diff --git a/Commands/InterviewTemplateCommands.cs b/Commands/InterviewTemplateCommands.cs
index 7f4dfaf..f4916f0 100644
--- a/Commands/InterviewTemplateCommands.cs
+++ b/Commands/InterviewTemplateCommands.cs
@@ -11,6 +11,7 @@ using DSharpPlus.Commands.Processors.SlashCommands;
 using DSharpPlus.Entities;
 using DSharpPlus.Exceptions;
 using Newtonsoft.Json;
+using Newtonsoft.Json.Schema;
 using SupportChild.Interviews;
 
 namespace SupportChild.Commands;
@@ -19,6 +20,8 @@ namespace SupportChild.Commands;
 [Description("Administrative commands.")]
 public class InterviewTemplateCommands
 {
+    private static string jsonSchema = Utilities.ReadManifestData("Interviews.interview_template.schema.json");
+
     [RequireGuild]
     [Command("get")]
     [Description("Provides a copy of the interview template for a category which you can edit and then reupload.")]
@@ -96,35 +99,20 @@ public class InterviewTemplateCommands
             return;
         }
 
-        Stream stream = await new HttpClient().GetStreamAsync(file.Url);
-        string json = await new StreamReader(stream).ReadToEndAsync();
-
         try
         {
             List<string> errors = [];
 
-            // Convert it to an interview object to validate the template
-            Interviews.ValidatedTemplate template = JsonConvert.DeserializeObject<Interviews.ValidatedTemplate>(json, new JsonSerializerSettings()
-            {
-                //NullValueHandling = NullValueHandling.Include,
-                MissingMemberHandling = MissingMemberHandling.Error,
-                Error = delegate (object sender, Newtonsoft.Json.Serialization.ErrorEventArgs args)
-                {
-                    // I noticed the main exception mainly has information for developers, not administrators,
-                    // so I switched to using the inner message if available.
-                    if (string.IsNullOrEmpty(args.ErrorContext.Error.InnerException?.Message))
-                    {
-                        errors.Add(args.ErrorContext.Error.Message);
-                    }
-                    else
-                    {
-                        errors.Add(args.ErrorContext.Error.InnerException.Message);
-                    }
+            Stream stream = await new HttpClient().GetStreamAsync(file.Url);
+            JSchemaValidatingReader validatingReader = new(new JsonTextReader(new StreamReader(stream)));
+            validatingReader.Schema = JSchema.Parse(jsonSchema);
 
-                    Logger.Debug("Exception occured when trying to upload interview template:\n" + args.ErrorContext.Error);
-                    args.ErrorContext.Handled = false;
-                }
-            });
+            // The schema seems to throw an additional error with incorrect information if an invalid parameter is included
+            // in the template. Throw here in order to only show the first correct error to the user, also skips unnecessary validation further down.
+            validatingReader.ValidationEventHandler += (o, a) => throw new JsonException(a.Message);
+
+            JsonSerializer serializer = new();
+            Template template = serializer.Deserialize<Template>(validatingReader);
 
             DiscordChannel category = await SupportChild.client.GetChannelAsync(template.categoryID);
             if (!category.IsCategory)
@@ -170,11 +158,7 @@ public class InterviewTemplateCommands
                 await command.RespondAsync(new DiscordEmbedBuilder
                 {
                     Color = DiscordColor.Red,
-                    Description = "The uploaded JSON structure could not be converted to an interview template.\n\nErrors:\n```\n" + errorString + "\n```",
-                    Footer = new DiscordEmbedBuilder.EmbedFooter()
-                    {
-                        Text = "More detailed information may be available as debug messages in the bot logs."
-                    }
+                    Description = "The uploaded JSON structure could not be parsed as an interview template.\n\nErrors:\n```\n" + errorString + "\n```"
                 }, true);
                 return;
             }
@@ -208,11 +192,15 @@ public class InterviewTemplateCommands
         }
         catch (Exception e)
         {
+            Logger.Debug("Exception occured when trying to upload interview template:\n", e);
             await command.RespondAsync(new DiscordEmbedBuilder
             {
-
                 Color = DiscordColor.Red,
-                Description = "The uploaded JSON structure could not be converted to an interview template.\n\nError message:\n```\n" + e.Message + "\n```"
+                Description = "The uploaded JSON structure could not be parsed as an interview template.\n\nError message:\n```\n" + e.Message + "\n```",
+                Footer = new DiscordEmbedBuilder.EmbedFooter
+                {
+                    Text = "More detailed information may be available as debug messages in the bot logs."
+                }
             }, true);
             return;
         }
diff --git a/Database.cs b/Database.cs
index 69591a9..e9d06f7 100644
--- a/Database.cs
+++ b/Database.cs
@@ -6,6 +6,7 @@ using DSharpPlus;
 using MySqlConnector;
 using Newtonsoft.Json;
 using Newtonsoft.Json.Serialization;
+using SupportChild.Interviews;
 
 namespace SupportChild;
 
