What this tool does
This converter transforms data between YAML (YAML Ain't Markup Language) and JSON (JavaScript Object Notation) formats with automatic format detection. Both formats represent structured data but with different syntax conventions.
YAML uses indentation and colons for structure, making it human-readable and popular for configuration files. JSON uses braces, brackets, and quotes, making it ideal for data interchange between systems and APIs.
The converter automatically detects whether your input is YAML or JSON, then converts it to the opposite format. All processing happens in your browser with no data sent to external servers, ensuring privacy for sensitive configuration data.
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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