Comments • Unquoted keys • Multi-line strings • Trailing commas • Optional commas • Auto-wrapped feed object • Simple feed version string • <..-..> shortcuts • Optional = is the new : • and more

JSON v1.1 Feed

JSON Feed Evolved for Humans - Easy-to-Write, Easy-to-Read

Welcome

What’s a Feed in JSON with Extensions (JSONX) in JSON v1.1? Why? Why?

JSON Feed is a feed format similar to RSS and Atom in JSON. See jsonfeed.org ». Example:

{
    "version":       "https://jsonfeed.org/version/1",
    "title":         "My Example Feed",
    "home_page_url": "https://example.org/",
    "feed_url":      "https://example.org/feed.json",
    "items": [
        {
            "id":           "2",
            "content_text": "This is a second item.",
            "url":          "https://example.org/second-item"
        },
        {
            "id":           "1",
            "content_html": "<p>Hello, world!</p>",
            "url":          "https://example.org/initial-post"
        }
    ]
}

Now thanks to JSON: 1.1 # JSON with Extensions (JSONX) let’s
make JSON Feed easier-to-write and easier-to-read.
How about?

“Classic” Colon (:) Variant

Note: You can use unquoted keys and all commas are optional.

 # JSON Feed shortened w/ JSON v1.1, JSON with Extensions (JSONX)
 version       : '1'
 title         : 'My Example Feed'
 home_page_url : 'https://example.org/'
 feed_url      : 'https://example.org/feed.json'
 items         : [
 { 
    id           : '2'
    content_text : 'This is a second item.'
    url          : 'https://example.org/second-item'
 } {
    id           : '1'
    content_html : '<p>Hello, world!</p>'
    url          : 'https://example.org/initial-post'
 }]

“Classic” Colon (:) Variant with (<..-..>) Shortcuts

Note: You can shortcut [{..},{..}] with <..-..>.

 # JSON Feed shortened w/ JSON v1.1, JSON with Extensions (JSONX)
 version       : '1'
 title         : 'My Example Feed'
 home_page_url : 'https://example.org/'
 feed_url      : 'https://example.org/feed.json'
 items         : 
 <  id           : '2'
    content_text : 'This is a second item.'
    url          : 'https://example.org/second-item'
    -
    id           : '1'
    content_html : '<p>Hello, world!</p>'
    url          : 'https://example.org/initial-post'
 >

“Alternate” Equals (=) Variant

Note: Using = as key/value separator lets you use unquoted urls or datetimes - because the colon (:) is no longer special.

 # JSON Feed shortened w/ JSON v1.1, JSON with Extensions (JSONX)
 version       = '1'
 title         = 'My Example Feed'
 home_page_url = https://example.org/
 feed_url      = https://example.org/feed.json
 items         = 
 <  id           = '2'
    content_text = 'This is a second item.'
    url          = https://example.org/second-item
    -
    id           = '1'
    content_html = '<p>Hello, world!</p>'
    url          = https://example.org/initial-post
 >

Spec

Feed Format Specification in English

JSON v1.1 Feed follows JSON Feed but allows all JSON v1.1 extensions e.g.:

quotes for strings are optional if they follow JavaScript identifier rules (with some additions e.g. .-+/^@)
single line comments start with # or //
commas after object key-value pairs are optional
commas after array items are optional
<..>shortcut for [{..}]
- shortcut for },{
and much more

Plus some extras for JSON Feed:

feed gets auto-wrapped in object, that is, { ... }
version number gets shortend to 1 instead of https://jsonfeed.org/version/1

Examples

Podcast