@@ -797,7 +798,7 @@ public static class Database
         }
     }
 
-    public static bool SetInterviewTemplate(Interviews.ValidatedTemplate template)
+    public static bool SetInterviewTemplate(Interviews.Template template)
     {
         try
         {
@@ -805,7 +806,8 @@ public static class Database
             {
                 NullValueHandling = NullValueHandling.Ignore,
                 MissingMemberHandling = MissingMemberHandling.Error,
-                Formatting = Formatting.Indented
+                Formatting = Formatting.Indented,
+                ContractResolver = new InterviewQuestion.StripInternalPropertiesResolver()
             });
 
             string query;
diff --git a/Interviews/Interview.cs b/Interviews/Interview.cs
index 81941d2..da31542 100644
--- a/Interviews/Interview.cs
+++ b/Interviews/Interview.cs
@@ -1,15 +1,18 @@
-using System.Collections.Generic;
+using System;
+using System.Collections.Generic;
 using System.Collections.Specialized;
 using System.Linq;
+using System.Reflection;
 using DSharpPlus.Entities;
 using Newtonsoft.Json;
 using Newtonsoft.Json.Converters;
+using Newtonsoft.Json.Serialization;
 
 namespace SupportChild.Interviews;
 
 public enum QuestionType
 {
-    // Support multiselector as separate type, with only one subpath supported
+    // TODO: Support multiselector as separate type, with only one subpath supported
     ERROR,
     END_WITH_SUMMARY,
     END_WITHOUT_SUMMARY,
@@ -46,7 +49,7 @@ public class InterviewQuestion
 
     // The type of question.
     [JsonConverter(typeof(StringEnumConverter))]
-    [JsonProperty("type")]
+    [JsonProperty("message-type")]
     public QuestionType type;
 
     // Colour of the message embed.
@@ -192,6 +195,106 @@ public class InterviewQuestion
             _ => DiscordButtonStyle.Secondary
         };
     }
+
+    public void Validate(ref List<string> errors, out int summaryCount, out int summaryMaxLength)
+    {
+        if (string.IsNullOrWhiteSpace(message))
+        {
+            errors.Add("Message cannot be empty.");
+        }
+
+        if (type is QuestionType.ERROR or QuestionType.END_WITH_SUMMARY or QuestionType.END_WITHOUT_SUMMARY)
+        {
+            if (paths.Count > 0)
+            {
+                errors.Add("'" + type + "' questions cannot have child paths.");
+            }
+        }
+        else if (paths.Count == 0)
+        {
+            errors.Add("'" + type + "' questions must have at least one child path.");
+        }
+
+        List<int> summaryCounts = [];
+        Dictionary<string, int> childMaxLengths = new Dictionary<string, int>();
+        foreach (KeyValuePair<string, InterviewQuestion> path in paths)
+        {
+            path.Value.Validate(ref errors, out int summaries, out int maxLen);
+            summaryCounts.Add(summaries);
+            childMaxLengths.Add(path.Key, maxLen);
+        }
+
+        summaryCount = summaryCounts.Count == 0 ? 0 : summaryCounts.Max();
+
+        string childPathString = "";
+        int childMaxLength = 0;
+        if (childMaxLengths.Count != 0)
+        {
+            (childPathString, childMaxLength) = childMaxLengths.ToArray().MaxBy(x => x.Key.Length + x.Value);
+        }
+
+        summaryMaxLength = childMaxLength;
+
+        if (string.IsNullOrWhiteSpace(summaryField))
+        {
+            ++summaryCount;
+        }
+
+        // Only count summaries that end in a summary question.
+        if (type == QuestionType.END_WITH_SUMMARY)
+        {
+            summaryMaxLength = message?.Length ?? 0;
+            summaryMaxLength += title?.Length ?? 0;
+        }
+        // Only add to the total max length if the summary field is not empty. That way we know this branch ends in a summary.
+        else if (summaryMaxLength > 0 && !string.IsNullOrEmpty(summaryField))
+        {
+            summaryMaxLength += summaryField.Length;
+            switch (type)
+            {
+                case QuestionType.BUTTONS:
+                case QuestionType.TEXT_SELECTOR:
+                    summaryMaxLength += childPathString.Length;
+                    break;
+                case QuestionType.USER_SELECTOR:
+                case QuestionType.ROLE_SELECTOR:
+                case QuestionType.MENTIONABLE_SELECTOR:
+                case QuestionType.CHANNEL_SELECTOR:
+                    // Approximate length of a mention
+                    summaryMaxLength += 23;
+                    break;
+                case QuestionType.TEXT_INPUT:
+                    summaryMaxLength += Math.Min(maxLength ?? 1024, 1024);
+                    break;
+                case QuestionType.END_WITH_SUMMARY:
+                case QuestionType.END_WITHOUT_SUMMARY:
+                case QuestionType.ERROR:
+                default:
+                    break;
+            }
+        }
+    }
+
+    public class StripInternalPropertiesResolver : DefaultContractResolver
+    {
+        private static readonly HashSet<string> ignoreProps =
+        [
+            "message-id",
+            "answer",
+            "answer-id",
+            "related-message-ids"
+        ];
+
+        protected override JsonProperty CreateProperty(MemberInfo member, MemberSerialization memberSerialization)
+        {
+            JsonProperty property = base.CreateProperty(member, memberSerialization);
+            if (ignoreProps.Contains(property.PropertyName))
+            {
+                property.ShouldSerialize = _ => false;
+            }
+            return property;
+        }
+    }
 }
 
