macOS
Homebrewverified · 100%
brew install hjsonlocal Homebrew formula metadata
brew / rank 8677
Install hjson with Homebrew, Nix, scoop
Convert JSON to HJSON and vice versa. Version 4.6.0 via Homebrew; verified 2026-07-27. Also installable with nix: nix profile install nixpkgs#hjson.
install
Additional install commands
Linux
Nixverified · 92%
nix profile install nixpkgs#hjsonnixpkgs package indexes · hjson · source: raw.githubusercontent.com
Windows
Scoopverified · 92%
scoop install main/hjsonScoop official bucket manifest trees · bucket/hjson.json · source: api.github.com
overview
Package summary
Convert JSON to HJSON and vice versa
Project links
Commands and aliases
- hjson
history
Project history and usage
Hjson is a human-editable configuration format and related CLI/library ecosystem that keeps JSON compatibility while relaxing syntax for comments, unquoted keys, optional commas, root-brace omission, and multiline strings.
Project history
The Hjson site presents the format as a user interface for JSON rather than a replacement for JSON. The stated goal is to make data easier for humans to read and edit before converting it back to ordinary JSON for machines.
The Hjson Internet-Draft dated May 23, 2016 formalized the format as Human JSON, a configuration file format based on JSON whose design goals were readability, editability, backward compatibility with JSON, and suitability for human-viewed configuration, resource files, and debug data dumps.
The Homebrew package points at hjson-go, the Go implementation. Its README says the Go implementation is based on hjson-js, documents both library and hjson-cli use, and positions the CLI as a converter between JSON and Hjson.
Adoption history
Hjson adoption has been implementation-led rather than standards-body-led. The official developer page lists implementations for JavaScript, C#, C++, Go, Java, Lua, PHP, Python, Rust, Ruby, and other partial ports, plus tools with native support.
The input package facts show the Go CLI packaged by Homebrew, Nix, and Scoop. That is a modest but useful packaging footprint for developers who want a command-line converter without adopting a language-specific library.
How it is used
The hjson-go CLI reads JSON or Hjson from a file or stdin and emits JSON, formatted JSON, or Hjson. Typical package use is converting existing JSON into a friendlier editable form, validating Hjson, or embedding Hjson parsing into Go programs.
The format is intentionally scoped. The Internet-Draft recommends it for data primarily viewed or edited by humans and advises against protocol use.
Why package nerds care
Hjson sits in the long-running package-nerd debate over configuration formats: strict JSON is universal but hostile to comments and hand editing; YAML is powerful but complex; Hjson offers a smaller relaxed-JSON compromise.
The Go CLI matters because it turns the format into a portable command-line filter, making Hjson useful in shell scripts, editors, config migrations, and package-manager installs without committing to a JavaScript runtime.
Timeline
- 2014: The hjson/hjson repository was created for the format project.
- 2016-05-23: The Hjson Internet-Draft was dated May 23, 2016.
- 2016-08-05: The hjson-go repository was created.
- 2016-08-08: hjson-go v0.1.0 was published on GitHub releases.
Related projects
- hjson-js: the JavaScript implementation that hjson-go names as its base.
- JSON: the strict data format that Hjson extends for human-editable configuration.
- YAML, TOML, JSON5: adjacent human-editable configuration formats often considered for similar use cases.
Sources
security posture
Risk level: green
narrow executable package without higher-risk signals.
Risk classifier
green risk · low confidence · appliance
Why
- narrow executable package without higher-risk signals
Signals
- metadata:no-higher-risk-signals
Install behavior
- No Homebrew bottle metadata was recorded.
Recommended review
Before unattended agent use, check whether the tool reads plaintext credentials, writes remote state, publishes artifacts, or shells out to plugins.
executables
Installed executables
| Command | Kind | Exposure | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
hjson | executable | indexed executable | Discovered from the local executable index. |
freshness
Version and freshness
These signals separate page generation age, package-manager activity, and upstream release comparison. Version lag is warned only when an evidence URL and comparable versions are present.
page generated2026-08-03
manager version4.6.0
manager updated2026-07-27
local dataunknown
upstreamnot available
latest detectednot detected
- okNo freshness warnings were generated.
install metadata
Package metadata
| Package key | brew:hjson |
|---|---|
| Version | 4.6.0 |
| Package manager | Homebrew |
| Homepage | https://hjson.github.io/ |
| Repository | https://github.com/hjson/hjson-go |
| Last updated | 2026-07-27T14:32:25+02:00 |
| Pulse | updated |
| Bottle | not recorded |
| Service | none declared |
source database matches
Other package-manager records
Matches are pulled from external package-manager indexes and kept separate from local Automic Vault package links.
Nix95%
hjson
nix profile install nixpkgs#hjson- normalized package name match
- Matched by: Hjson
Scoop95%
main/hjson
scoop install main/hjson- normalized package name match
- Matched by: Hjson
source trail
Generated from repository data
This page is generated by av-web from the private package SQLite artifact built by scripts/generate-pkg-sqlite.py.
Combined YAML source
View the package source record on GitHub.
Used sources
- Geiger risk classifier
- cross-ecosystem install command graph
- curated package history
- external package-manager database matches
- pkg.so package database
- pkgdb category and tag curation