XML ⇄ JSON Converter

XML and JSON conversion is critical when integrating legacy systems with modern APIs. I use this tool constantly when working with SOAP web services (which return XML) but need to process responses in JavaScript/Node.js (which prefers JSON), parsing RSS/Atom feeds for content aggregation, migrating APIs from XML to JSON REST endpoints, and handling configuration files that some tools export as XML but others consume as JSON. XML is verbose but supports attributes, namespaces, and mixed content (text + elements). JSON is lightweight and JavaScript-native but has no concept of attributes—this tool bridges the impedance mismatch with configurable mapping strategies. It handles complex XML features like attributes (converted to JSON properties), CDATA sections (preserved or unwrapped), namespaces (preserved or stripped), and self-closing tags.

How to Use

Select conversion direction: XML → JSON or JSON → XML. For XML to JSON: paste XML data and choose how to handle attributes (as properties with @ prefix like @id, as nested object, or merged with text content), how to represent text content (as $text property or merged), whether to preserve namespaces (ns:tag format), and array detection strategy (always array, or smart detection for single elements). For JSON to XML: paste JSON array or object, specify root element name, choose attribute format (JSON keys starting with @ become XML attributes), and whether to add XML declaration (<?xml version="1.0"?>). The tool validates both formats in real-time—syntax errors are highlighted with line numbers and descriptions. Advanced options include pretty-print indentation, CDATA wrapping for special characters, and namespace handling.

Common Use Cases

Limitations & Important Notes

XML and JSON have fundamental differences—perfect round-trip conversion (XML → JSON → XML producing identical XML) is impossible in general cases. XML attributes, namespaces, mixed content, and element order are lost or transformed. The tool makes opinionated choices: attributes become JSON properties (with @ prefix by default), element order is not preserved (JSON objects are unordered), repeated elements become JSON arrays (heuristics detect this), and mixed content (text + child elements) is flattened. Very large XML documents (>10MB) may cause browser performance issues—use streaming parsers (SAX) or command-line tools (xmlstarlet, xq) for massive files. The tool handles well-formed XML only—malformed XML (unclosed tags, mismatched nesting) triggers errors. For complex XML schemas with namespaces and XSD validation, use specialized XML tools. CDATA sections and XML comments may be lost or transformed depending on options selected.