# Install json2hcl with Homebrew, Nix Convert JSON to HCL, and vice versa. Version 0.2.0 via Homebrew; verified 2026-05-19. ## Install ```sh sudo av install brew:json2hcl ``` Additional install commands: ### macOS - Homebrew (100%): ```sh brew install json2hcl ``` Evidence: local Homebrew formula metadata ### Linux - Nix (92%): ```sh nix profile install nixpkgs#json2hcl ``` Evidence: nixpkgs package indexes: pkgs/by-name/js/json2hcl/package.nix from https://api.github.com/repos/NixOS/nixpkgs/git/trees/master?recursive=1 ## Package facts - **Package key:** brew:json2hcl - **Package manager:** Homebrew - **Package manager page:** - **Version:** 0.2.0 - **Source summary:** Convert JSON to HCL, and vice versa - **Homepage:** - **Repository:** - **Upstream docs:** - **License:** MIT - **Source archive:** - **Last updated:** 2026-05-19T07:48:50-04:00 - **Generated:** 2026-07-08T07:18:31+00:00 ## Executables - json2hcl (cli) - json2hcl (alias) ## Build dependencies - go ## Install behavior - Post-install hook: not defined - Bottle: available on arm64_linux, arm64_sequoia, arm64_sonoma, arm64_tahoe, arm64_ventura, sonoma, ventura, x86_64_linux ## Freshness - Page generated: 2026-07-08 - Package-manager version: 0.2.0 - Package-manager updated: 2026-05-19 - Local data: ok - Upstream repository: https://github.com/kvz/json2hcl - Upstream latest detected: v0.2.0 (current) ## Project history and usage json2hcl is a small Go command-line converter for moving data between JSON and HashiCorp Configuration Language. Its niche is the Terraform-era need to translate machine-friendly JSON into a more readable HCL form without building a larger configuration system. ### Project history Kevin van Zonneveld published json2hcl in September 2016 around a workflow for an internal tool named Frey. The README says the authors wanted to store infrastructure recipes as HCL after converting from machine-readable JSON, YAML, or TOML, and it explicitly notes that the tool used existing HashiCorp libraries rather than inventing a parser. The project soon added reverse conversion with the `-reverse` flag, exposing hcl2json behavior through the same executable. By June 25, 2025, the GitHub repository was archived; its README states that the original author no longer used it, while leaving the code available for forks. ### Adoption history Adoption appears to have been modest but durable in package-manager terms: the tool was packaged by Homebrew and Nix, and the repository accumulated hundreds of stars and forks before archival. Its presence in Homebrew reflects the small-CLI pattern where a narrow converter remains useful even after upstream development slows. ### How it is used The canonical usage is Unix-pipeline oriented: feed JSON on standard input and receive HCL on standard output, or pass `-reverse` to convert HCL back to JSON. The README examples focus on Terraform-like `.tf.json` input and redirection to `.tf` files. ### Why package nerds care json2hcl is interesting because it captures a short period when HCL was becoming a preferred human-edited configuration language around HashiCorp tools, while JSON remained the common interchange format. For package collectors, it is a tiny bridge utility whose package-manager value is convenience rather than ecosystem size. ### Timeline - 2016-09-05: The GitHub repository was created. - 2016-09-05: v0.0.4 changelog entry covered error handling and release cross-compilation. - 2016-09-06: v0.0.5 added reverse HCL-to-JSON conversion through `-reverse`. - 2024-09-05: GitHub listed v0.2.0 among repository releases. - 2025-06-25: The repository was archived by its owner. ### Related projects - json2hcl is directly tied to HashiCorp HCL and Terraform-style JSON configuration. It also sits near other one-purpose data converters such as hcl2json, JSON-to-YAML tools, and Unix filters used in infrastructure repositories. ### 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:** json2hcl - **Version Scheme:** 0 - **Revision:** 0 - **Head Version:** HEAD - **Bottle Stable Root URL:** - **Deprecated:** yes - **Disabled:** no - **Keg Only:** no - **URL Keys:** head, stable ## Other Package-Manager Records - Nix - json2hcl: normalized package name match | nixpkgs package indexes: pkgs/by-name/js/json2hcl/package.nix from https://api.github.com/repos/NixOS/nixpkgs/git/trees/master?recursive=1 ## Related links - [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. - [Developer build packages](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/developer-build-tools/) - Matched build, compiler, generator, or developer workflow metadata. - [go](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/go/) - Build dependency declared by Homebrew. - [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. - [hcl2json](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/hcl2json/) - Shares av.db curated category or tags: cli, configuration, developer-tools, hcl, json. - [hcledit](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/hcledit/) - Shares av.db curated category or tags: cli, configuration, developer-tools, hcl. - [json2tsv](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/json2tsv/) - Shares av.db curated category or tags: cli, converter, 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. ## Combined YAML source View the package source record on GitHub. [combined/json2hcl.yml](https://github.com/automic-vault/db/blob/main/combined/json2hcl.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