validate_build()

The validate_build() method is used to verify if a package binary can be built with the current configuration. It is different than the validate() method which raises when the package cannot be used with the current configuration.

The validate_build() method can check the self.settings and self.options values to raise ConanInvalidConfiguration if necessary.

from conan import ConanFile
from conan.errors import ConanInvalidConfiguration

class Pkg(ConanFile):
    name = "pkg"
    version = "1.0"
    settings = "os", "arch", "compiler", "build_type"

    def package_id(self):
        # For this package, it doesn't matter the compiler used for the binary package
        del self.info.settings.compiler

    def validate_build(self):
        # But we know this cannot be build with "gcc"
        if self.settings.compiler == "gcc":
            raise ConanInvalidConfiguration("This doesn't build in GCC")

This package cannot be created with the gcc compiler, but it can be created with other:

$ conan create . -s compiler=gcc
...
ERROR: There are invalid packages:
pkg/1.0: Cannot build for this configuration: This doesn't build in GCC

$ conan create . -s compiler=clang  # WORKS!

Once the package has been built, it can be consumed with that compiler:

$ conan install --requires=pkg/1.0 -s compiler=gcc # WORKS!