Automic VaultAutomic Vault

brew

Install hjson with Homebrew, Nix, scoop

Convert JSON to HJSON and vice versa. Version 4.6.0 via Homebrew; verified from local package data.

Install commandSecurity notes

install

Additional install commands

macOS

Homebrewverified · 100%
brew install hjson

local Homebrew formula metadata

Windows

Scoopverified · 92%
scoop install main/hjson

Scoop official bucket manifest trees · bucket/hjson.json · source: api.github.com

overview

Package summary

Convert JSON to HJSON and vice versa

Commands and aliases

  • hjson

history

Project history and usage

Hjson is a human-editable configuration format and related CLI/library ecosystem that keeps JSON compatibility while relaxing syntax for comments, unquoted keys, optional commas, root-brace omission, and multiline strings.

Project history

The Hjson site presents the format as a user interface for JSON rather than a replacement for JSON. The stated goal is to make data easier for humans to read and edit before converting it back to ordinary JSON for machines.

The Hjson Internet-Draft dated May 23, 2016 formalized the format as Human JSON, a configuration file format based on JSON whose design goals were readability, editability, backward compatibility with JSON, and suitability for human-viewed configuration, resource files, and debug data dumps.

The Homebrew package points at hjson-go, the Go implementation. Its README says the Go implementation is based on hjson-js, documents both library and hjson-cli use, and positions the CLI as a converter between JSON and Hjson.

Adoption history

Hjson adoption has been implementation-led rather than standards-body-led. The official developer page lists implementations for JavaScript, C#, C++, Go, Java, Lua, PHP, Python, Rust, Ruby, and other partial ports, plus tools with native support.

The input package facts show the Go CLI packaged by Homebrew, Nix, and Scoop. That is a modest but useful packaging footprint for developers who want a command-line converter without adopting a language-specific library.

How it is used

The hjson-go CLI reads JSON or Hjson from a file or stdin and emits JSON, formatted JSON, or Hjson. Typical package use is converting existing JSON into a friendlier editable form, validating Hjson, or embedding Hjson parsing into Go programs.

The format is intentionally scoped. The Internet-Draft recommends it for data primarily viewed or edited by humans and advises against protocol use.

Why package nerds care

Hjson sits in the long-running package-nerd debate over configuration formats: strict JSON is universal but hostile to comments and hand editing; YAML is powerful but complex; Hjson offers a smaller relaxed-JSON compromise.

The Go CLI matters because it turns the format into a portable command-line filter, making Hjson useful in shell scripts, editors, config migrations, and package-manager installs without committing to a JavaScript runtime.

Timeline

  • 2014: The hjson/hjson repository was created for the format project.
  • 2016-05-23: The Hjson Internet-Draft was dated May 23, 2016.
  • 2016-08-05: The hjson-go repository was created.
  • 2016-08-08: hjson-go v0.1.0 was published on GitHub releases.

Related projects

  • hjson-js: the JavaScript implementation that hjson-go names as its base.
  • JSON: the strict data format that Hjson extends for human-editable configuration.
  • YAML, TOML, JSON5: adjacent human-editable configuration formats often considered for similar use cases.

security posture

Risk level: green

narrow executable package without higher-risk signals.

Risk classifier

green risk · low confidence · appliance

Why

  • narrow executable package without higher-risk signals

Signals

  • metadata:no-higher-risk-signals

Install behavior

  • No Homebrew post-install hook is recorded in formula metadata.
  • Homebrew bottle metadata is available for 6 platform targets.
  • Build metadata lists 1 build dependencies.

Recommended review

Before unattended agent use, check whether the tool reads plaintext credentials, writes remote state, publishes artifacts, or shells out to plugins.

executables

Installed executables

CommandKindExposureNote
hjsoncliglobal executable

freshness

Version and freshness

These signals separate page generation age, package-manager activity, and upstream release comparison. Version lag is warned only when an evidence URL and comparable versions are present.

page generated2026-07-08
manager version4.6.0
manager updated
local dataok
upstreamcurrent
latest detectedv4.6.0

https://github.com/hjson/hjson-go

  • infoNo package-manager update timestamp was available.low confidence

install metadata

Package metadata

Package keybrew:hjson
Version4.6.0
Package managerHomebrew
Package manager pagehttps://formulae.brew.sh/formula/hjson
Homepagehttps://hjson.github.io/
Repositoryhttps://github.com/hjson/hjson-go
Upstream docshttps://hjson.github.io/
LicenseMIT
Source archivehttps://github.com/hjson/hjson-go/archive/refs/tags/v4.6.0.tar.gz
Build dependenciesgo
Bottleavailable (on arm64_linux, arm64_sequoia, arm64_sonoma, arm64_tahoe, sonoma, x86_64_linux)
Homebrew post-installnot defined
Servicenone declared

registry facts

Source database details

Source DatabaseHomebrew formula API
Taphomebrew/core
Full Namehjson
Version Scheme0
Revision0
Head VersionHEAD
Bottle Stable Root URLhttps://ghcr.io/v2/homebrew/core
Deprecatedno
Disabledno
Keg Onlyno
URL Keys
  • head
  • stable

source database matches

Other package-manager records

Matches are pulled from external package-manager indexes and kept separate from local Automic Vault package links.

Nix95%

hjson

nix profile install nixpkgs#hjson
  • normalized package name match
  • Matched by: Hjson
nixpkgs package indexes · raw.githubusercontent.com · nixpkgs package indexes: hjson from https://raw.githubusercontent.com/NixOS/nixpkgs/master/pkgs/top-level/all-packages.nix
Scoop95%

main/hjson

scoop install main/hjson
  • normalized package name match
  • Matched by: Hjson
Scoop official bucket manifest trees · api.github.com · Scoop official bucket manifest trees: bucket/hjson.json from https://api.github.com/repos/ScoopInstaller/Main/git/trees/master?recursive=1

package graph

Links come from deterministic package relationships, av.db category and tag curation, ecosystem matches, and package hub membership.

Related tools

  • goBuild dependency declared by Homebrew.
  • hjsonSame normalized package name appears in another local ecosystem. Shared terms: hjson, json.

Same workflow

  • json5Shares av.db curated category or tags: cli, configuration, data-format, developer-tools, json.
  • xmqShares av.db curated category or tags: cli, data-format, developer-tools, json.
  • yajlShares av.db curated category or tags: cli, data-format, developer-tools, json.
  • config-file-validatorShares av.db curated category or tags: cli, configuration, developer-tools, json.
  • dhall-jsonShares av.db curated category or tags: cli, configuration, developer-tools, json.
  • dyffShares av.db curated category or tags: cli, configuration, developer-tools, json.
  • hjsonSame normalized package name in another local ecosystem.

source trail

Generated from repository data

This page is generated by av-web from the private package SQLite artifact built by scripts/generate-pkg-sqlite.py.

Used sources

  • Geiger risk classifier
  • Nucleus package database
  • av.db category and tag curation
  • cross-ecosystem install command graph
  • curated package history
  • external package-manager database matches
  • package relationship graph
  • package version freshness
  • package-page enrichment