JSON · read it, do not squint at it
JSON,
laid out flat.
Paste an API response, a config file or a log line and CodeRush pretty-prints it into a collapsible, syntax-coloured tree. It parses in your tab, so the payload you are inspecting never leaves the browser.
- Collapsible tree
- Parsed in your tab
- Nothing uploaded
Paste a payload, read the structure
Detection is the parse.
Text that begins with { or [ is parsed, and if it parses, it is JSON — that is the whole detection rule, so there is nothing to select. Objects and arrays become a tree you can collapse, with keys, strings, numbers, booleans and nulls coloured differently, so the shape of a response is visible before you have read a single value.
Text that does not parse falls through to the other detectors instead of pretending. If you are holding a nearly-valid payload, the local Problems panel parses source without running it and names the line, which is usually faster than hunting for the missing comma by eye.
Why a local viewer matters for payloads
The thing you paste is often not yours.
API responses carry tokens, customer records, internal identifiers and email addresses. Pasting one into a hosted formatter means handing it to whoever runs that site. CodeRush is static files and the parse happens in your tab: no account, no upload, and a test in this repository records every request the page makes from load through render and fails if any request contains the pasted content.
You can verify it yourself in about a minute with the Network tab — the privacy notes spell out exactly what you should and should not see.
From data to something you can show
The pad does not stop at the tree.
The same pad runs HTML, JavaScript and React, so a payload can become a table, a chart or a small page in the next paste. The SVG chart and todo list templates are short enough to re-point at your own data in a couple of minutes.
Keep a payload as a named snapshot in this browser, download it as a file, or send it as a Rush link when a colleague needs to see the same response you are looking at. A Rush holds up to 64 KB and lives in the URL fragment, which browsers never send to a server.
Questions
- Is my JSON sent to a server to be formatted?
- No. It is parsed and rendered in your browser. The page is static files and a test asserts no request carries your content.
- What happens with invalid JSON?
- It is not treated as JSON. The local Problems panel can parse the source without running it and report the error with its line.
- How large a payload can I paste?
- Pasting is limited by your browser; a share link holds up to 64 KB of source.
- Can I collapse parts of a large object?
- Yes. The viewer is a collapsible tree with syntax colour, so you can fold a branch you do not care about.