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JSON formatting (also called "pretty printing") transforms compact JSON into a readable, indented structure. When JSON is transmitted over networks or stored in files, whitespace is typically stripped to save bytes. While efficient for machines, this makes the data nearly impossible for humans to read.
A JSON formatter parses the JSON string, validates its structure, and rebuilds it with consistent indentation and line breaks. This makes it easy to see the hierarchy of objects and arrays, spot missing values, and understand the overall data shape.
When to format JSON: debugging API responses, reviewing configuration files, inspecting database documents, preparing data for documentation, or any time you need to understand a JSON payload quickly.
Indentation styles: The most common choices are 2 spaces (popular in JavaScript/TypeScript projects), 4 spaces (common in Python ecosystems), and tabs (preferred by some teams for accessibility reasons, since tab width is configurable).
Once you have formatted your JSON, you might want to validate it for errors, minify it for production, or encode it as Base64 for embedding in other formats.