 public class Template(ulong categoryID, InterviewQuestion interview)
diff --git a/Interviews/ValidatedInterview.cs b/Interviews/ValidatedInterview.cs
deleted file mode 100644
index 464800d..0000000
--- a/Interviews/ValidatedInterview.cs
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,137 +0,0 @@
-using System;
-using System.Collections.Generic;
-using System.Linq;
-using Newtonsoft.Json;
-using Newtonsoft.Json.Converters;
-using SupportChild.Interviews;
-
-namespace SupportChild.Interviews;
-
-// This class is identical to the normal interview question and just exists as a hack to get JSON validation when
-// new entries are entered but not when read from database in order to be more lenient with old interviews.
-// I might do this in a more proper way at some point.
-public class ValidatedInterviewQuestion
-{
-    [JsonProperty("title", Required = Required.Default)]
-    public string title;
-
-    [JsonProperty("message", Required = Required.Always)]
-    public string message;
-
-    [JsonConverter(typeof(StringEnumConverter))]
-    [JsonProperty("type", Required = Required.Always)]
-    public QuestionType type;
-
-    [JsonProperty("color", Required = Required.Always)]
-    public string color;
-
-    [JsonProperty("summary-field", Required = Required.Default)]
-    public string summaryField;
-
-    [JsonConverter(typeof(StringEnumConverter))]
-    [JsonProperty("button-style", Required = Required.Default)]
-    public ButtonType? buttonStyle;
-
-    [JsonProperty("selector-placeholder", Required = Required.Default)]
-    public string selectorPlaceholder;
-
-    [JsonProperty("selector-description", Required = Required.Default)]
-    public string selectorDescription;
-
-    [JsonProperty("max-length", Required = Required.Default)]
-    public int? maxLength;
-
-    [JsonProperty("min-length", Required = Required.Default)]
-    public int? minLength;
-
-    [JsonProperty("paths", Required = Required.Always)]
-    public Dictionary<string, ValidatedInterviewQuestion> paths;
-
-    public void Validate(ref List<string> errors, out int summaryCount, out int summaryMaxLength)
-    {
-        if (string.IsNullOrWhiteSpace(message))
-        {
-            errors.Add("Message cannot be empty.");
-        }
-
-        if (type is QuestionType.ERROR or QuestionType.END_WITH_SUMMARY or QuestionType.END_WITHOUT_SUMMARY)
-        {
-            if (paths.Count > 0)
-            {
-                errors.Add("'" + type + "' questions cannot have child paths.");
-            }
-        }
-        else if (paths.Count == 0)
-        {
-            errors.Add("'" + type + "' questions must have at least one child path.");
-        }
-
-        List<int> summaryCounts = [];
-        Dictionary<string, int> childMaxLengths = new Dictionary<string, int>();
-        foreach (KeyValuePair<string, ValidatedInterviewQuestion> path in paths)
-        {
-            path.Value.Validate(ref errors, out int summaries, out int maxLen);
-            summaryCounts.Add(summaries);
-            childMaxLengths.Add(path.Key, maxLen);
-        }
-
-        summaryCount = summaryCounts.Count == 0 ? 0 : summaryCounts.Max();
-
-        string childPathString = "";
-        int childMaxLength = 0;
-        if (childMaxLengths.Count != 0)
-        {
-            (childPathString, childMaxLength) = childMaxLengths.ToArray().MaxBy(x => x.Key.Length + x.Value);
-        }
-
-        summaryMaxLength = childMaxLength;
-
-        if (string.IsNullOrWhiteSpace(summaryField))
-        {
-            ++summaryCount;
-        }
-
-        // Only count summaries that end in a summary question.
-        if (type == QuestionType.END_WITH_SUMMARY)
-        {
-            summaryMaxLength = message?.Length ?? 0;
-            summaryMaxLength += title?.Length ?? 0;
-        }
-        // Only add to the total max length if the summary field is not empty. That way we know this branch ends in a summary.
