Format guide

JSON5

JSON5 (relaxed JSON)

JSON5 is JSON plus the things every developer wishes JSON had: `// line comments` and `/* block comments */`, trailing commas, unquoted keys, single-quoted strings, multi-line strings, hex literals. Released in 2012, it's the format behind tsconfig.json, Babel configs, and many other dev tooling configs. Strict JSON parsers reject these extensions; JSON5 parsers accept both.

How to open a JSON5 file

Any text editor with JSON5 syntax mode (VS Code has built-in support via `.json5` extension). To run with strict-JSON tools, convert to JSON first.

Primary use

Developer-friendly configs (tsconfig, Babel, build tooling).

Convert JSON5 to other formats

JSON5 → JSON

Looking for something else? Browse the full list of 192 converters.