json-tools

name	json-tools
description	JSON processing toolkit for validating, formatting, querying, and comparing JSON data. Use when working with JSON files, API responses, configuration files, or any structured JSON data that needs parsing, validation, transformation, or comparison.
license	MIT
metadata	{"author":"dspy-skills","version":"1.0"}

JSON Tools

A toolkit for working with JSON data using Python standard library only.

When to Use This Skill

Activate this skill when the user needs to:

• Validate JSON syntax
• Format/pretty-print JSON
• Query JSON with path expressions
• Compare two JSON files
• Transform JSON data

Available Scripts

Always run scripts with --help first to see all available options.

Script	Purpose
validate_json.py	Check if JSON is valid
format_json.py	Pretty-print or minify JSON
query_json.py	Extract data using path expressions
diff_json.py	Compare two JSON files

Decision Tree

Task → What do you need?
    │
    ├─ Check if JSON is valid?
    │   └─ Use: validate_json.py <file>
    │
    ├─ Format/beautify JSON?
    │   └─ Use: format_json.py <file>
    │
    ├─ Extract specific data?
    │   └─ Use: query_json.py <file> <path>
    │
    └─ Compare two JSON files?
        └─ Use: diff_json.py <file1> <file2>

Quick Examples

Validate JSON:

python scripts/validate_json.py data.json
echo '{"key": "value"}' | python scripts/validate_json.py -

Format JSON:

python scripts/format_json.py data.json
python scripts/format_json.py data.json --indent 4
python scripts/format_json.py data.json --minify

Query JSON:

python scripts/query_json.py data.json "users"
python scripts/query_json.py data.json "users.0.name"
python scripts/query_json.py data.json "config.database.host"

Compare JSON:

python scripts/diff_json.py old.json new.json
python scripts/diff_json.py config1.json config2.json --keys-only

Path Expression Syntax

The query_json.py script uses dot-notation paths:

Path	Description
key	Access object key
0, 1, 2	Access array index
key.subkey	Nested access
items.0.name	Mixed access
. or empty	Root element

Examples

Given JSON:

{
  "users": [
    {"name": "Alice", "age": 30},
    {"name": "Bob", "age": 25}
  ],
  "config": {
    "debug": true
  }
}

Path	Result
users	The users array
users.0	First user object
users.0.name	"Alice"
users.1.age	25
config.debug	true

Input Sources

All scripts accept input from:

• File: script.py data.json
• Stdin: echo '{}' | script.py -
• String: script.py --string '{"key": "value"}'

Common Use Cases

1. Validate API response: validate_json.py response.json
2. Pretty-print minified JSON: format_json.py api_response.json
3. Extract config value: query_json.py config.json "database.host"
4. Find config differences: diff_json.py prod.json staging.json

Notes

• All scripts use Python standard library only (no external dependencies)
• Unicode is fully supported
• Large files are handled efficiently
• Exit codes: 0 = success, 1 = error/invalid, 2 = differences found (diff)