-        else if (summaryMaxLength > 0 && !string.IsNullOrEmpty(summaryField))
-        {
-            summaryMaxLength += summaryField.Length;
-            switch (type)
-            {
-                case QuestionType.BUTTONS:
-                case QuestionType.TEXT_SELECTOR:
-                    summaryMaxLength += childPathString.Length;
-                    break;
-                case QuestionType.USER_SELECTOR:
-                case QuestionType.ROLE_SELECTOR:
-                case QuestionType.MENTIONABLE_SELECTOR:
-                case QuestionType.CHANNEL_SELECTOR:
-                    // Approximate length of a mention
-                    summaryMaxLength += 23;
-                    break;
-                case QuestionType.TEXT_INPUT:
-                    summaryMaxLength += Math.Min(maxLength ?? 1024, 1024);
-                    break;
-                case QuestionType.END_WITH_SUMMARY:
-                case QuestionType.END_WITHOUT_SUMMARY:
-                case QuestionType.ERROR:
-                default:
-                    break;
-            }
-        }
-    }
-}
-
-public class ValidatedTemplate(ulong categoryID, ValidatedInterviewQuestion interview)
-{
-    [JsonProperty("category-id", Required = Required.Always)]
-    public ulong categoryID = categoryID;
-
-    [JsonProperty("interview", Required = Required.Always)]
-    public ValidatedInterviewQuestion interview = interview;
-}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/Interviews/interview_template.schema.json b/Interviews/interview_template.schema.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..b0d241a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/Interviews/interview_template.schema.json
@@ -0,0 +1,152 @@
+{
+  "$schema": "https://json-schema.org/draft/2020-12/schema",
+  "id": "https://toastielab.dev/Emotions-stuff/SupportChild/src/branch/main/Interviews/interview_template.schema.json",
+  "title": "Interview Template",
+  "description": "An interview dialog tree template for SupportChild",
+  "definitions": {
+    "step": {
+      "type": "object",
+      "title": "Interview",
+      "description": "Contains the interview dialog tree.",
+      "properties": {
+        "heading": {
+          "type": "string",
+          "title": "Heading",
+          "description": "The title of the message.",
+          "minLength": 1
+        },
+        "message": {
+          "type": "string",
+          "title": "Message",
+          "description": "The message text.",
+          "minLength": 1
+        },
+        "message-type": {
+          "type": "string",
+          "title": "Message Type",
+          "description": "The type of message, decides what the bot will do when the user gets to this step.",
+          "enum": [
+            "ERROR",
+            "END_WITH_SUMMARY",
+            "END_WITHOUT_SUMMARY",
+            "BUTTONS",
+            "TEXT_SELECTOR",
+            "USER_SELECTOR",
+            "ROLE_SELECTOR",
+            "MENTIONABLE_SELECTOR",
+            "CHANNEL_SELECTOR",
+            "TEXT_INPUT"
+          ]
+        },
+        "color": {
+          "type": "string",
+          "title": "Color",
+          "description": "Colour of the embed message.",
+          "examples": [
+            "BLACK",
+            "WHITE",
+            "GRAY",
+            "DARKGRAY",
+            "LIGHTGRAY",
+            "VERYDARKGRAY",
+            "BLURPLE",
+            "GRAYPLE",
+            "DARKBUTNOTBLACK",
+            "NOTQUITEBLACK",
+            "RED",
+            "DARKRED",
+            "GREEN",
+            "DARKGREEN",
+            "BLUE",
+            "DARKBLUE",
+            "YELLOW",
+            "CYAN",
+            "MAGENTA",
+            "TEAL",
+            "AQUAMARINE",
+            "GOLD",
+            "GOLDENROD",
+            "AZURE",
+            "ROSE",
