JSON → YAML Converter

Paste JSON below, get YAML out. Useful for moving data between systems that prefer different encodings (e.g. Kubernetes manifests, Helm values, Hugo / Jekyll front matter).

JSON input

YAML output

How the conversion works

JSON's six value types map to YAML directly:

JSON	YAML
`"hello"`	`hello` (quoted only when ambiguous)
`42`	`42`
`true` / `false`	`true` / `false`
`null`	`null`
`[1, 2]`	`- 1 - 2`
`{"a": 1}`	`a: 1`

 When to convert
  Kubernetes / Helm. Most charts and manifests are YAML; ad-hoc values are often easier to write as JSON and convert.
 Hugo / Jekyll / Astro front matter. Some sites prefer YAML; others accept JSON. Converting lets you reuse the same source.
 OpenAPI specs. Both encodings are accepted; YAML is more readable for hand-editing.
 GitHub Actions / GitLab CI. YAML-native; if you have a JSON config from another system, convert and paste.
 
 When NOT to convert
  API payloads. Just use JSON. YAML in HTTP bodies is non-standard and often unsupported.
 Logs / structured events. JSON's strict, machine-readable form wins. YAML's flexibility is a liability for log indexing.
 Wire protocols. JSON is universally supported; YAML parsers vary in strictness.
 
 YAML's gotchas
 
YAML is more flexible than JSON, which means it has more ways to be wrong:
  The Norway problem. NO: country can parse as false: country in YAML 1.1. Always quote string keys/values that look like booleans or numbers.
 Indentation matters. Tabs and spaces aren't interchangeable. Most parsers reject tabs.
 Anchors and aliases (&name, *name) — JSON has no equivalent, so they're never produced by this converter.
 Multi-document streams (--- separators) — YAML can have multiple documents in one file. JSON cannot. The converter outputs a single document.
 
 The reverse direction (YAML → JSON)
 
Until we ship a dedicated YAML → JSON page, the simplest tools:
 # Python
python3 -c 'import yaml,json,sys; print(json.dumps(yaml.safe_load(sys.stdin)))' < file.yaml

# yq (Go YAML processor)
yq -o=json eval . file.yaml

# Node
node -e 'const yaml=require("yaml");console.log(JSON.stringify(yaml.parse(require("fs").readFileSync(0,"utf8"))))' < file.yaml

FAQ

Is anything sent to a server?

No. Conversion happens in your browser. Open DevTools → Network if you'd like to verify.

What's converted, exactly?

Strings, numbers, booleans, null, arrays, and objects. JSON's primitive types map directly to YAML's. Strings are auto-quoted only when they'd otherwise be parsed as YAML keywords (yes/no/null/etc.) or have special characters.

Can I round-trip JSON → YAML → JSON?

For the data types this tool emits, yes — both encodings represent the same set of primitives. YAML can express things JSON can't (anchors / aliases, custom tags), but converting JSON to YAML doesn't introduce them.

What about YAML to JSON?

Coming soon. For now, run python3 -c 'import yaml,json,sys;print(json.dumps(yaml.safe_load(sys.stdin)))' at the command line.