XML to JSON
Convert XML to JSON format
XML Input
JSON Output
What is XML to JSON Conversion?
XML to JSON conversion is the process of transforming data from Extensible Markup Language (XML) into JavaScript Object Notation (JSON). Both formats represent structured, hierarchical data, but they use different syntax and data models. XML uses opening and closing tags with optional attributes, while JSON uses key-value pairs, arrays, and primitive types. Converting XML to JSON lets you work with XML data in environments where JSON is the native format, such as JavaScript runtimes, REST APIs, and NoSQL databases.
The conversion is not always one-to-one. XML has constructs with no direct JSON equivalent: attributes, mixed content (text interleaved with child elements), processing instructions, comments, CDATA sections, and namespace declarations. Different conversion libraries handle these constructs differently, which is why multiple conventions exist. The most common approach prefixes attribute names with @ and places text content in a #text field when attributes are present on the same element.
XML to JSON conversion is a common step when migrating from SOAP to REST, consuming legacy enterprise APIs, or processing government and financial data feeds that mandate XML. Rather than rewriting producers and consumers simultaneously, teams convert the XML payload at the boundary layer and pass JSON downstream. AWS API Gateway, Apache Camel, and MuleSoft all support this pattern natively.
<bookstore>
<book category="fiction">
<title lang="en">The Great Gatsby</title>
<author>F. Scott Fitzgerald</author>
<year>1925</year>
<price>10.99</price>
</book>
<book category="non-fiction">
<title lang="en">Sapiens</title>
<author>Yuval Noah Harari</author>
<year>2011</year>
<price>14.99</price>
</book>
</bookstore>{
"bookstore": {
"book": [
{
"@category": "fiction",
"title": {
"@lang": "en",
"#text": "The Great Gatsby"
},
"author": "F. Scott Fitzgerald",
"year": "1925",
"price": "10.99"
},
{
"@category": "non-fiction",
"title": {
"@lang": "en",
"#text": "Sapiens"
},
"author": "Yuval Noah Harari",
"year": "2011",
"price": "14.99"
}
]
}
}Why Use an Online XML to JSON Converter?
Writing a one-off conversion script takes time, especially when the XML contains attributes, namespaces, or repeated elements that need to become JSON arrays. A browser-based converter gives you the JSON output in seconds so you can inspect the structure and move on.
XML to JSON Use Cases
XML to JSON Mapping Reference
XML and JSON have different data models. The table below shows how each XML construct maps to its JSON equivalent under the most common convention (@ for attributes, #text for text alongside attributes). Some constructs, like mixed content and comments, have no standard JSON representation.
| XML Construct | XML Example | JSON Equivalent |
|---|---|---|
| Element | <name>text</name> | "name": "text" |
| Nested elements | <a><b>1</b></a> | "a": { "b": "1" } |
| Attributes | <el attr="v"/> | "el": { "@attr": "v" } |
| Text + attributes | <el a="1">text</el> | "el": { "@a": "1", "#text": "text" } |
| Repeated elements | <r><i>1</i><i>2</i></r> | "r": { "i": ["1", "2"] } |
| Mixed content | <p>A <b>B</b> C</p> | Varies by convention |
| CDATA | <![CDATA[raw]]> | "#cdata": "raw" or flattened |
| Namespaces | xmlns:prefix="uri" | Prefix preserved or stripped |
| Empty element | <el/> | "el": null or "" |
| Comments | <!-- note --> | Discarded (no JSON equivalent) |
XML to JSON Conventions Compared
No single standard governs how XML maps to JSON. Three conventions are widely used, each with different trade-offs for attribute handling, array detection, and text preservation.
Code Examples
Below are working examples for converting XML to JSON in JavaScript, Python, Go, and the command line. Each example handles nested elements and repeated sibling tags.
// Using the DOMParser API to walk XML and build a JSON object
function xmlToJson(xml) {
const parser = new DOMParser()
const doc = parser.parseFromString(xml, 'application/xml')
function nodeToObj(node) {
const obj = {}
// Handle attributes
if (node.attributes) {
for (const attr of node.attributes) {
obj['@' + attr.name] = attr.value
}
}
// Handle child nodes
for (const child of node.childNodes) {
if (child.nodeType === 3) { // text
const text = child.textContent.trim()
if (text) obj['#text'] = text
} else if (child.nodeType === 1) { // element
const key = child.nodeName
const val = nodeToObj(child)
if (obj[key]) {
if (!Array.isArray(obj[key])) obj[key] = [obj[key]]
obj[key].push(val)
} else {
obj[key] = val
}
}
}
// Simplify text-only nodes
const keys = Object.keys(obj)
if (keys.length === 1 && keys[0] === '#text') return obj['#text']
return obj
}
return nodeToObj(doc.documentElement)
}
const xml = '<user><name>Alice</name><role>admin</role></user>'
console.log(JSON.stringify(xmlToJson(xml), null, 2))
// → { "name": "Alice", "role": "admin" }import xmltodict
import json
xml = """
<user>
<name>Alice</name>
<roles>
<role>admin</role>
<role>editor</role>
</roles>
</user>
"""
# xmltodict converts XML to an OrderedDict
result = xmltodict.parse(xml)
print(json.dumps(result, indent=2))
# → {
# → "user": {
# → "name": "Alice",
# → "roles": { "role": ["admin", "editor"] }
# → }
# → }
# With the standard library (xml.etree.ElementTree)
import xml.etree.ElementTree as ET
def etree_to_dict(elem):
d = {}
if elem.attrib:
d.update({f"@{k}": v for k, v in elem.attrib.items()})
for child in elem:
child_data = etree_to_dict(child)
if child.tag in d:
if not isinstance(d[child.tag], list):
d[child.tag] = [d[child.tag]]
d[child.tag].append(child_data)
else:
d[child.tag] = child_data
if elem.text and elem.text.strip():
if d:
d["#text"] = elem.text.strip()
else:
return elem.text.strip()
return d
root = ET.fromstring(xml)
print(json.dumps(etree_to_dict(root), indent=2))package main
import (
"encoding/json"
"encoding/xml"
"fmt"
"strings"
)
// For simple, known schemas — define a struct
type User struct {
XMLName xml.Name `xml:"user"`
Name string `xml:"name"`
Roles []string `xml:"roles>role"`
}
func main() {
data := `<user><name>Alice</name><roles><role>admin</role><role>editor</role></roles></user>`
var user User
xml.NewDecoder(strings.NewReader(data)).Decode(&user)
out, _ := json.MarshalIndent(user, "", " ")
fmt.Println(string(out))
// → { "Name": "Alice", "Roles": ["admin", "editor"] }
}# Using xq (part of yq, a jq wrapper for XML)
# Install: pip install yq OR brew install yq
echo '<user><name>Alice</name></user>' | xq .
# → { "user": { "name": "Alice" } }
# Using xmlstarlet + jq
xmlstarlet sel -t -v '//name' input.xml | jq -R '{ name: . }'
# Node.js one-liner with xml2js
echo '<a><b>1</b></a>' | node -e "
const {parseString} = require('xml2js');
let d=''; process.stdin.on('data',c=>d+=c);
process.stdin.on('end',()=>parseString(d,(e,r)=>console.log(JSON.stringify(r,null,2))))
"