+            "SPRINGGREEN",
+            "CHARTREUSE",
+            "ORANGE",
+            "PURPLE",
+            "VIOLET",
+            "BROWN",
+            "HOTPINK",
+            "LILAC",
+            "CORNFLOWERBLUE",
+            "MIDNIGHTBLUE",
+            "WHEAT",
+            "INDIANRED",
+            "TURQUOISE",
+            "SAPGREEN",
+            "PHTHALOBLUE",
+            "PHTHALOGREEN",
+            "SIENNA"
+          ],
+          "minLength": 1
+        },
+        "paths": {
+          "type": "object",
+          "title": "Paths",
+          "description": "The possible next steps, the name of the path is matched against the user input, use \".*\" to match anything.",
+          "patternProperties": {
+            ".*": {
+              "$ref": "#/definitions/step"
+            }
+          }
+        },
+        "summary-field": {
+          "type": "string",
+          "title": "Summary Field",
+          "description": "If this interview ends with a summary this will be the name of the answer the user used in this field.",
+          "minLength": 1
+        },
+        "button-style": {
+          "type": "string",
+          "title": "Button Style",
+          "description": "The style of the button that leads to this step, the step before this one must be a button step for this to work.",
+          "enum": [
+            "PRIMARY",
+            "SECONDARY",
+            "SUCCESS",
+            "DANGER"
+          ]
+        },
+        "selector-description": {
+          "type": "string",
+          "title": "Selector Description",
+          "description": "The description of the selector.",
+          "minLength": 1
+        },
+        "max-length": {
+          "type": "number",
+          "title": "Max Length",
+          "description": "The maximum length of the text input."
+        },
+        "min-length": {
+          "type": "number",
+          "title": "Min Length",
+          "description": "The minimum length of the text input."
+        }
+      },
+      "required": [ "message", "message-type", "color", "paths" ],
+      "unevaluatedProperties": false
+    }
+  },
+  "type": "object",
+  "properties": {
+    "category-id": {
+      "type": "string",
+      "title": "Category ID",
+      "description": "The category the template applies to. Change this to apply the template to a different category."
+    },
+    "interview": {
+      "$ref": "#/definitions/step"
+    }
+  },
+  "required": [ "category-id", "interview" ],
+  "unevaluatedProperties": false
+}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/SupportChild.csproj b/SupportChild.csproj
index 6848da1..c03f127 100644
--- a/SupportChild.csproj
+++ b/SupportChild.csproj
@@ -42,6 +42,7 @@
       <PackageReference Include="JsonExtensions" Version="1.2.0" />
       <PackageReference Include="MySqlConnector" Version="2.3.7" />
       <PackageReference Include="Newtonsoft.Json" Version="13.0.3" />
+      <PackageReference Include="Newtonsoft.Json.Schema" Version="4.0.1" />
       <PackageReference Include="Polly" Version="8.4.2" />
       <PackageReference Include="RazorBlade" Version="0.6.0" />
       <PackageReference Include="Superpower" Version="3.0.0" />
@@ -49,15 +50,16 @@
       <PackageReference Include="YamlDotNet" Version="16.1.3" />
       <PackageReference Include="YoutubeExplode" Version="6.4.3" />
     </ItemGroup>
-  
-    <ItemGroup>
-      <Folder Include="lib\" />
-    </ItemGroup>
 
     <ItemGroup>
       <Reference Include="DiscordChatExporter.Core">
-        <HintPath>lib\DiscordChatExporter.Core.dll</HintPath>
+        <HintPath>lib/DiscordChatExporter.Core.dll</HintPath>
       </Reference>
     </ItemGroup>
+  
+    <ItemGroup>
+      <EmbeddedResource Include="default_config.yml" />
+      <EmbeddedResource Include="Interviews/interview_template.schema.json" />
+    </ItemGroup>
 
 </Project>
\ No newline at end of file