objects created with Object.create(null).
• Rejects arrays.
• Rejects primitives and null.
• Never throws or mutates input.

Examples

validateRecord({ a: 1, b: "x" }, "data")
// { ok: true, value: { a: 1, b: "x" } }

validateRecord({}, "empty")
// { ok: true, value: {} }

validateRecord(Object.create(null), "nullProto")
// { ok: true, value: {} }

validateRecord([], "arr")
// { ok: false, field: "arr", message: "Value must be a record" }

Notes

• This validator is more permissive than validatePlainObject, which requires the prototype to be exactly Object.prototype.
• Suitable for validating dictionary-like structures, configuration maps, and general-purpose objects with string keys.
• The validator never throws and never mutates input. All error reporting goes through structured ValidationResult objects.