Edit, Compare, and Transform JSON

This guide walks through the editor the way many people actually use it:

1. Start with a small JSON document
2. Make a few edits
3. Compare changes side by side
4. Run a utility or pipeline transform
5. Learn the fastest ways to work

If you want one practical page before diving into the rest of the docs, start here.

Start with a small JSON document

Open an existing document or paste a small JSON object into the editor, such as:

{
  "name": "Ada",
  "role": "developer",
  "active": true,
  "tags": ["json", "tools"]
}

Small JSON is the best way to learn the editor because you can immediately see what changes when you edit, compare, and transform.

Learn the two core editing modes

The editor is built around two main views:

Tree View

Use Tree View when you want to work with the JSON structure directly.

• Expand and collapse objects and arrays
• Edit keys and values in place
• Add, duplicate, move, or delete nodes
• Use fast tree navigation and vim-style chords

Tree View is best for structured edits and review.

Text View

Use Text View when you want to work with the raw JSON text.

• Type directly into the document
• Reformat messy JSON
• Search and replace text patterns
• Make larger free-form edits quickly

Text View is best for raw editing, formatting, and quick text-based fixes.

Switch between views

• Use the panel toolbar buttons to switch between TREE and TEXT
• Panel shortcuts:

If you are already working in Tree View with vim-style keybindings, you can also use tree-only view commands such as v t, v r, Ctrl+1, and Ctrl+2. See Vim Mode.

Know the main editor surfaces

Before you compare or transform anything, it helps to know what each part of the editor is for.

Main toolbar

The main toolbar affects the workspace across panels.

Common actions include:

• Create a New Document
• Toggle Sync Scroll
• Toggle Diff
• Open Versions
• Open Files
• Open Settings

See Main Toolbar.

Panel toolbar

Each panel has its own working tools.

Common actions include:

• Switch between Tree and Text view
• Import JSON from file, URL, or CSV
• Format JSON
• Copy or save in different formats
• Find and replace
• Filter
• Open the Command Palette
• Open Macro Shortcuts
• Undo and redo
• Expand or collapse the whole tree

Status bar

The status bar helps you understand what is happening right now.

It can show:

• Current version, including older-version or newer-version awareness
• Cursor position and selection count
• Save state such as Saving… or Saved
• Syncing… when remote updates are in progress
• Offline draft when you are working offline
• Macro status
• Tree mode status
• File size and line count

See Status Bar.

Make a few basic edits

Try a simple round of editing first:

1. Change a value such as "role": "developer" to "role": "staff engineer"
2. Add a new field such as "team": "platform"
3. Undo with Ctrl+Z
4. Redo with Ctrl+Y or Ctrl+Shift+Z

If you are in Text View, you can also:

• Open Find & Replace with Ctrl+F
• Pretty-print JSON with Ctrl+Shift+F
• Compact JSON with Ctrl+Shift+M

The status bar will show when the editor is saving or has already saved your work.

Compare changes side by side

Once you have a small edit, the next useful step is comparison.

Basic compare workflow

1. Open a second panel
2. Load another version or another document into the other panel
3. Turn on Diff from the main toolbar
4. Optionally turn on Sync Scroll to keep both sides aligned

This is useful when you want to:

• Review edits before replacing data
• Compare two versions of the same document
• Compare an original document with transformed output

What to expect

• Added content is highlighted in green
• Removed content is highlighted in red
• Diff updates as content changes

See Diff & Compare and Panel Modes.

Start with AI Draft

If you already know the outcome you want, you can begin with Generate With AI instead of manually choosing each transform.

AI Draft lets you:

• describe the result in plain language
• review the generated pipeline draft and explanation
• run the draft on your current JSON
• inspect the output before clicking APPLY

If the result is close but not final, use Open as New Pipeline and keep refining it in the pipeline builder.

See AI Draft.

Run a utility for a one-off transform

Utilities are the quickest way to transform the current JSON without leaving the editor.

Open a utility

1. Press Ctrl+K to open the Command Palette
2. Search for a utility by name, such as clean, csv, flatten, or find-replace
3. Select the utility

The utility runner opens in a three-panel modal:

• Input shows the current JSON
• Configuration holds the utility settings
• Output shows the transformed result after you run it

Run and apply

1. Configure the utility
2. Click RUN
3. Review the output
4. Click APPLY if you want to replace the current panel content

Utility settings are remembered, so repeated one-off transforms stay fast.

See Run Utility.

Run a pipeline for repeatable transforms

Use a pipeline when one utility is not enough.

Pipelines are best when you need:

• Multiple transformation steps in sequence
• A repeatable workflow you will run again later
• Shared or named transformation logic

Open a pipeline

1. Press Ctrl+K to open the Command Palette
2. Search for a saved pipeline
3. Select it to open the pipeline runner

The pipeline runner shows:

• Inputs on the left
• A Pipeline step summary in the middle
• The final Output on the right

Run the pipeline, review the result, then click APPLY to use it in the active panel.

See Run Pipeline.

Feature map

Use this as a quick “what is this tool for?” reference.

When to use what

Use Tree View when

• You want to edit JSON structurally
• You want to move through nested objects and arrays
• You want to use macros or vim-style tree shortcuts

Use Text View when

• You want to edit raw JSON directly
• You want to format or compact the document
• You want text-based find and replace

Use compare when

• You want to review edits safely
• You want to compare versions or documents before replacing content
• You want to inspect original versus transformed output

Use utilities when

• You need one transformation right now
• You want to test a change before applying it
• You do not need a saved multi-step workflow

Use pipelines when

• You need several steps in sequence
• You want to reuse the same transformation later
• You want the transformation logic to stay consistent

Use macros and vim-style controls when

• You spend a lot of time in Tree View
• You repeat the same structural edits
• You want high-speed keyboard-driven workflows

Shortcut reference

These shortcuts are especially useful in the workflow above.

General editor shortcuts

Tree / Vim-only shortcuts

Macro shortcuts

Tool entry points

Recommended next pages

• Getting Started
• Diff & Compare
• Run Utility
• Run Pipeline
• Command Palette
• Keyboard Shortcuts
• Vim Mode
• Macros