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The offline JSON viewer & formatter that can't sell you out.

Format, repair, and inspect JSON — fully offline.

braceful runs entirely on your device — paste, repair, and inspect even huge JSON files with no account, no network calls, and nothing watching over your shoulder.

Try it right here — no install

Free forever · No account · Or scroll down and paste your JSON now.

Repair · live concept

input.json — invalid ✗ 
{
  name: "order-92",
  "items": [42, 17,]
  "paid": true,
  "note": "truncated at sav
repaired · valid ✓ 
{
  "name": "order-92",
  "items": [42, 17],
  "paid": true,
  "note": "truncated at sav"
}
  • quoted unquoted key
  • removed trailing comma
  • closed truncated string + object

Try repair on your own JSON

Try it right here — your JSON never leaves this page

This is the actual viewer, running entirely in your browser. Open DevTools, watch the Network tab: zero requests. Load a sample or paste your own.

Why this matters now

The most-installed JSON formatter turned on its users.

In 2026, the most widely-reported browser-extension supply-chain incident hit exactly the kind of tool you'd never suspect: a hugely popular JSON Formatter extension — installed by roughly two million people — was caught shipping adware and tracking code through an update. Users who had trusted it for years were suddenly running injected scripts they never agreed to.

The uncomfortable lesson: a JSON viewer sees everything you paste into it — API responses, tokens, customer records, internal payloads. Once an extension has that view, its update channel is a direct line to your most sensitive data. For a tool like this, trust isn't a feature. Trust is the product.

braceful is the response: a JSON tool built to remove the data paths a tool like this is usually trusted with — no network requests, no remote code, and no host access by default. And you can verify all of it yourself.

“I'm a developer who got burned — I'd trusted a JSON extension with every payload I pasted, then watched the category get caught shipping tracking code. So I built the tool I wanted: one that structurally can't phone home. No network layer to compromise, no account to leak, no host access to abuse. If you don't trust me, don't — open the Network tab and check. That's the design.”
— Sheraz, creator of braceful

Trust is the product

A JSON viewer sees everything you paste. braceful is built so that it can't betray that — and so you can prove it yourself.

  • 100% offline
  • No account
  • No tracking
  • No network calls

Don't take our word for it — open DevTools, watch the Network tab while you use it. Zero requests. That's the whole point.

Fully offline

braceful makes zero external network requests. Open DevTools → Network tab and watch while you use it — the count never moves. That's the whole DevTools dare.

Outbound requests: 0

Minimal permissions

Zero website access by default. The manifest requests only what's needed to read the tab you click on, and declares no host_permissions. The optional "Auto-open JSON" feature can request page access — but only if you turn it on, and it asks first.

  • activeTab
  • scripting
  • storage
  • contextMenus
  • no required host_permissions 
// manifest.json
"permissions": [
  "activeTab",
  "scripting",
  "storage",
  "contextMenus"
]
// no required "host_permissions". "optional_host_permissions"
// (["*://*/*","file:///*"]) is requested only if you enable Auto-open JSON.

No remote code

Every line of logic ships inside the extension. Nothing is downloaded or executed from the network — and a strict Content-Security-Policy enforces it. There is no eval, no remote script.

No tracking, no account

No analytics SDK, no tracking pixel, no telemetry, no remote logging. There's no sign-up and no login — braceful has no account system because it makes no network requests.

Don't take our word for it — watch the Network tab

Keep the DevTools Network tab open while you use the free viewer — the outbound request count never moves, so you can verify "Outbound requests: 0" with your own eyes. (The one exception is Pro license validation, which sends only your key — never your JSON.) And braceful loads no remote code (a strict Content-Security-Policy blocks network-loaded scripts), so what you watch is the whole story.

Outbound requests: 0
Zero network requests — by default

What it actually does

A fast, capable JSON editor and formatter — repair, big files, and a navigable tree, all on-device.

Repair broken JSON

Trailing commas, unquoted keys, truncated strings, missing braces — braceful repairs malformed JSON into valid output and tells you exactly what it changed. Repair is in the free tier.

More on repairing broken & invalid JSON

input.json — invalid ✗ 
{
  name: "order-92",
  "items": [42, 17,]
  "paid": true,
  "note": "truncated at sav
repaired · valid ✓ 
{
  "name": "order-92",
  "items": [42, 17],
  "paid": true,
  "note": "truncated at sav"
}
  • quoted unquoted key
  • removed trailing comma
  • closed truncated string + object

Try repair on your own JSON

Opens ~100MB files without freezing

Virtualized rendering means only the rows on screen are painted, so a 100MB document scrolls smoothly instead of locking up the tab.

More on opening large JSON files

events.json 98.4 MB · 2.1M lines 
1   [
2     { "ts": 1718668800, "evt": "click" },
3     { "ts": 1718668812, "evt": "scroll" },
…     // 2,099,998 more rows — virtualized

Collapsible tree + search

Fold and unfold nodes, jump to any key, and search across the whole document. Matches highlight inline as you navigate.

"status" 3 matches 
▾ {
  ▾ "order": {
      "id": "A-1042"
      "status": "shipped"
  ▸ "items": [ 3 ]
}
Pro

Query, reshape & export — live

Type a JSONPath query and the document transforms into the result as you type — $[*].contact.phone gives you just the phone numbers, and $[*].{name, phone} reshapes each match into exactly the fields you want. Export that result straight to YAML or CSV, diff two documents, decode JWTs, validate or infer a JSON Schema, and save your views as workspaces. Every Pro tool runs in a background worker, so it works on large files with no size limit — and the free auto-repair runs inside them too.

How braceful compares

The same trust questions, answered honestly across the alternatives.

