Step-by-step guide

If the suite definition is in a text file::

Check definition from the command line
ecflow_client --load=test.def check_only
Check txt definition using ecflow python API
import ecflow     
defs = ecflow.Defs("test.def")
theCheckValue = defs.check();
assert len(theCheckValue) != 0,  "Error in expression,limits,etc," + theCheckValue

If the suite definition is built using python API.

Check definition built using ecflow Python API
import ecflow     
defs = ecflow.Defs()
suite = defs.add_suite("s1");
suite.add_task("t1").add_trigger("t2 == active)")  # missing bracket

theCheckValue = defs.check();
print("Message: ",theCheckValue)
assert len(theCheckValue) != 0,  "Expected Error: mis-matched brackets in expression."