diff --git a/internal/config/config.go b/internal/config/config.go
index a18f7a2..d764939 100644
--- a/internal/config/config.go
+++ b/internal/config/config.go
@@ -20,6 +20,7 @@ var Keys schema.ProgramConfig = schema.ProgramConfig{
 	DB:                    "./var/job.db",
 	Archive:               json.RawMessage(`{\"kind\":\"file\",\"path\":\"./var/job-archive\"}`),
 	DisableArchive:        false,
+	Validate:              false,
 	LdapConfig:            nil,
 	SessionMaxAge:         "168h",
 	UiDefaults: map[string]interface{}{
diff --git a/pkg/archive/fsBackend.go b/pkg/archive/fsBackend.go
index 9a54622..80352a4 100644
--- a/pkg/archive/fsBackend.go
+++ b/pkg/archive/fsBackend.go
@@ -6,6 +6,7 @@ package archive
 
 import (
 	"bufio"
+	"bytes"
 	"encoding/json"
 	"fmt"
 	"os"
@@ -14,6 +15,7 @@ import (
 	"strconv"
 	"time"
 
+	"github.com/ClusterCockpit/cc-backend/internal/config"
 	"github.com/ClusterCockpit/cc-backend/pkg/log"
 	"github.com/ClusterCockpit/cc-backend/pkg/schema"
 )
@@ -100,14 +102,17 @@ func (fsa *FsArchive) LoadJobMeta(job *schema.Job) (*schema.JobMeta, error) {
 
 func (fsa *FsArchive) LoadClusterCfg(name string) (*schema.Cluster, error) {
 
-	f, err := os.Open(filepath.Join(fsa.path, name, "cluster.json"))
+	b, err := os.ReadFile(filepath.Join(fsa.path, name, "cluster.json"))
 	if err != nil {
 		log.Errorf("fsBackend LoadClusterCfg()- %v", err)
 		return &schema.Cluster{}, err
 	}
-	defer f.Close()
-
-	return DecodeCluster(bufio.NewReader(f))
+	if config.Keys.Validate {
+		if err := schema.Validate(schema.ClusterCfg, bytes.NewReader(b)); err != nil {
+			return &schema.Cluster{}, err
+		}
+	}
+	return DecodeCluster(bytes.NewReader(b))
 }
 
 func (fsa *FsArchive) Iter() <-chan *schema.JobMeta {
diff --git a/pkg/archive/fsBackend_test.go b/pkg/archive/fsBackend_test.go
index 962aa23..1b2fb24 100644
--- a/pkg/archive/fsBackend_test.go
+++ b/pkg/archive/fsBackend_test.go
@@ -11,6 +11,7 @@ import (
 	"time"
 
 	"github.com/ClusterCockpit/cc-backend/pkg/schema"
+	_ "github.com/santhosh-tekuri/jsonschema/v5/httploader"
 )
 
 func TestInitEmptyPath(t *testing.T) {
diff --git a/pkg/schema/config.go b/pkg/schema/config.go
index 253ae2d..9aa8697 100644
--- a/pkg/schema/config.go
+++ b/pkg/schema/config.go
@@ -78,6 +78,9 @@ type ProgramConfig struct {
 	// do not write to the job-archive.
 	DisableArchive bool `json:"disable-archive"`
 
+	// Validate json input against schema
+	Validate bool `json:"validate"`
+
 	// For LDAP Authentication and user synchronisation.
 	LdapConfig *LdapConfig    `json:"ldap"`
 	JwtConfig  *JWTAuthConfig `json:"jwts"`
diff --git a/pkg/schema/validate.go b/pkg/schema/validate.go
index 949d7e7..7d44e77 100644
--- a/pkg/schema/validate.go
+++ b/pkg/schema/validate.go
@@ -5,10 +5,12 @@
 package schema
 
 import (
+	"encoding/json"
 	"fmt"
 	"io"
 
-	"github.com/santhosh-tekuri/jsonschema"
+	"github.com/ClusterCockpit/cc-backend/pkg/log"
+	"github.com/santhosh-tekuri/jsonschema/v5"
 )
 
 type Kind int
@@ -19,7 +21,7 @@ const (
 	ClusterCfg
 )
 
-func Validate(k Kind, v io.Reader) (err error) {
+func Validate(k Kind, r io.Reader) (err error) {
 	var s *jsonschema.Schema
 
 	switch k {
@@ -37,9 +39,15 @@ func Validate(k Kind, v io.Reader) (err error) {
 		return err
 	}
 
-	if err = s.Validate(v); err != nil {
+	var v interface{}
+	if err := json.NewDecoder(r).Decode(&v); err != nil {
+		log.Error("schema.Validate() - Failed to decode %v", err)
 		return err
 	}
 
+	if err = s.Validate(v); err != nil {
+		return fmt.Errorf("%#v", err)
+	}
+
 	return nil
 }
diff --git a/test/api_test.go b/test/api_test.go
index ed1304d..2d839b1 100644
--- a/test/api_test.go
+++ b/test/api_test.go
@@ -24,6 +24,7 @@ import (
 	"github.com/gorilla/mux"
 
 	_ "github.com/mattn/go-sqlite3"
+	_ "github.com/santhosh-tekuri/jsonschema/v5/httploader"
 )
 
 func setup(t *testing.T) *api.RestApi {