JSON Formatting, Minifying, and Pretty-Printing

jq . data.json

# Format JSON with indentation and colors in many terminals.

python -m json.tool data.json

# Format JSON using the standard library.

python - <<'PY'
import json
from pathlib import Path
p = Path('data.json')
obj = json.loads(p.read_text())
print(json.dumps(obj, indent=2, sort_keys=True))
PY

# Sort object keys for predictable diffs.

jq -c . data.json

# Emit a minified one-line form.

python - <<'PY'
import json
from pathlib import Path
p = Path('data.json')
obj = json.loads(p.read_text())
print(json.dumps(obj, separators=(',', ':')))
PY

# Serialize JSON without extra whitespace.

curl -s https://api.example.com/users | jq .

# Pipe JSON from an HTTP request into jq.