Frequently Asked Questions

jsontotoon.com is a free, browser-based converter that transforms JSON data into TOON (Token-Oriented Object Notation) format. TOON reduces LLM token usage by 30-60%, helping developers save on API costs when working with Large Language Models like GPT-4, Claude, and Gemini.

Key features:

• ✅ 100% free, no signup required
• ✅ Client-side processing (your data stays private)
• ✅ Bidirectional conversion (JSON ↔ TOON)
• ✅ Real-time token reduction statistics
• ✅ Copy to clipboard functionality

Yes, completely free with no catch. There are:

• ❌ No subscription fees
• ❌ No usage limits
• ❌ No freemium upsells
• ❌ No ads
• ❌ No data collection for monetization

We built this tool to support the developer community and promote TOON format adoption. Core conversion functionality will always remain free.

No! You can use jsontotoon.com completely anonymously. Just visit the website, paste your JSON, and convert. No email, no password, no account required. This aligns with our privacy-first philosophy — we don't want to track users or collect personal information.

Getting started is simple:

1. Visit jsontotoon.com
2. Paste your JSON data into the input field (left/top panel)
3. Click the "Convert to TOON" button
4. View your TOON output in the result field (right/bottom panel)
5. See token reduction statistics below the output
6. Click "Copy" to copy the TOON format to your clipboard
7. Use the TOON output in your LLM prompts or applications

That's it! No installation, no configuration, no learning curve.

Yes! Our converter is fully responsive and works on:

• ✅ Mobile phones (iOS, Android)
• ✅ Tablets (iPad, Android tablets)
• ✅ Desktop computers (Windows, Mac, Linux)

The interface adapts to your screen size, with input and output panels stacking vertically on smaller screens for easier use.

You need internet to initially load the website (HTML, CSS, JavaScript files). However, once the page is loaded, conversion happens entirely in your browser — no internet connection is required for the actual conversion process. Tip: If you frequently use the tool offline, you can bookmark it and most modern browsers will cache the files for faster loading.

TOON (Token-Oriented Object Notation) is a compact data serialization format designed specifically for Large Language Models (LLMs). It reduces token consumption by 30-60% compared to JSON by:

• Eliminating redundant keys in arrays of objects
• Minimizing punctuation (no brackets, braces, or excessive quotes)
• Using indentation for structure (like YAML)
• Optimizing for LLM tokenization patterns

Example:

{
  "users": [
    {"id": 1, "name": "Alice"},
    {"id": 2, "name": "Bob"}
  ]
}

users[2]{id,name}:
  1,Alice
  2,Bob

For more details, see the official TOON specification.

TOON reduces tokens through several optimizations:

Yes! Despite being compact, TOON is designed to be human-readable. It uses:

• Clear structure with indentation
• CSV-like rows for tabular data
• Descriptive headers (e.g., users[10]{id,name,email})

Example:

employees[3]{id,name,department,salary}:
  101,Alice Johnson,Engineering,95000
  102,Bob Smith,Marketing,78000
  103,Carol Davis,Sales,82000

This is easy to read and understand, even without being an expert.

Yes, TOON conversion is 100% lossless. When you convert JSON → TOON → JSON, you get back your original data structure exactly. TOON preserves:

• ✅ All values (strings, numbers, booleans, null)
• ✅ Array order
• ✅ Object structure
• ✅ Nesting depth
• ✅ Data types

The only thing that's not preserved is formatting (whitespace, key order in objects), which doesn't affect data semantics.

Rule of thumb: If your data looks like a spreadsheet/table, use TOON. If it's a complex tree or graph, use JSON.

Yes, TOON supports nesting using indentation (similar to YAML). However, TOON's token savings are most significant for flat or moderately nested structures. For deeply nested JSON (5+ levels), TOON can still work, but token savings will be smaller compared to flat arrays.

Token reduction depends on your data structure:

Try it yourself: Use our converter with your actual data to see exact savings for your use case.

Token savings translate directly to cost savings. Here's a realistic example:

For higher-volume applications (100K+ requests/month), savings can reach $4,000-$8,000/month.

Yes! TOON works with all major Large Language Models:

How to use TOON with LLMs:

Simply paste your TOON data into your prompt. Most LLMs understand TOON format automatically. For best results, you can add a brief instruction like: "The following data is in TOON format (Token-Oriented Object Notation):"

No — in fact, TOON improves LLM accuracy according to official benchmarks.

Why does TOON improve accuracy? Less punctuation = less noise for the LLM to parse. With JSON, LLMs spend tokens and attention on brackets, braces, and quotes. With TOON, they focus on the actual data.

Always test with your specific use case and LLM model. While benchmarks show improvement on average, edge cases may vary.

TOON has implementations in multiple programming languages:

See the TOON specification repository for links to all implementations.

Absolutely! TOON is an open specification with permissive licensing. You can:

• ✅ Use TOON in personal projects
• ✅ Use TOON in commercial products
• ✅ Integrate TOON libraries into your codebase
• ✅ Build tools and services around TOON
• ✅ Modify and extend TOON libraries (per their licenses)

No attribution required (though appreciated), and no licensing fees.

Not currently. Right now, jsontotoon.com is a web-based tool only. However, we're considering adding an API in the future.

Alternative: Use the official @toon-format/toon library directly in your code for programmatic conversion. It's free, open source, and works in Node.js, browsers, and Deno.

If you need API access, please let us know via our contact form. User demand will help us prioritize this feature.

