How to use the YAML ↔ JSON Converter

Select the direction: YAML → JSON or JSON → YAML.
Paste your YAML or JSON into the input box.
Click Convert. The result appears in the output panel.
Copy the output to your clipboard.

YAML vs JSON: key differences

YAML is a superset of JSON, every valid JSON document is also valid YAML. However, YAML adds several features that make it better for human-edited configuration:

Comments: YAML supports # comments; JSON does not
No quotes required: plain strings do not need to be quoted in YAML
Multi-line strings: YAML block scalars (| and >) make long text readable
Anchors and aliases: &anchor defines a reusable block; *alias references it, eliminating duplication
Multiple documents: a single YAML file can contain multiple documents separated by ---

JSON, by contrast, is simpler, more portable, and universally supported by APIs and parsers. It is the preferred format for machine-to-machine communication.

When to convert YAML → JSON

An API or tool requires JSON input but your source data is a YAML config file
You want to inspect the resolved structure of a YAML file with anchors and aliases
You need to validate that a YAML file parses correctly

When to convert JSON → YAML

You are writing a configuration file (Kubernetes, GitHub Actions, Docker Compose) and want to start from existing JSON data
You want to add comments or simplify the syntax for colleagues who edit config files by hand

Privacy

Conversion runs in your browser using the js-yaml library. No data is sent to any server.