Read a weighting recipe from a YAML file

Reads a recipe written by write_recipe(). With data = NULL (the default) it returns an inspectable recipe manifest (for review or archival); pass data to reconstruct an executable weighting_spec bound to that data, ready for prep().

Usage

read_recipe(file, data = NULL, references = NULL, allow_code = FALSE)

Arguments

file

path to the recipe .yml/.yaml file.

data

optional data frame. When supplied, the recipe is rebuilt into a weighting_spec on this data. The columns the steps reference (weights, auxiliaries, disposition flags) must exist in data.

references

optional named list, named by the id of the step that needs each object, restoring what the recipe stores only as a descriptor because it is microdata rather than metadata: a reference_sample() for a step that calibrates or pseudo-weights against a reference, and the population data frame of step_calibrate() / step_model_calibration().

allow_code

single logical, the gate on every executable thing a recipe file can carry: the conditions and formulas it stores as text, and a step that stores an R function as source. With FALSE (the default) a stored expression is accepted only if every call in it is on a fixed whitelist of data-manipulation functions (comparisons, arithmetic, is.na(), factor(), cut(), string and apply-free helpers), and a function node is refused outright. That matters because a recipe is meant to be exchanged between organizations: an expression like { system("...") ; responded } runs at the first prep(), not at read time. Set TRUE only for a file you trust, exactly as you would source() it.

Value

With data = NULL, a weightflow_recipe manifest (a list with a print method). With data, a weighting_spec.

Details

A reconstructed recipe is validated only when you call prep(): a hand-edited recipe with an out-of-range or mistyped value surfaces its error there, not at read_recipe() time. And because reading a recipe evaluates the stored expressions, only read recipes you trust, as you would source() an R script.

See also

write_recipe()

Other recipe serialization: write_recipe()

Examples

spec <- weighting_spec(sample_survey, base_weights = pw) |>
  step_nonresponse(respondent = responded, method = "weighting_class", by = "region")
f <- tempfile(fileext = ".yml"); write_recipe(spec, f)
read_recipe(f)                       # inspect the manifest
#> weightflow recipe (written by version 1.3.1, 2026-09-28T18:37:27Z)
#>   base weights: pw
#>   1 step(s):
#>     - nonresponse    nonresponse_1
#>   Pass `data =` to read_recipe() to rebuild an executable recipe.
spec2 <- read_recipe(f, data = sample_survey)   # rebuild an executable recipe