Install dhall-json with Homebrew, dnf, Nix, pacman

Project links

• Homepage
• Repository
• Upstream docs
• Package manager page

Commands and aliases

• dhall-to-json
• dhall-to-yaml
• json-to-dhall

Project history

The language-independent Dhall README describes Dhall as a maintainable configuration language, informally JSON plus functions, types, and imports, with termination guarantees from being non-Turing-complete. That same README says the easiest way to experiment is to install dhall-to-json or dhall-to-yaml, while the dhall-json package README identifies the package as providing both compilers.

Adoption history

Official Dhall documentation centers the JSON/YAML workflow in the getting-started tutorial and documents Homebrew installation for macOS. The Dhall-in-production page lists real users and integrations that generate or manage configuration, including Kubernetes and runtime configuration workflows where dhall-to-yaml is part of the bridge to existing systems.

How it is used

The package exposes dhall-to-json, dhall-to-yaml, and json-to-dhall. Users typically author Dhall records and lists, type-check and normalize them, then render JSON or YAML for downstream tools; the official examples show records, booleans, lists, and null-producing optional values becoming conventional JSON or YAML.

Why package nerds care

dhall-json is package-manager important because it is the practical converter package people install even when they do not need Haskell libraries. It follows the Unix-y model of placing a strong configuration language in front of plain JSON and YAML consumers, making the executable package more visible than the underlying library for many users.

Timeline

• 2017: dhall-haskell public releases included the multi-package Dhall command-line toolchain.
• 2026: Official Dhall tutorials still teach JSON and YAML generation as the getting-started path.

Related projects

• dhall-yaml supplies the newer dhall-to-yaml-ng path, while dhall-bash, dhall-toml, dhall-nix, and dhall-lsp-server cover other integrations in the same dhall-haskell repository.

Sources

• https://github.com/dhall-lang/dhall-lang
• https://docs.dhall-lang.org/tutorials/Getting-started_Generate-JSON-or-YAML.html
• https://github.com/dhall-lang/dhall-haskell
• https://github.com/dhall-lang/dhall-haskell/tree/main/dhall-json
• https://docs.dhall-lang.org/discussions/Dhall-in-production.html
• https://api.github.com/repos/dhall-lang/dhall-haskell/releases?per_page=100