[jnsdls]

Summary

load_schema reads a str as JSON text and only reads a file when given a pathlib.Path. Passing a path as a str used to fail with a bare decode error. That error now says to pass a Path.

 load_schema(source)
   if Path: parse file contents
   elif str:
-    json.loads(source)
+    try json.loads(source)
+    except JSONDecodeError as e:
+      raise JSONDecodeError(e.msg + " (a str is JSON text; pass a pathlib.Path to read a file)") from e
   validate as Schema

It still raises JSONDecodeError, a ValueError subclass, so except ValueError and except json.JSONDecodeError handlers catch it as before. The original error is kept as __cause__.

Closes #23

Evidence

• Before: load_schema("schema.json") raised JSONDecodeError: Expecting value: line 1 column 1 (char 0), and test_load_schema_str_that_is_not_json_hints_at_path failed.
  After: load_schema("schema.json") raises JSONDecodeError: Expecting value (a str is JSON text; pass a pathlib.Path to read a file): line 1 column 1 (char 0). The test passes, and the full suite passes (202 tests, 100% coverage).

Merge Danger

Door: two-way

Blast Radius: tiny

Only the error message for a bad str changes. Code that matches on the exact old message text would no longer match.

🤖 Generated with Claude Code

---

^{Need help on this PR? Tag @codesmith-bot with what you need.}