Fixes https://github.com/daveshanley/vacuum/issues/447

index/extract_refs.go

@@ -216,7 +216,7 @@ func (index *SpecIndex) ExtractRefs(node, parent *yaml.Node, seenPath []string,
 						continue
 					}
 					// issue #481, don't look at refs in arrays, the next node isn't the value.
-					if utils.IsNodeArray(node)  {
+					if utils.IsNodeArray(node) {
 						continue
 					}
 				}
@@ -444,6 +444,9 @@ func (index *SpecIndex) ExtractRefs(node, parent *yaml.Node, seenPath []string,
 					if utils.IsNodeArray(node) {
 						continue
 					}
+					if slices.Contains(seenPath, "example") || slices.Contains(seenPath, "examples") {
+						continue
+					}
 
 					ref := &DescriptionReference{
 						ParentNode: parent,
@@ -462,6 +465,10 @@ func (index *SpecIndex) ExtractRefs(node, parent *yaml.Node, seenPath []string,
 
 				if n.Value == "summary" {
 
+					if slices.Contains(seenPath, "example") || slices.Contains(seenPath, "examples") {
+						continue
+					}
+
 					var b *yaml.Node
 					if len(node.Content) == i+1 {
 						b = node.Content[i]

index/spec_index_test.go

@@ -1701,3 +1701,18 @@ components:
 	schemas := index.GetAllSchemas()
 	assert.Equal(t, 6, len(schemas))
 }
+
+func TestSpecIndex_CheckIgnoreDescriptionsInExamples(t *testing.T) {
+	yml := `openapi: 3.1.0
+components:
+  examples:
+    example1:
+      description: this should be ignored`
+
+	var rootNode yaml.Node
+	_ = yaml.Unmarshal([]byte(yml), &rootNode)
+
+	index := NewSpecIndexWithConfig(&rootNode, CreateOpenAPIIndexConfig())
+	schemas := index.GetAllDescriptions()
+	assert.Equal(t, 0, len(schemas))
+}