Home /Docs /Getting Started

Getting Started

Install the INHERIT SDK, create your first estate document, and validate it. Under 2 minutes.

3 min readLast updated: 16 April 2026

Install#

bash 
npm install @openinherit/sdk

Or use the schemas directly without the SDK:

bash 
npm install @openinherit/schema

Or use the command-line tool (requires Go 1.21+):

bash 
go install github.com/openinherit/inherit-cli@latest

Create your first document#

A minimal INHERIT estate document needs three things: an estate, a person, and a relationship connecting them.

typescript 
import { createEstate, createPerson, createRelationship } from '@openinherit/sdk';

const estate = createEstate({
  id: crypto.randomUUID(),
  version: '6.4.2',
  jurisdiction: 'england-wales',
  people: [
    createPerson({
      id: crypto.randomUUID(),
      givenNames: ['Jane'],
      familyName: 'Smith',
      role: 'testator'
    })
  ]
});

Validate it#

typescript 
import { validate } from '@openinherit/sdk';

const result = validate(estate);

if (result.valid) {
  console.log('Document is valid');
} else {
  console.error('Validation errors:', result.errors);
}

Or try the online validator — paste your JSON and see results instantly.

With the CLI#

The CLI scaffolds realistic estate documents interactively:

bash 
# Interactive — asks 5 questions with sensible defaults
inherit init

# Non-interactive with flags (for CI)
inherit init --non-interactive --jurisdiction scotland --testator "Angus McTavish"

# Generate a full Level 2 document (trusts, insurance, digital assets)
inherit init --full

# Validate your document
inherit validate estate.json --level 2

See the full CLI reference for all commands and options.

Validator compatibility notes#

Ajv strict mode#

The INHERIT schema uses a custom annotation x-lint-exclude (a Sourcemeta lint directive). Ajv’s strict mode rejects unknown keywords by default:

error: strict mode: unknown keyword: "x-lint-exclude"

To work around this, either disable strict mode or register the keyword:

typescript 
import Ajv from 'ajv';

// Option 1: Disable strict mode
const ajv = new Ajv({ strict: false });

// Option 2: Register the keyword (keeps strict mode for everything else)
const ajv = new Ajv();
ajv.addKeyword('x-lint-exclude');

Option 2 is recommended — it preserves strict mode’s other checks while allowing the lint annotation to pass through as a no-op.

This annotation is present on @context and @type properties in the root schema and catalogue schema. It has no effect on validation — it only controls Sourcemeta CLI lint behaviour.

Validating extension content#

The INHERIT base schema accepts any x-inherit-* extension block without checking its internal structure. This is by design — the base schema is jurisdiction-agnostic.

To validate extension-specific content (e.g. that a Hindu succession school field is "dayabhaga" or "mitakshara"), load the relevant extension schema alongside the base schema.

With the Sourcemeta CLI#

bash 
jsonschema validate v3/schema.json document.json \
  --resolve v3/extensions/hindu-succession/hindu-succession.json \
  --resolve v3/common/

With Ajv (JavaScript)#

typescript 
import Ajv from 'ajv';
import baseSchema from '@openinherit/schema/v3/schema.json';
import hinduSuccession from '@openinherit/schema/v3/extensions/hindu-succession/hindu-succession.json';

const ajv = new Ajv({ strict: false });
ajv.addSchema(hinduSuccession);
const validate = ajv.compile(baseSchema);

With Python jsonschema#

python 
from referencing import Registry, Resource
from jsonschema import Draft202012Validator
import json

base = json.load(open('v3/schema.json'))
extension = json.load(open(
    'v3/extensions/hindu-succession/hindu-succession.json'))

registry = Registry().with_resource(
    extension['$id'],
    Resource.from_contents(extension)
)
validator = Draft202012Validator(base, registry=registry)
validator.validate(document)

Extension schemas are published in the @openinherit/schema npm package under v3/extensions/. The Extension Guide lists all available extensions and their schema URIs.

Next steps#