Install yamlfix with Homebrew, Nix

Project links

• Homepage
• Repository
• Upstream docs
• Package manager page

Commands and aliases

• yamlfix

Project history

The repository was created on 2020-11-24. The README and documentation describe yamlfix as an opinionated formatter that keeps comments, fixes indentation, adds or removes document starts, normalizes truthy values, adjusts line endings and whitespace, and respects Jinja2 syntax.

The official references section explains the project in relation to an earlier yamlfmt project: yamlfix was created as a new formatter because its author wanted stronger tests, CI, and documentation. It builds on ruyaml for YAML parsing/round-tripping, Click for the CLI, and maison for configuration discovery.

Adoption history

yamlfix grew in the Python tooling lane rather than the Go single-binary lane. Its docs start with `pip install yamlfix`, but the supplied package data also shows packaging in Homebrew and Nix, making it available to users who curate YAML-heavy repositories from system package managers.

The project is especially relevant where YAML is hand-edited, reviewed, and linted: repository metadata, GitHub Actions, Docker Compose, Kubernetes-adjacent files, and documentation examples. Its promise to keep comments addresses a practical blocker for formatter adoption in configuration files.

How it is used

The documented CLI accepts files or directories: `yamlfix file.yaml file2.yml` for individual files and `yamlfix .` for recursive formatting. The library API exposes `fix_files` and `fix_code` for embedding the formatter in Python code.

Configuration is loaded from `pyproject.toml`, `.yamlfix.toml`, or `yamlfix.toml`, with optional custom TOML files via `-c` or `--config-file` and environment variable overrides using the `YAMLFIX_` prefix.

Why package nerds care

yamlfix matters because YAML formatting is harder than it looks: comments, quotes, null spellings, truthy strings, flow versus block sequences, Jinja snippets, and line wrapping all affect whether a formatter is trusted in real repos.

In a package catalog, yamlfix sits next to linters and formatters as the Python/comment-preserving answer to the recurring question: can this YAML be autoformatted without losing the parts humans care about?

Timeline

• 2020-11-24: GitHub repository created.
• 2020s: Documentation framed yamlfix as a comment-preserving alternative inspired by yamlfmt.
• 2020s: Configuration support settled around pyproject.toml, .yamlfix.toml, yamlfix.toml, custom TOML files, and YAMLFIX_ environment variables.

Related projects

• The official references name mmlb/yamlfmt, ruyaml, Click, maison, pytest, mypy, Flakeheaven, Black, Autoimport, isort, PDM, MkDocs, Safety, and Bandit.

Sources

• https://api.github.com/repos/lyz-code/yamlfix
• https://github.com/lyz-code/yamlfix
• https://raw.githubusercontent.com/lyz-code/yamlfix/main/README.md
• https://raw.githubusercontent.com/lyz-code/yamlfix/main/docs/index.md