JSON to YAML Conversion Guide

This guide helps you convert JSON configurations (often used in documentation or API examples) into the YAML format required for your agent's configuration.

🤖 Automated Conversion (Python Script)

If you have a complex JSON object, the easiest way to convert it is using a script.

import json
import yaml

# Paste your JSON here
json_string = '''
{
  "genre": { "$in": ["comedy", "documentary", "drama"] },
  "year": { "$eq": 2019 }
}
'''

data = json.loads(json_string)
yaml_str = yaml.safe_dump(data, sort_keys=False)
print(yaml_str)

Output:

genre:
  $in:
    - comedy
    - documentary
    - drama
year:
  $eq: 2019

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✍️ Manual Conversion Guide

If you can't run a script, you can convert JSON to YAML manually by following these simple rules.

1. Structure & Indentation

• JSON uses curly braces {} to wrap objects and indentation is optional (but recommended).
• YAML relies strictly on indentation (spaces). It does NOT use curly braces for blocks.
• Rule: Remove the { and }, and ensure everything inside is indented by 2 or 4 spaces relative to the parent.

2. Key-Value Pairs

• JSON: "key": "value" (Quotes are required for keys).
• YAML: key: value (Quotes are optional for keys and most string values).
• Rule: Remove the quotes around the key. Ensure there is a space after the colon :.

3. Lists / Arrays

• JSON: Uses square brackets [] and commas ,.

  "items": ["apple", "banana", "cherry"]

• YAML: Uses dashes - for each item on a new line.

  items:
    - apple
    - banana
    - cherry

• Rule: Replace [ and ] with a list of items, each starting with - (dash + space) on a new indented line.

4. Special Characters

• If your key or value contains special characters (like :, {, }, [, ], or starts with a symbol like $), it's safer to keep it in quotes.
  • Example: "$eq": 2019 -> $eq: 2019 (works) or "$eq": 2019 (also works).

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🆚 Visual Comparison

JSON (Source)	YAML (Target)
Object
{"name": "Alice", "age": 30}	name: Alice age: 30
Nested Object
{"user": {"id": 123}}	user:   id: 123
List/Array
{"colors": ["red", "blue"]}	colors:   - red   - blue