JSON Formatter API

Format, minify or validate JSON without rounding large numbers or losing duplicate and prototype-like keys.

Try the JSON Formatter API

POST /api/v1/json-formatter/

Send request transmits this input to the API server. The online tool processes input in your browser.

Request parameters

ParameterTypeRequiredRules
textstringYesThe JSON document as a string. Use a string so the caller’s JSON serializer cannot round its numbers. Maximum: 16384 code points.
operationstringNoSelect pretty printing, whitespace removal or syntax validation. Values: format, minify, validate. Default: "format".
indentintegerNoSpaces per indentation level for format. Default: 2. Range: 0–8.
sortKeysbooleanNoSort object keys lexically when formatting; duplicate-key order is stable. Default: false.

Response fields

A successful response is {"ok":true,"data":{…}}. These fields are inside data.

result · string
The converted text. Empty input can produce an empty result.
stats · object
Object containing keys, maxDepth.

Keep the source JSON as a string

Place the document in the text field instead of sending it as an already-parsed object. A caller can otherwise round an integer before the API receives it. The formatter validates the JSON grammar and renders its original scalar tokens, preserving large integers, exponent spelling, trailing decimal zeroes, duplicate keys and keys such as __proto__.

Formatting and validation limits

Documents may have at most 64 nesting levels. Format supports zero to eight indentation spaces. Minify removes structural whitespace without sorting keys. Validate returns the original valid text and statistics. Sorting is lexical by decoded key, not locale aware. This API checks JSON syntax; it does not validate against a JSON Schema.

cURL, JavaScript and Python examples

Preserve large numbers

Digits and decimal zeroes remain unchanged.

cURL
curl --fail-with-body --request POST 'https://www.base64.sh/api/v1/json-formatter/' \
  --user-agent 'Base64.sh API example/1.0' --header 'Content-Type: application/json' \
  --data-raw '{"text":"{\"id\":9007199254740993,\"amount\":2.370}"}'
JavaScript
const response = await fetch("https://www.base64.sh/api/v1/json-formatter/", {
  method: "POST",
  headers: { "Content-Type": "application/json" },
  body: JSON.stringify({
  "text": "{\"id\":9007199254740993,\"amount\":2.370}"
})
});
if (!response.ok) throw new Error(await response.text());
console.log(await response.json());
Python
import json
from urllib.request import Request, urlopen

payload = json.loads("{\n  \"text\": \"{\\\"id\\\":9007199254740993,\\\"amount\\\":2.370}\"\n}")
request = Request(
    "https://www.base64.sh/api/v1/json-formatter/",
    data=json.dumps(payload, ensure_ascii=False).encode("utf-8"),
    headers={"Content-Type": "application/json", "User-Agent": "Base64.sh API example/1.0"},
    method="POST",
)
with urlopen(request, timeout=15) as response:
    print(json.load(response))

Response · HTTP 200

{
  "ok": true,
  "data": {
    "result": "{\n  \"id\": 9007199254740993,\n  \"amount\": 2.370\n}",
    "stats": {
      "keys": 2,
      "maxDepth": 1
    }
  }
}

Minify

Only structural whitespace is removed; whitespace inside strings is preserved.

cURL
curl --fail-with-body --request POST 'https://www.base64.sh/api/v1/json-formatter/' \
  --user-agent 'Base64.sh API example/1.0' --header 'Content-Type: application/json' \
  --data-raw '{"text":"{\n \"ok\": true, \"items\": [1, 2]\n}","operation":"minify"}'
JavaScript
const response = await fetch("https://www.base64.sh/api/v1/json-formatter/", {
  method: "POST",
  headers: { "Content-Type": "application/json" },
  body: JSON.stringify({
  "text": "{\n \"ok\": true, \"items\": [1, 2]\n}",
  "operation": "minify"
})
});
if (!response.ok) throw new Error(await response.text());
console.log(await response.json());
Python
import json
from urllib.request import Request, urlopen

payload = json.loads("{\n  \"text\": \"{\\n \\\"ok\\\": true, \\\"items\\\": [1, 2]\\n}\",\n  \"operation\": \"minify\"\n}")
request = Request(
    "https://www.base64.sh/api/v1/json-formatter/",
    data=json.dumps(payload, ensure_ascii=False).encode("utf-8"),
    headers={"Content-Type": "application/json", "User-Agent": "Base64.sh API example/1.0"},
    method="POST",
)
with urlopen(request, timeout=15) as response:
    print(json.load(response))

Response · HTTP 200

{
  "ok": true,
  "data": {
    "result": "{\"ok\":true,\"items\":[1,2]}",
    "stats": {
      "keys": 2,
      "maxDepth": 2
    }
  }
}

Invalid request example

{
  "text": "{bad}"
}

HTTP 400

{
  "ok": false,
  "error": {
    "code": "INVALID_INPUT",
    "message": "Invalid JSON syntax or excessive nesting."
  }
}

Limits and error handling

Requests require Content-Type: application/json and a UTF-8 JSON object. The body limit is 32 KiB (32,768 bytes), text fields allow up to 16,384 Unicode code points unless a smaller limit is listed, and responses are limited to 256 KiB. Unknown parameters and unpaired Unicode surrogates in parameter strings are rejected. Send inputs in the request body, not query parameters.

Anonymous access is limited to approximately 60 POST requests per minute per IP address, shared across endpoints in each Cloudflare location. Shared networks share the allowance. Counters are eventually consistent, not a guaranteed global quota. On HTTP 429, wait for the Retry-After interval before retrying; avoid immediate retry loops.

Programmatic clients should send an identifying User-Agent, as shown in the cURL and Python examples. Browser fetch supplies its own header. Cloudflare may reject a generic or missing agent before the API runs; an edge-generated 403 can be plain text or HTML rather than the JSON envelope. See Cloudflare error 1010.

400 · Invalid input
Malformed JSON, missing fields, unsupported options or invalid encoded text. Correct the input before retrying.
403 · Edge request blocked
Check the User-Agent and the Cloudflare error response before retrying.
404 · Unknown endpoint
Use a documented /api/v1/{tool}/ endpoint.
405 · Method not allowed
Use POST. OPTIONS is supported for browser CORS requests.
413 · Size limit exceeded
Reduce the request size or the generated output.
415 · Unsupported media type
Set Content-Type: application/json.
429 · Rate limited
Wait at least the Retry-After number of seconds.
500 / 503 · Service unavailable
Retry later with bounded backoff. Availability is not guaranteed.

API data processing

API inputs are sent over HTTPS and processed in memory by a Cloudflare Worker. The application does not persist submitted text or deliberately log request bodies, and API responses use Cache-Control: no-store. Cloudflare may process network metadata under its own policies. For local processing, use the corresponding browser tool. See the privacy policy.