diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 9c4287b..1999b17 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -13,4 +13,33 @@ The initial use-case is capture of provenance on HPC systems (SLURM), for adding
 4. A creation tool will be provided for these files. This will guide users in populating the appropriate files, and will validate the files against the LINK-ML schema.
 5. SLURM plugin will scan PFFPATH locations as job runs. *.pff files found will be validated against the schema, then metadata ingested.
 
+## Schemas
+
+- `schema.yaml` — entry schema (imports the fragments below)
+- `user.schema.yaml` / `project.schema.yaml` / `system.schema.yaml` — definitions
+
+## Development
+
+Setup (requires [uv](https://docs.astral.sh/uv/)):
+
+```bash
+uv sync --group dev
+```
+
+## Regenerating the compiled schema
+
+`schema.json` is the compiled output of `schema.yaml`. After changing any schema, regenerate it and commit:
+
+```bash
+uv run linkml generate json-schema schema.yaml > schema.json
+```
+
+CI fails if `schema.json` is out of date.
+
+## Validating the example
+
+```bash
+uv run linkml validate -s schema.yaml -C PFF examples/example.yaml
+```
+
 
diff --git a/examples/example.yaml b/examples/example.yaml
index 11b3842..e646fac 100644
--- a/examples/example.yaml
+++ b/examples/example.yaml
@@ -8,10 +8,6 @@ project:
   description: >
     Fictional research programme in psychoceramics, the supposed study of
     cracked pots. Professor Carberry is said to still teach at Brown University.
-  PI:
-    id: jcarberry
-    full_name: Josiah Stinkney Carberry
-    orcid: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1825-0097
   start_date: "1929-04-01"
 system:
   hardware:
diff --git a/project.schema.yaml b/project.schema.yaml
index e10f43c..0691c4f 100644
--- a/project.schema.yaml
+++ b/project.schema.yaml
@@ -6,8 +6,6 @@ classes:
       id:
       title:
       description:
-      PI:
-        range: User
       start_date:
         range: date
       end_date:
diff --git a/schema.json b/schema.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..b7de8ed
--- /dev/null
+++ b/schema.json
@@ -0,0 +1,241 @@
+{
+    "$defs": {
+        "CPU": {
+            "additionalProperties": false,
+            "description": "",
+            "properties": {
+                "cores": {
+                    "type": [
+                        "integer",
+                        "null"
+                    ]
+                },
+                "name": {
+                    "type": [
+                        "string",
+                        "null"
+                    ]
+                },
+                "threads": {
+                    "type": [
+                        "integer",
+                        "null"
+                    ]
+                },
+                "vendor": {
+                    "type": [
+                        "string",
+                        "null"
+                    ]
+                }
+            },
+            "title": "CPU",
+            "type": "object"
+        },
+        "OS": {
+            "additionalProperties": false,
+            "description": "",
+            "properties": {
+                "name": {
+                    "type": [
+                        "string",
+                        "null"
+                    ]
+                },
+                "version": {
+                    "type": [
+                        "string",
+                        "null"
+                    ]
+                }
+            },
+            "title": "OS",
+            "type": "object"
+        },
+        "PFF": {
+            "additionalProperties": false,
+            "description": "",
+            "properties": {
+                "project": {
+                    "anyOf": [
+                        {
+                            "$ref": "#/$defs/Project"
+                        },
+                        {
+                            "type": "null"
+                        }
+                    ]
+                },
+                "system": {
+                    "anyOf": [
+                        {
+                            "$ref": "#/$defs/System"
+                        },
+                        {
+                            "type": "null"
+                        }
+                    ]
+                },
+                "user": {
+                    "anyOf": [
+                        {
+                            "$ref": "#/$defs/User"
+                        },
+                        {
+                            "type": "null"
+                        }
+                    ]
+                }
+            },
+            "title": "PFF",
+            "type": "object"
+        },
+        "Project": {
+            "additionalProperties": false,
+            "description": "",
+            "properties": {
+                "description": {
+                    "type": [
+                        "string",
+                        "null"
+                    ]
+                },
+                "end_date": {
+                    "format": "date",
+                    "type": [
+                        "string",
+                        "null"
+                    ]
+                },
+                "id": {
+                    "type": [
+                        "string",
+                        "null"
+                    ]
+                },
+                "start_date": {
+                    "format": "date",
+                    "type": [
+                        "string",
+                        "null"
+                    ]
+                },
+                "title": {
+                    "type": [
+                        "string",
+                        "null"
+                    ]
+                }
+            },
+            "title": "Project",
+            "type": "object"
+        },
+        "System": {
+            "additionalProperties": false,
+            "description": "",
+            "properties": {
+                "hardware": {
+                    "anyOf": [
+                        {
+                            "$ref": "#/$defs/CPU"
+                        },
+                        {
+                            "type": "null"
+                        }
+                    ]
+                },
+                "hostname": {
+                    "type": [
+                        "string",
+                        "null"
+                    ]
+                },
+                "software": {
+                    "anyOf": [
+                        {
+                            "$ref": "#/$defs/OS"
+                        },
+                        {
+                            "type": "null"
+                        }
+                    ]
+                }
+            },
+            "title": "System",
+            "type": "object"
+        },
+        "User": {
+            "additionalProperties": false,
+            "description": "",
+            "properties": {
+                "email": {
+                    "type": [
+                        "string",
+                        "null"
+                    ]
+                },
+                "full_name": {
+                    "type": [
+                        "string",
+                        "null"
+                    ]
+                },
+                "id": {
+                    "type": [
+                        "string",
+                        "null"
+                    ]
+                },
+                "orcid": {
+                    "type": [
+                        "string",
+                        "null"
+                    ]
+                }
+            },
+            "title": "User",
+            "type": "object"
+        }
+    },
+    "$id": "provenance-file-format",
+    "$schema": "https://json-schema.org/draft/2019-09/schema",
+    "additionalProperties": true,
+    "description": "",
+    "metamodel_version": "1.11.0",
+    "properties": {
+        "project": {
+            "anyOf": [
+                {
+                    "$ref": "#/$defs/Project"
+                },
+                {
+                    "type": "null"
+                }
+            ]
+        },
+        "system": {
+            "anyOf": [
+                {
+                    "$ref": "#/$defs/System"
+                },
+                {
+                    "type": "null"
+                }
+            ]
+        },
+        "user": {
+            "anyOf": [
+                {
+                    "$ref": "#/$defs/User"
+                },
+                {
+                    "type": "null"
+                }
+            ]
+        }
+    },
+    "title": "provenance-file-format",
+    "type": "object",
+    "version": null
+}
+