Top-level value

The top-level value is a JSON object that has the following fields:

• type: Must be the string "Coverity analysis configuration".

• format_version: A number indicating the version of the directives format for this file.

  The current directives format is version 12.

  The type and format_version fields ensure that the provided file is compatible with the current version of cov-analyze. Different versions support different directives for different languages. Coverity Analysis continues to support certain earlier, legacy formats: See Currently supported versions for details.

  Tip: If you analyze code from several languages in the same intermediate directory, you should use version 4 or later because the language field restricts the evaluation of directives to source code in the specified language or languages, and therefore avoids unintended application of directives and useless evaluation of directives on unintended languages.

• language: Directives in this file apply only to source code in the specified language or language family. The following table describes valid values for the language field values in release 2026.9.0 (matches are case insensitive).

  Table 1. language values

  Value	Meaning
  C-like	Directives apply to C, C++, Objective-C, and Objective-C++ code.
  C#	Directives apply to C# code. Note that unsafe C# code blocks and raw pointer types are not supported.
  Java	Directives apply to Java code.
  JavaScript	Directives apply to all JavaScript code, including client-side JavaScript, JavaScript in HTML, and Node.js® code.
  .NET	Directives apply to all C# and Visual Basic code. This is only usable at the top level.
  Visual Basic	Directives apply to all Visual Basic code.

  Important: You can specify a maximum of one language field and value per file. For example, imagine that you have some directives that you want to apply to Objective-C, others that you want to apply to C++ code, and yet others that you want to apply to C# code. You need at least two directives files, one with "language" : "C-like" for the Objective-C and C++ directives and one with "language" : "C#" for the C# directives.

  Starting in version 4, this field became mandatory. In format_version : 4 and earlier, there is no language field. In those versions, the "dc_checker_name" and "method_set_for_dc_checker" directives for DC.CUSTOM_CHECKER apply to the C-like, Java, and C# languages. Other directives apply only to Java.

• directives: An array of User directives values.

The directives array contains the directive fields that specify this particular configuration.

Schema example:

{
    "type" : "Coverity analysis configuration",
    "format_version" : 12,
    "language" : "Java", 
    "directives" : [
        // directives appropriate for Java go here
    ]
}