How are multi-line strings written?

As a literal block scalar, which keeps the line breaks byte for byte: |- when the string has no trailing newline, | for exactly one, |+ for more than one. A block scalar is refused when the first line starts with a space or any line ends in one, because YAML readers eat that whitespace silently, those strings fall back to a quoted scalar instead.

Is my key order preserved?

Yes, keys come out in the order the JSON had them unless you switch the Keys control to sorted A–Z.

Does it emit anchors and aliases?

No. Every value is written out in full, so an object that appears twice in the JSON appears twice in the YAML. Nothing is lost by that, since JSON has no way to express a shared reference in the first place, but if you wanted repeated blocks collapsed with & and *, that has to be done by hand afterwards.

JSON to YAML

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Indent

Sequences

Keys

JSON in

0 characters

YAML out

Runs entirely in your browser, nothing is uploaded.

How it works

JSON to YAML Converter : Block Scalars and Safe Quoting

Convert JSON to YAML with real indentation. A value YAML would misread as a boolean or a date gets quoted, so nothing changes type on the way through.

What this does

Two-space or four-space nesting, with sequences indented under their key or flush against it
A multi-line string becomes a literal block scalar, so its line breaks survive exactly
Quotes are added only where a bare value would come back as the wrong type
Empty objects and arrays are written inline as {} and [], never as a key with nothing under it
Optional A–Z key sort; JSON order is kept otherwise
Line count, key count, max depth and encoded size reported with the output

FAQ

Because YAML would otherwise read them as something other than text. To a YAML 1.1 parser the bare word no is the boolean false, the Norway problem, while 1.20 is a number that loses its trailing zero and 2024-01-05 is a date. Anything whose bare form would resolve to a different type gets quoted, and so does a string that opens with an indicator character, ends in a colon, or carries leading or trailing spaces. Single quotes are used unless the value needs an escape only a double-quoted scalar can express.

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