# YAML ↔ JSON Converter

> Convert between YAML and JSON formats instantly. Paste YAML to get JSON or JSON to get YAML.

**Category:** Dev
**Keywords:** yaml, json, converter, data format, serialize, parse, config, configuration, transform, developer tools
**URL:** https://complete.tools/yaml-json-converter

## How it works

The conversion process follows these steps:

**Format Detection:**
- If input starts with { or [ and parses as valid JSON, treat as JSON
- Otherwise, attempt to parse as YAML
- Invalid input in both formats returns an error message

**JSON to YAML Conversion:**
- Remove braces, brackets, and quotation marks
- Convert nested objects to indented key-value pairs
- Transform arrays to hyphenated list items
- Preserve data types (strings, numbers, booleans, null)

**YAML to JSON Conversion:**
- Add braces around objects and brackets around arrays
- Quote all string keys and values
- Convert indented structures to nested objects
- Maintain array order and data types

## Who should use this

- **DevOps engineers** converting between Docker Compose YAML and JSON for API calls
- **Backend developers** transforming API responses for configuration file generation
- **Kubernetes administrators** debugging YAML manifests by viewing JSON equivalents
- **CI/CD pipeline maintainers** switching between GitHub Actions YAML and JSON schemas
- **Data engineers** migrating configuration between systems using different formats

## Worked examples

**Example 1: Simple object conversion**

YAML input:
name: John Smith
age: 35
active: true

JSON output:
{"name": "John Smith", "age": 35, "active": true}

**Example 2: Nested structure with arrays**

JSON input:
{"server": {"host": "localhost", "port": 8080}, "features": ["auth", "logging"]}

YAML output:
server:
  host: localhost
  port: 8080
features:
  - auth
  - logging

**Example 3: Docker Compose snippet**

YAML input:
services:
  web:
    image: nginx:latest
    ports:
      - 80:80

JSON output:
{"services": {"web": {"image": "nginx:latest", "ports": ["80:80"]}}}

## Limitations

- YAML comments are not preserved during conversion because JSON does not support comments
- YAML anchors and aliases (&anchor, *alias) are resolved and not preserved as references
- Multi-document YAML files (separated by ---) convert only the first document
- YAML custom tags (!!type) may not convert correctly to JSON
- Very large files over 1MB may cause browser performance issues
- Binary data in YAML must be base64-encoded for JSON compatibility

## FAQs

**
**Q:** Why are my YAML comments missing in the JSON output?**


**A:** JSON specification does not support comments. When converting YAML to JSON, all comments are stripped because there is no valid JSON syntax to represent them.

**
**Q:** Can I convert JSON with trailing commas?**


**A:** Strict JSON does not allow trailing commas. This tool uses a lenient parser that accepts trailing commas, but the output will always be valid strict JSON without them.

**
**Q:** Why does my YAML have quotes around strings in the JSON output?**


**A:** JSON requires all string values and keys to be enclosed in double quotes. YAML allows unquoted strings, but JSON does not support this syntax.

**
**Q:** Is my data sent to a server?**


**A:** No. All conversion happens locally in your browser using JavaScript. Your data never leaves your device, making this tool safe for sensitive configuration files.

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*Generated from [complete.tools/yaml-json-converter](https://complete.tools/yaml-json-converter)*