JSON Validation

JSON validation uses the browser's native JSON.parse() method, which strictly follows RFC 8259. Common errors include: missing or extra commas, unquoted keys, single quotes instead of double quotes, trailing commas, and unescaped special characters in strings.

Pretty Print vs Minify

Pretty printing adds consistent indentation (2 or 4 spaces) and newlines to make JSON human-readable. Minification removes all whitespace to reduce file size — useful before transmitting JSON over a network or embedding in production code. Neither changes the data; only the whitespace format differs.

JSONPath Queries

JSONPath lets you extract values using dot notation (e.g., $.user.name) or bracket notation (e.g., $["items"][0]["id"]). The $ represents the root object. Use [*] to iterate all items in an array.

Common JSON Issues

JSON does not support comments, trailing commas, or undefined values. Numbers cannot have leading zeros. All strings must be double-quoted. Valid types are: string, number, boolean, null, array, and object.