2026-07-13|18:48:47
DuckDBWARNING0.05ERROR0.1CRITICAL0.15
col_vals_regex()
1.00
0.00
col_vals_gt()
0.85
0.15
col_vals_gt()
0.84
0.16
Thresholds class or various shorthand forms. Actions don't have to be defined for all threshold levels; if an action is not defined for a level in exceedance, no action will be taken. Likewise, there is no negative consequence (other than a no-op) for defining actions for thresholds that don't exist (e.g., setting an action for the 'critical' level when no corresponding 'critical' threshold has been set).
## Parameters
`warning: str | Callable | list[str | Callable] | None = None`
A string, `Callable`, or list of `Callable`/string values for the 'warning' level. Using `None` means no action should be performed at the 'warning' level.
`error: str | Callable | list[str | Callable] | None = None`
A string, `Callable`, or list of `Callable`/string values for the 'error' level. Using `None` means no action should be performed at the 'error' level.
`critical: str | Callable | list[str | Callable] | None = None`
A string, `Callable`, or list of `Callable`/string values for the 'critical' level. Using `None` means no action should be performed at the 'critical' level.
`default: str | Callable | list[str | Callable] | None = None`
A string, `Callable`, or list of `Callable`/string values for all threshold levels. This parameter can be used to set the same action for all threshold levels. If an action is defined for a specific threshold level, it will override the action set for all levels.
`highest_only: bool = ``True`
A boolean value that, when set to `True` (the default), results in executing only the action for the highest threshold level that is exceeded. Useful when you want to ensure that only the most severe action is taken when multiple threshold levels are exceeded.
## Returns
`Actions`
An [Actions](Actions.md#pointblank.Actions) object. This can be used when using the Validate class (to set actions for meeting different threshold levels globally) or when defining validation steps like col_vals_gt() (so that actions are scoped to individual validation steps, overriding any globally set actions).
## Types Of Actions
Actions can be defined in different ways:
1. **String**: A message to be displayed when the threshold level is met or exceeded.
2. **Callable**: A function that is called when the threshold level is met or exceeded.
3. **List of Strings/Callables**: Multiple messages or functions to be called when the threshold level is met or exceeded.
The actions are executed at interrogation time when the threshold level assigned to the action is exceeded by the number or proportion of failing test units. When providing a string, it will simply be printed to the console. A callable will also be executed at the time of interrogation. If providing a list of strings or callables, each item in the list will be executed in order. Such a list can contain a mix of strings and callables.
## String Templating
When using a string as an action, you can include placeholders for the following variables:
- `{type}`: The validation step type where the action is executed (e.g., 'col_vals_gt', 'col_vals_lt', etc.)
- `{level}`: The threshold level where the action is executed ('warning', 'error', or 'critical')
- `{step}` or `{i}`: The step number in the validation workflow where the action is executed
- `{col}` or `{column}`: The column name where the action is executed
- `{val}` or `{value}`: An associated value for the validation method (e.g., the value to compare against in a 'col_vals_gt' validation step)
- `{time}`: A datetime value for when the action was executed
The first two placeholders can also be used in uppercase (e.g., `{TYPE}` or `{LEVEL}`) and the corresponding values will be displayed in uppercase. The placeholders are replaced with the actual values during interrogation.
For example, the string `"{LEVEL}: '{type}' threshold exceeded for column {col}."` will be displayed as `"WARNING: 'col_vals_gt' threshold exceeded for column a."` when the 'warning' threshold is exceeded in a 'col_vals_gt' validation step involving column `a`.
## Crafting Callables With [get_action_metadata()](get_action_metadata.md#pointblank.get_action_metadata)
When creating a callable function to be used as an action, you can use the get_action_metadata() function to retrieve metadata about the step where the action is executed. This metadata contains information about the validation step, including the step type, level, step number, column name, and associated value. You can use this information to craft your action message or to take specific actions based on the metadata provided.
## Examples
Let's define both threshold values and actions for a data validation workflow. We'll set these thresholds and actions globally for all validation steps. In this specific example, the only actions we'll define are for the 'critical' level:
``` python
import pointblank as pb
validation = (
pb.Validate(
data=pb.load_dataset(dataset="game_revenue", tbl_type="duckdb"),
thresholds=pb.Thresholds(warning=0.05, error=0.10, critical=0.15),
actions=pb.Actions(critical="Major data quality issue found in step {step}."),
)
.col_vals_regex(columns="player_id", pattern=r"[A-Z]{12}[0-9]{3}")
.col_vals_gt(columns="item_revenue", value=0.05)
.col_vals_gt(columns="session_duration", value=15)
.interrogate()
)
validation
```
Major data quality issue found in step 3.
| Pointblank Validation | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
2026-07-13|18:48:47
DuckDBWARNING0.05ERROR0.1CRITICAL0.15
|
|||||||||||||
| STEP | COLUMNS | VALUES | TBL | EVAL | UNITS | PASS | FAIL | W | E | C | EXT | ||
| #4CA64C | 1 |
col_vals_regex()
|
|
✓ | 2000 | 2000 1.00 |
0 0.00 |
○ | ○ | ○ | -- | ||
| #EBBC14 | 2 |
col_vals_gt()
|
|
✓ | 2000 | 1701 0.85 |
299 0.15 |
● | ● | ○ | -- | ||
| #FF3300 | 3 |
col_vals_gt()
|
|
✓ | 2000 | 1675 0.84 |
325 0.16 |
● | ● | ● | -- | ||
| Pointblank Validation | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
2026-07-13|18:48:47
DuckDBWARNING0.05ERROR0.1CRITICAL0.15
|
|||||||||||||
| STEP | COLUMNS | VALUES | TBL | EVAL | UNITS | PASS | FAIL | W | E | C | EXT | ||
| #4CA64C | 1 |
col_vals_regex()
|
|
✓ | 2000 | 2000 1.00 |
0 0.00 |
○ | ○ | ○ | -- | ||
| #EBBC14 | 2 |
col_vals_gt()
|
|
✓ | 2000 | 1701 0.85 |
299 0.15 |
● | ● | ○ | -- | ||
| #FF3300 | 3 |
col_vals_gt()
|
|
✓ | 2000 | 1675 0.84 |
325 0.16 |
● | ● | ● | -- | ||