JSON Toolkit

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name: json-toolkit description: Swiss-army knife for JSON files. Pretty-print, validate, minify, sort keys, and query with dot-notation paths. Zero dependencies. triggers: - format json - pretty print json - validate json - query json - minify json - json tool

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JSON Toolkit

A zero-dependency Python utility for working with JSON data. Validates, formats, minifies, queries, and inspects JSON files — all with Python's standard library.

Features

Pretty-print with configurable indentation (2, 4, or any number of spaces)

Minify JSON to reduce file size for APIs and storage

Validate JSON and get structural stats (type, key count, size)

Query nested data with dot-notation paths including array indices

Sort keys alphabetically for deterministic output and easier diffs

Stdin support for use in shell pipelines with other tools

Usage Examples

Pretty-print a JSON file:

python main.py data.json

Validate without output:

python main.py config.json --validate
✓ Valid JSON
  Type: object (12 keys)
  Size: 4832 bytes

Query a nested value:

python main.py users.json --query data.users.0.name
"Alice"

Minify for production:

python main.py config.json --minify -o config.min.json

Sort keys for consistent diffs:

python main.py package.json --sort-keys -o package-sorted.json

Pipe from curl:

curl -s https://api.example.com/data | python main.py - --query results.0

Query Syntax

Use dot notation to navigate nested structures. Array indices are numbers:

name — top-level key

data.users — nested object key

data.users.0 — first element of an array

data.users.0.email — field of the first array element

config.servers.2.host — deeply nested value

Command Line Options

input — JSON file path, or - for stdin

-o, --output — Output file (defaults to stdout)

--indent N — Indentation spaces (default: 2)

--minify — Output minified JSON (no whitespace)

--query PATH / -q PATH — Extract a value at the given dot-notation path

--validate — Only validate and print stats, no output

--sort-keys — Sort object keys alphabetically

--json — (implicit) Output is always valid JSON