diff --git a/sample.canvas b/sample.canvas
index 24a5902..51ab7bf 100644
--- a/sample.canvas
+++ b/sample.canvas
@@ -1,4 +1,5 @@
 {
+	"$schema": "./schema.json",
 	"nodes":[
 		{"id":"8132d4d894c80022","type":"file","file":"readme.md","x":-280,"y":-200,"width":570,"height":560,"color":"6"},
 		{"id":"7efdbbe0c4742315","type":"file","file":"_site/logo.svg","x":-280,"y":-440,"width":217,"height":80},
diff --git a/schema.json b/schema.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..3a9f10c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/schema.json
@@ -0,0 +1,314 @@
+{
+	"$schema": "https://json-schema.org/draft/2020-12/schema",
+	"default": {
+		"edges": [],
+		"nodes": []
+	},
+	"properties": {
+		"edges": {
+			"description": "Edges are lines that connect one node to another",
+			"items": {
+				"$ref": "#/definitions/JSONCanvasEdge"
+			},
+			"type": "array"
+		},
+		"nodes": {
+			"description": "Nodes are objects within the canvas. Nodes may be text, files, links, or groups",
+			"items": {
+				"$ref": "#/definitions/JSONCanvasNode"
+			},
+			"type": "array"
+		}
+	},
+	"$defs": {
+		"JSONCanvasColor": {
+			"anyOf": [
+				{
+					"description": "A color in hex format, e.g. #ff0000",
+					"type": "string",
+					"pattern": "^#[0-9a-fA-F]{6}$"
+				},
+				{
+					"$ref": "#/definitions/JSONCanvasColorPreset"
+				}
+			]
+		},
+		"JSONCanvasColorPreset": {
+			"title": "A preset color.",
+            "description": "Six preset colors exist, mapped to the following numbers:\n1 red\n2 orange\n3 yellow\n4 green\n5 cyan\n6 purple",
+			"enum": ["1", "2", "3", "4", "5", "6"],
+			"type": "string"
+		},
+		"JSONCanvasEdge": {
+			"additionalProperties": false,
+			"properties": {
+				"color": {
+					"$ref": "#/definitions/JSONCanvasColor"
+				},
+				"fromNode": {
+					"description": "The ID of the node that the edge starts from",
+					"type": "string"
+				},
+				"fromSide": {
+					"description": "The side of the node that the edge connects from",
+					"$ref": "#/definitions/JSONCanvasEdgeSide"
+				},
+				"id": {
+					"description": "The ID for the edge",
+					"type": "string"
+				},
+				"label": {
+					"description": "The text label for the edge",
+					"type": "string"
+				},
+				"toEnd": {
+					"$ref": "#/definitions/JSONCanvasEdgeEnd"
+				},
+				"toNode": {
+					"description": "The ID of the node that the edge ends at",
+					"type": "string"
+				},
+				"toSide": {
+					"description": "The side of the node that the edge connects to",
+					"$ref": "#/definitions/JSONCanvasEdgeSide"
+				}
+			},
+			"required": ["id", "fromNode", "toNode"],
+			"type": "object"
+		},
+		"JSONCanvasEdgeEnd": {
+			"description": "The rendering style of the end of the edge line",
+			"enum": ["none", "arrow"],
+			"type": "string"
+		},
+		"JSONCanvasEdgeSide": {
+			"description": "The side of the node that the edge connects to",
+			"enum": ["top", "right", "bottom", "left"],
+			"type": "string"
+		},
+		"JSONCanvasFileNode": {
+			"additionalProperties": false,
+			"properties": {
+				"color": {
+					"$ref": "#/definitions/JSONCanvasColor"
+				},
+				"file": {
+					"description": "The path to the file within the system",
+					"type": "string",
+					"minLength": 1
+				},
+				"height": {
+					"description": "The height of the node in pixels",
+					"type": "integer"
+				},
+				"id": {
+					"description": "Unique ID for the node",
+					"type": "string"
+				},
+				"subpath": {
+					"description": "The subpath that may link to a heading or a block. Always starts with a #",
+					"type": "string"
+				},
+				"type": {
+					"description": "The node type",
+					"const": "file",
+					"type": "string"
+				},
+				"width": {
+					"description": "The width of the node in pixels",
+					"type": "integer"
+				},
+				"x": {
+					"description": "The x position of the node in pixels",
+					"type": "integer"
+				},
+				"y": {
+					"description": "The y position of the node in pixels",
+					"type": "integer"
+				}
+			},
+			"required": ["file", "height", "id", "type", "width", "x", "y"],
+			"type": "object"
+		},
+		"JSONCanvasGroupNode": {
+			"additionalProperties": false,
+			"properties": {
+				"background": {
+					"description": "The path to the background image",
+					"type": "string"
+				},
+				"backgroundStyle": {