Feature comparison of braceful, the compromised JSON Formatter extension, and DevTools or online formatters.
Capability braceful The compromised
JSON Formatter 		DevTools /
online formatters
Fully offline / zero requests Yes No Partial — depends
No file-size cap (50–100MB+) Yes No No
Built-in broken-JSON repair Yes No No
No telemetry / tracking Yes No Partial — depends
No remote code Yes No Partial — depends
Minimal permissions Yes No Yes
JSON never leaves your machine Yes No Partial — depends

"Partial" reflects that DevTools and online formatters vary: many online formatters send your JSON to a server, and DevTools cannot repair or open very large files. braceful does none of that.

Pricing

The viewer, JSON repair, and large-file viewing are free forever. Pro unlocks the full power-user toolset — pick the plan that fits.

Free — included in the extension

Offline viewer, broken-JSON repair, ~100MB large files, tree view, search, a Formatted-Raw view, and optional auto-open of JSON pages. No account. No expiry.

Add to Chrome — Free

Monthly

$6.99 / month

Billed monthly. Cancel anytime.

Everything in Pro

  • Live query view — a JSONPath query filters & reshapes the document as you type
  • Projection — pull out exactly the fields you want ($[*].{name, phone})
  • Export the result straight to YAML / CSV
  • Semantic Diff — compare two JSON documents
  • JWT decode
  • JSON Schema — infer & validate
  • Chart / graph view of the document
  • Inline + table editor
  • Cmd-K command palette
  • Workspaces — save & reopen your views
  • No file-size cap (every Pro tool runs in a background worker)
Most popular

Annual

Save 54%

$39 / year

Just $3.25/mo, billed annually.

Everything in Pro

  • Live query view — a JSONPath query filters & reshapes the document as you type
  • Projection — pull out exactly the fields you want ($[*].{name, phone})
  • Export the result straight to YAML / CSV
  • Semantic Diff — compare two JSON documents
  • JWT decode
  • JSON Schema — infer & validate
  • Chart / graph view of the document
  • Inline + table editor
  • Cmd-K command palette
  • Workspaces — save & reopen your views
  • No file-size cap (every Pro tool runs in a background worker)

Team

$45 / seat / year

Minimum 3 seats — from $135/yr.

Everything in Pro

  • Live query view — a JSONPath query filters & reshapes the document as you type
  • Projection — pull out exactly the fields you want ($[*].{name, phone})
  • Export the result straight to YAML / CSV
  • Semantic Diff — compare two JSON documents
  • JWT decode
  • JSON Schema — infer & validate
  • Chart / graph view of the document
  • Inline + table editor
  • Cmd-K command palette
  • Workspaces — save & reopen your views
  • No file-size cap (every Pro tool runs in a background worker)

Billing handled securely by Paddle. 14-day money-back guarantee.

Frequently asked

Is it really offline?

Yes — the free viewer makes zero network requests. All parsing, repair, formatting, and search run locally in your browser, and your JSON never leaves your device on any tier. The one exception is Pro: activating a license key or starting a trial sends that license key (and only the key — never your JSON) to validate it. If you never enter a key, braceful makes no external requests at all.

How do I verify no requests are made?

Open your browser's DevTools, switch to the Network tab, and use the free viewer — paste JSON, repair it, search, open a big file. The outbound request count never moves. (The only request braceful ever makes is Pro license validation, which fires only when you activate a key or start a trial, and sends only the key — never your JSON.) braceful also loads no remote code — a strict Content-Security-Policy blocks any network-loaded script — so what you see in the Network tab is the whole story.

What permissions does it need?

Only activeTab, scripting, storage, and contextMenus are required — there are no host_permissions, so braceful has zero access to websites by default and only reads the current tab when you click the toolbar icon or use the context-menu action. One optional feature, "Auto-open JSON pages," can request page access (so JSON links and local files open automatically), but it stays off until you turn it on and asks your permission first.

Is my JSON ever uploaded?

Never. The JSON you paste, drop, open, or capture from a tab is processed entirely in memory on your device and is not transmitted anywhere — not even on Pro. It is written to disk only when you explicitly use the Download action, or when you save a Workspace (a Pro feature), which stores that view locally in your browser's storage (IndexedDB) on your device. Saved Workspaces are never synced or uploaded.

What's free vs Pro?

Free (forever): the offline viewer, broken-JSON repair, ~100MB large-file viewing, the collapsible tree, search, a Formatted-Raw view, and optional auto-open of JSON pages — none of which are gated. Pro adds the live query view (a JSONPath query that filters and reshapes the document into a result as you type), projection, export of that result to YAML/CSV, semantic diff, JWT decode, JSON Schema validation & inference, and saved workspaces — plus auto-repair inside every Pro tool.

Do I need an account?

No. There is no sign-up and no login — braceful has no account system at all. The free viewer makes no network requests; the only call braceful ever makes is Pro license validation, which sends just your license key.

How does billing and refunds work?

Pro is sold through Paddle.com, which acts as the Merchant of Record — Paddle handles all payments, taxes, and invoicing. Pro includes a 14-day free trial with no credit card, and a 14-day money-back guarantee. See the Refund Policy for details.

Does it work on large files?

Yes — large-file viewing (around 100MB) is in the free tier, using virtualized rendering so it opens big files without freezing the tab. The Pro tools (query, diff, convert, schema) run their work in a background worker too, so they are not size-capped either.

Still have a question? sherazp995@gmail.com

Inspect your JSON, not the other way around.

Add braceful and keep the Network tab open while you use it. The outbound count stays at zero. That's the whole point.

Free forever · No account · 2-minute setup

braceful Add to Chrome — Free