There's no hard limit imposed by jsontotoon.com, but practical limits depend on your browser and device:

Recommendations:

• For large files (> 10MB), use a desktop browser (more memory)
• Close unnecessary tabs to free up memory
• For very large files (> 100MB), consider using the TOON library directly in Node.js or Python

Currently, jsontotoon.com only supports paste-based conversion (copy/paste text into the input field). We don't have file upload functionality yet.

Future feature: We're considering adding file upload, drag-and-drop support, and download TOON output as a file.

TOON supports the vast majority of JSON features, including:

• ✅ Objects, Arrays, Strings, Numbers, Booleans, Null values
• ✅ Nesting (objects within objects, arrays within arrays)
• ✅ Unicode characters and emojis

For 99% of use cases, TOON is a drop-in replacement for JSON when passing data to LLMs.

Yes, your data is completely safe because it never leaves your device. Here's how:

We literally cannot see your data — even if we wanted to, we have no infrastructure to collect it.

Proof: Open your browser's Developer Tools (F12) → Network tab, and watch the network activity. You'll see no requests containing your data.

No, absolutely not. We do not collect, store, log, or transmit your JSON data in any way.

See our Privacy Policy for full details.

Yes, from a technical perspective, jsontotoon.com is safe for sensitive data because:

• Client-side processing: Data stays on your device
• HTTPS encryption: Connection is encrypted
• No logging: We don't log or store your data

We use minimal essential cookies only for basic functionality:

• Preferences: Remember your theme (light/dark mode) or settings
• Analytics Cookies (Optional): Anonymous tracking (do NOT track personal information)

We do NOT use:

• ❌ Advertising cookies
• ❌ Social media tracking cookies
• ❌ Third-party marketing cookies

Conversion is bidirectional! To convert TOON → JSON:

1. Click the swap button (↔️ icon) or toggle switch
2. This switches the mode to "TOON to JSON"
3. Paste your TOON data into the input field
4. Click "Convert to JSON" button
5. View your JSON output in the result field
6. Copy the formatted JSON to clipboard

The conversion is lossless — you'll get back your original data structure exactly.

After converting, use the "Copy" button to copy the output to your clipboard:

1. Convert your JSON to TOON (or vice versa)
2. Look for the "Copy to Clipboard" button near the output field
3. Click it
4. You'll see a confirmation (e.g., "Copied!" tooltip)
5. Paste (Ctrl+V / Cmd+V) into your destination

Troubleshooting: If the copy button doesn't work, try manually selecting the output text and copying (Ctrl+C), or check browser permissions for clipboard access.

Yes! Look for a "Try Example" or "Load Sample" button on the homepage to load a pre-filled JSON example.

Or try these sample JSON snippets:

{
  "users": [
    {"id": 1, "name": "Alice", "role": "admin"},
    {"id": 2, "name": "Bob", "role": "user"}
  ]
}

Paste these into the converter and see the TOON output!

Currently, jsontotoon.com uses standard browser shortcuts (Ctrl+V/Cmd+V to paste, Ctrl+C/Cmd+C to copy, Tab to navigate). We're planning to add custom shortcuts like Ctrl+Enter to trigger conversion and Ctrl+K to clear all fields in the future.

Partially. You need internet to initially load the website (HTML, CSS, JavaScript files). However, once loaded, conversion works offline since all processing happens locally in your browser. Most browsers cache the website files, so if you've visited recently, the page loads faster from cache. We may add Progressive Web App (PWA) support in the future for full offline use.

If conversion fails, try these troubleshooting steps:

1. Check Your JSON is Valid: Use a JSON validator (e.g., jsonlint.com) to verify syntax. Common errors: Missing commas, unmatched brackets, unquoted keys.
2. Refresh the Page: Sometimes browser state gets confused. Refresh (Ctrl+R / Cmd+R) and try again.
3. Clear Your Browser Cache: Go to Settings → Privacy → Clear browsing data.
4. Try a Different Browser: Test in Chrome, Firefox, or Safari.
5. Check Browser Console for Errors: Press F12 to open Developer Tools → Console tab → Look for red error messages.
6. Try Smaller Data: If your JSON is very large (> 10MB), try a smaller sample.

Still not working? Contact us with browser name/version, OS, sample JSON, and error messages.

Parsing errors usually mean your JSON is invalid. Common causes:

• Missing or extra commas
• Unmatched brackets { } or [ ]
• Unquoted keys (JSON requires double quotes)
• Single quotes instead of double quotes
• Trailing commas

How to fix:

1. Use a JSON validator tool (jsonlint.com, jsonformatter.org)
2. Fix the reported syntax errors
3. Try conversion again

If your TOON output seems incorrect, consider these possibilities:

Verification: Convert TOON back to JSON using the bidirectional feature and compare with your original JSON. If they match, TOON output is correct.

Yes, please do! We appreciate bug reports and feedback.

Contact us and we'll respond within 2-3 business days.

While jsontotoon.com's code is not currently open source, you can still contribute:

• Feedback: Share suggestions for improvements
• Bug reports: Help us identify and fix issues
• Content: Suggest FAQ questions, examples, or guides
• Spread the word: Share jsontotoon.com with other developers

We may open source the project in the future based on community interest.

We'd love to hear your feedback!

Contact us and we aim to respond within 2-3 business days.

Absolutely! We're always looking to improve jsontotoon.com. Feature requests are welcome.

Your feedback helps us prioritize!