# Install hcl2json with Homebrew, MacPorts, Nix Convert HCL2 to JSON. Version 0.6.9 via Homebrew; verified from local package data. ## Install ```sh sudo av install brew:hcl2json ``` Additional install commands: ### macOS - Homebrew (100%): ```sh brew install hcl2json ``` Evidence: local Homebrew formula metadata - MacPorts (94%): ```sh sudo port install hcl2json ``` Evidence: MacPorts ports tree: textproc/hcl2json/Portfile from https://api.github.com/repos/macports/macports-ports/git/trees/master?recursive=1 ### Linux - Nix (92%): ```sh nix profile install nixpkgs#hcl2json ``` Evidence: nixpkgs package indexes: pkgs/by-name/hc/hcl2json/package.nix from https://api.github.com/repos/NixOS/nixpkgs/git/trees/master?recursive=1 ## Package facts - **Package key:** brew:hcl2json - **Package manager:** Homebrew - **Package manager page:** - **Version:** 0.6.9 - **Source summary:** Convert HCL2 to JSON - **Homepage:** - **Repository:** - **Upstream docs:** - **License:** Apache-2.0 - **Source archive:** - **Generated:** 2026-07-08T07:18:31+00:00 ## Executables - hcl2json (cli) - hcl2json (alias) ## Build dependencies - go ## Install behavior - Post-install hook: not defined - Bottle: available on arm64_linux, arm64_sequoia, arm64_sonoma, arm64_tahoe, sonoma, x86_64_linux ## Freshness - Page generated: 2026-07-08 - Package-manager version: 0.6.9 - Local data: ok - Upstream repository: https://github.com/tmccombs/hcl2json - Upstream latest detected: v0.6.9 (current) - info: No package-manager update timestamp was available. ## Project history and usage hcl2json is a small Go command-line converter for turning HashiCorp Configuration Language version 2 input into JSON. Its niche is not general Terraform evaluation; it is a bridge for scripts and non-Go programs that need to inspect HCL-shaped configuration without embedding a full HCL-aware application. ### Project history The repository was created in July 2019 and framed itself around HCL2 conversion at a time when HCL was becoming the shared configuration substrate for Terraform and other HashiCorp-style tools. The README says the tool was created because there were few direct schemaless converters, while later HashiCorp HCL tooling such as hcldec offered a more specification-driven path. ### Adoption history Adoption stayed in the small-utility lane: Homebrew, MacPorts, Nix, prebuilt GitHub release binaries, Docker images, and tool-version-manager installs made it easy to drop into shell pipelines. The project matters most where HCL is data to inspect or transform rather than configuration to execute. ### How it is used Typical use is piping an HCL file or stdin through hcl2json and redirecting JSON output for downstream tools. The README also documents a simplify mode and an HCL pack-format mode, while warning that some HCL constructs cannot be converted with exact semantic equivalence. ### Why package nerds care Package maintainers care about hcl2json because it is a single-purpose, Go-built CLI with no runtime service, no credentials, and obvious test fixtures: feed HCL in, compare JSON out. It fills the awkward gap between plain text processing and linking a whole HCL application stack. ### Timeline - 2019: GitHub repository created. - 2019: v0.0.1 release published. - 2020: 0.3.x releases broadened the early packaged surface. - 2021: v0.3.2 release published. ### Related projects - HashiCorp HCL provides the underlying configuration language and Go packages. - Terraform is the most common class of HCL input mentioned by the project. - hcldec is the upstream HCL command-line alternative for spec-guided decoding. ### Sources - - - - ## Security Notes narrow executable package without higher-risk signals. - **Geiger risk:** green / low - narrow executable package without higher-risk signals ## Source Database Details - **Source Database:** Homebrew formula API - **Tap:** homebrew/core - **Full Name:** hcl2json - **Version Scheme:** 0 - **Revision:** 0 - **Head Version:** HEAD - **Bottle Stable Root URL:** - **Deprecated:** no - **Disabled:** no - **Keg Only:** no - **URL Keys:** head, stable ## Other Package-Manager Records - Nix - hcl2json: normalized package name match | nixpkgs package indexes: pkgs/by-name/hc/hcl2json/package.nix from https://api.github.com/repos/NixOS/nixpkgs/git/trees/master?recursive=1 - MacPorts - hcl2json: normalized package name match | MacPorts ports tree: textproc/hcl2json/Portfile from https://api.github.com/repos/macports/macports-ports/git/trees/master?recursive=1 ## Related links - [Cloud CLI packages](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/cloud-clis/) - Belongs to a cloud or infrastructure command family. - [Source-control packages](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/source-control-tools/) - Belongs to a source-control command family. - [Terminal utility packages](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/terminal-utilities/) - Matched terminal and command-line workflow metadata. - [Text processing packages](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/text-processing-tools/) - Matched text, document, or structured-data processing metadata. - [go](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/go/) - Build dependency declared by Homebrew. - [hcledit](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/hcledit/) - Shares av.db curated category or tags: cli, configuration, developer-tools, hcl, terraform. - [json2hcl](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/json2hcl/) - Shares av.db curated category or tags: cli, configuration, developer-tools, hcl, json. - [config-file-validator](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/config-file-validator/) - Shares av.db curated category or tags: cli, configuration, developer-tools, json. - [dhall-json](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/dhall-json/) - Shares av.db curated category or tags: cli, configuration, developer-tools, json. - [butane](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/butane/) - Shares av.db curated category or tags: cli, configuration, developer-tools. - [dhall-bash](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/dhall-bash/) - Shares av.db curated category or tags: cli, configuration, developer-tools. - [dynaconf](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/dynaconf/) - Shares av.db curated category or tags: cli, configuration, developer-tools. - [editorconfig](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/editorconfig/) - Shares av.db curated category or tags: cli, configuration, developer-tools. - [yj](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/yj/) - Both packages work with overlapping file formats or content types. Shared terms: cli, conversion, convert, developer, developer-tools. ## Combined YAML source View the package source record on GitHub. [combined/hcl2json.yml](https://github.com/automic-vault/db/blob/main/combined/hcl2json.yml) ## Sources - Nucleus package database - Geiger risk classifier - package-page enrichment - curated package history - package version freshness - av.db category and tag curation - package relationship graph - external package-manager database matches - cross-ecosystem install command graph