+					"title": "The rendering style of a background image.",
+            		"description": "Options are:\ncover - fills the entire width and height of the node.\nratio - maintains the aspect ratio of the background image.\nrepeat - repeats the image as a pattern in both x/y directions.",
+					"enum": ["cover", "ratio", "repeat"],
+					"type": "string"
+				},
+				"color": {
+					"$ref": "#/definitions/JSONCanvasColor"
+				},
+				"height": {
+					"description": "The height of the node in pixels",
+					"type": "integer"
+				},
+				"id": {
+					"description": "Unique ID for the node",
+					"type": "string"
+				},
+				"label": {
+					"description": "The text label for the group",
+					"type": "string"
+				},
+				"type": {
+					"description": "The node type",
+					"const": "group",
+					"type": "string"
+				},
+				"width": {
+					"description": "The width of the node in pixels",
+					"type": "integer"
+				},
+				"x": {
+					"description": "The x position of the node in pixels",
+					"type": "integer"
+				},
+				"y": {
+					"description": "The y position of the node in pixels",
+					"type": "integer"
+				}
+			},
+			"required": ["height", "id", "type", "width", "x", "y"],
+			"type": "object"
+		},
+		"JSONCanvasLinkNode": {
+			"additionalProperties": false,
+			"properties": {
+				"color": {
+					"$ref": "#/definitions/JSONCanvasColor"
+				},
+				"height": {
+					"description": "The height of the node in pixels",
+					"type": "integer"
+				},
+				"id": {
+					"description": "Unique ID for the node",
+					"type": "string"
+				},
+				"type": {
+					"description": "The node type",
+					"const": "link",
+					"type": "string"
+				},
+				"url": {
+					"type": "string"
+				},
+				"width": {
+					"description": "The width of the node in pixels",
+					"type": "number"
+				},
+				"x": {
+					"description": "The x position of the node in pixels",
+					"type": "number"
+				},
+				"y": {
+					"description": "The y position of the node in pixels",
+					"type": "integer"
+				}
+			},
+			"required": ["height", "id", "type", "url", "width", "x", "y"],
+			"type": "object"
+		},
+		"JSONCanvasNode": {
+			"anyOf": [
+				{
+					"$ref": "#/definitions/JSONCanvasNodeGeneric"
+				},
+				{
+					"$ref": "#/definitions/JSONCanvasTextNode"
+				},
+				{
+					"$ref": "#/definitions/JSONCanvasFileNode"
+				},
+				{
+					"$ref": "#/definitions/JSONCanvasLinkNode"
+				},
+				{
+					"$ref": "#/definitions/JSONCanvasGroupNode"
+				}
+			]
+		},
+		"JSONCanvasNodeGeneric": {
+			"additionalProperties": false,
+			"properties": {
+				"color": {
+					"$ref": "#/definitions/JSONCanvasColor"
+				},
+				"height": {
+					"description": "The height of the node in pixels",
+					"type": "integer"
+				},
+				"id": {
+					"description": "Unique ID for the node",
+					"type": "string"
+				},
+				"type": {
+					"description": "The node type",
+					"enum": ["text", "file", "link", "group"],
+					"type": "string"
+				},
+				"width": {
+					"description": "The width of the node in pixels",
+					"type": "integer"
+				},
+				"x": {
+					"description": "The x position of the node in pixels",
+					"type": "integer"
+				},
+				"y": {
+					"description": "The y position of the node in pixels",
+					"type": "integer"
+				}
+			},
+			"required": ["id", "type", "x", "y", "width", "height"],
+			"type": "object"
+		},
+		"JSONCanvasTextNode": {
+			"additionalProperties": false,
+			"properties": {
+				"color": {
+					"$ref": "#/definitions/JSONCanvasColor"
+				},
+				"height": {
+					"description": "The height of the node in pixels",
+					"type": "number"
+				},
+				"id": {
+					"description": "Unique ID for the node",
+					"type": "string"
+				},
+				"text": {
+					"description": "Plain text with Markdown syntax",
+					"type": "string"
+				},
+				"type": {
+					"description": "The node type",
+					"const": "text",
+					"type": "string"
+				},
+				"width": {
+					"description": "The width of the node in pixels",
+					"type": "number"
+				},
+				"x": {
+					"description": "The x position of the node in pixels",
+					"type": "number"
+				},
+				"y": {
+					"description": "The y position of the node in pixels",
+					"type": "number"
+				}
+			},
+			"required": ["height", "id", "text", "type", "width", "x", "y"],
+			"type": "object"
+		}
+	}
+}