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Observability

Browser JSON Viewer Plugins

When working with the APIs.do  ecosystem and other JSON-based endpoints, a JSON viewer plugin will significantly enhance your experience by making the data more readable and interactive.

This guide provides recommendations for JSON viewer plugins across all major browsers to help you set up your development environment.

Why Use a JSON Viewer Plugin?

Most browsers display raw JSON as plain text by default, which is difficult to read and navigate. JSON viewer plugins provide:

  • Formatted display with proper indentation and syntax highlighting
  • Collapsible trees to easily explore nested data
  • Search functionality to find specific keys or values
  • Clickable URLs within JSON data for easier navigation
  • Dark/light mode support for better readability

Google Chrome

Chrome does not have a native JSON pretty-printer in the browser tab. By default, JSON is shown as raw text or the browser prompts to download it.

  1. JSON Formatter (by Callum Locke)

    • Formats JSON into a readable tree with syntax highlighting and collapsible sections
    • Automatically linkifies URL strings into clickable links
    • Actively maintained with dark mode support
    • Over 2 million users
    • Chrome Web Store Link 

  2. JSON Viewer (Powered by JSONView)

    • Provides syntax highlighting, a collapsible tree view with item counts, and clickable URLs
    • Makes any string that looks like a URL into an active hyperlink
    • Updated to Manifest V3 for compatibility with the latest Chrome
    • Chrome Web Store Link 

  3. JSON Beautifier & Editor (by yokris.dev)

    • Pretty-prints JSON with syntax highlighting
    • Allows live editing of the JSON
    • Multiple viewing modes (tree, raw, and code view)
    • Chrome Web Store Link 

Note: If multiple JSON extensions are installed, they may conflict. It’s best to use one at a time.

Chrome on Android

Chrome’s mobile version does not support extensions, so none of the above can be used on Android. For formatted JSON on mobile, use an alternative mobile browser like Firefox.

Mozilla Firefox

Built-in JSON Viewer

Firefox includes a native JSON viewer (enabled by default since Firefox 53). When you open a JSON URL or file in Firefox, it shows:

  • Pretty-printed, color-coded tree with collapsible arrays/objects
  • Line numbering
  • Search box to filter JSON keys/values
  • Toggle to view the raw JSON
  • Response headers (if the JSON was fetched via HTTP)

By default, Firefox’s JSON viewer will hyperlink any string that looks like a URL. These links open in a new tab for safety.

Firefox JSON Viewer Add-ons

For additional features, these add-ons are available:

  1. JSON Formatter (by Arnav Kumar)

    • Over 60 theme options
    • Multiple view modes (“Parsed”, “Raw”, and “Formatted Raw”)
    • To use: set devtools.jsonview.enabled to false in about:config
    • Firefox Add-ons Link 

  2. JSON Lite

    • Known for handling large files efficiently
    • Highlights and collapses JSON structures
    • Available on multiple browsers
    • Firefox Add-ons Link 

Firefox on Android

Firefox mobile can support add-ons, making it a good option for viewing JSON on mobile devices. The same JSONView and JSON Lite extensions have mobile-compatible versions available.

Apple Safari

Safari does not have a dedicated JSON viewer. It will display JSON responses as plain text or prompt to download.

Safari JSON Viewer Extensions (macOS)

  1. JSON Peep for Safari

    • Prettifies JSON with proper indentation and line breaks
    • Works well even on large JSON files
    • Available in the Mac App Store
    • Mac App Store Link 

  2. PrettyJSON for Safari

Safari on iOS

As of now, there isn’t a well-known JSON-viewer extension specifically for iOS Safari. One workaround is to use third-party iOS browsers that support extensions or have built-in JSON handling.

Microsoft Edge

Built-in JSON Viewer

Recent versions of Edge include a built-in JSON rendering feature. When you load JSON in Edge, a “Pretty-print” checkbox appears that formats the JSON with indentation and line breaks.

The built-in viewer is relatively basic - it formats the text but does not provide a collapsible tree interface, syntax color-coding, or automatically hyperlink URLs.

Extensions for Edge

Edge supports Chrome Web Store extensions. Recommended extensions include:

  1. JSON Beautifier & Editor (by yokris.dev)

  2. JSON Formatter (by Arnav Kumar)

Note: Edge’s native JSON viewer can interfere with JSON extensions. You might need to disable the Edge feature via edge://flags if needed.

Other Chromium-Based Browsers

Brave, Opera, Vivaldi, and Arc browsers are all Chromium-based and support Chrome extensions. You can install any of the Chrome JSON viewer extensions mentioned above from the Chrome Web Store.

Browser-Specific Notes

  • Brave: Works like Chrome, with full extension support
  • Opera: Has its own add-ons store with options like JSON Lite, or you can enable Chrome extensions
  • Vivaldi: Full Chrome extension support
  • Arc: Full Chrome extension support, maintains extensions when importing from Chrome

Orion Browser

Orion is built on WebKit (like Safari) but supports Chrome and Firefox extensions. Extension support is still maturing, so not every extension works perfectly.

Try installing JSON Formatter from either the Chrome Web Store or as a Firefox add-on (.xpi file).

Recommendations for the Best Experience

For the optimal experience with our APIs:

  1. Desktop: Use Firefox (built-in viewer) or Chrome/Edge with JSON Formatter
  2. Android: Use Firefox with JSON Lite or JSON Formatter
  3. iOS: Use Safari with JSON Peep or a third-party browser with extension support

Troubleshooting

If your JSON viewer isn’t working:

  • Make sure you don’t have multiple JSON viewer extensions enabled
  • Check that the server is sending the correct content type (application/json)
  • For large JSON files, some viewers may struggle - try a viewer known for performance like JSON Lite
  • In Edge, disable the native Pretty-print feature if using an extension
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