jsonANYjsonobjectroot
json
{
"name": "Ada",
"active": true
}Objects are the most common top-level form for API payloads and configuration files.
JSON Basics
Core JSON syntax, valid values, root structures, and foundational examples for working with JSON documents.
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Copy the compact sheet, download it, or print it.
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Valid JSON roots
Understand what a complete JSON document can look like at the top level.
jsonANYjsonarrayroot
json
[
{ "id": 1 },
{ "id": 2 }
]Arrays are common for list-style payloads and exports.
jsonANYjsonstringroot
json
"hello world"Many developers expect only objects or arrays, but any valid JSON value can be the root.
jsonANYjsonnumberroot
json
42This is valid JSON even though it is less common in practice.
jsonANYjsonnullroot
json
nullUseful for understanding validators and parsers that accept any JSON value.
Core syntax rules
The most important rules people forget when writing JSON by hand.
jsonANYjsonquotessyntax
json
{
"theme": "dark"
}`'theme': 'dark'` is valid in some JavaScript contexts but invalid JSON.
jsonANYjsoncommasyntax
json
{
"name": "Ada",
"role": "admin"
}A trailing comma after the last property or array item is a frequent parse failure.
jsonANYjsoncommentssyntax
json
{
"debug": false
}Many configuration systems allow JSON-like files with comments, but plain JSON does not.
bashANYjsonjqpretty-print
bash
jq . input.jsonA fast way to validate and pretty-print JSON from a file.
bashANYjsonpythonvalidate
bash
python -m json.tool input.json > /dev/nullUseful on machines where Python is available but `jq` is not.
More in JSON
JSONL and NDJSON
Newline-delimited JSON patterns for logs, streams, ETL, and large-file processing workflows.
JSON API Payload Patterns
Reusable JSON payload shapes for APIs: envelopes, pagination, errors, metadata, partial updates, and event-style messages.
JSON Schema Validation
Practical JSON Schema examples for required fields, types, enums, arrays, nested objects, and validation workflows.
JSON Formatting, Minifying, and Pretty-Printing
Commands and patterns for compact JSON, human-readable formatting, stable sorting, and terminal-friendly inspection.
JSON Validation and Common Errors
How to validate JSON, spot parse failures, repair common mistakes, and debug malformed payloads quickly.
JSON Escaping and Encoding
Escape sequences, Unicode, URLs, embedded JSON strings, and encoding pitfalls when storing or transporting JSON.