---
id: hjson
version: "3.1.0"
license: MIT License
license_treatment: permissive
maintenance: aging
---

# hjson — Hjson, a user interface for JSON.

License: permissive · Maintenance: aging · Downloads: 5.5M/mo

## What it is and what it does

hjson is a Python parser and encoder for Hjson, a human-friendly variant of JSON that allows comments, unquoted keys, trailing commas, and other relaxations to make configuration files and data more readable. It provides `loads()` and `dumps()` functions to convert between Hjson text and Python objects, plus `dumpsJSON()` to output strict JSON. The package has no runtime dependencies and works as a pure Python library.

It's useful when you want JSON-like data structures but need the flexibility of comments and relaxed syntax for configuration files or hand-edited data. The package includes a command-line tool for converting between Hjson and JSON formats. However, maintenance is aging—the last release was in 2022—so it may not receive updates for newer Python versions or security issues.

Use it for:

- Parse configuration files written in Hjson format with comments and unquoted keys instead of strict JSON.
- Convert human-written Hjson data to Python objects or standard JSON for downstream processing.
- Use the command-line tool to validate or reformat Hjson files to JSON on the fly.
- Embed Hjson parsing in applications that accept user-friendly configuration syntax.
- Store structured data with inline comments in a format more readable than JSON.

## Worth the install?

AI-flagged interpretation of the facts above — verify before relying.

Parses and generates Hjson (a human-friendly JSON variant with comments, unquoted keys, and relaxed syntax) and converts between Hjson and standard JSON formats.

Yes, if you need Hjson support and accept the aging maintenance status. The package is stable, has no known vulnerabilities, and carries no install friction. However, verify that it supports your target Python version, since classifiers only list up to 3.5 and the last release was 2022; for modern Python projects, confirm compatibility before committing to it.

## Install

pip install hjson
uv add hjson
poetry add hjson

## Installing hjson

Before you install: Low install friction with no runtime dependencies. Maintenance is aging—last release was in 2022 and the last commit in 2025, with no recent activity signals, though the package remains stable and archived status is false.

License in practice: Licensed under MIT License (permissive), allowing free use, modification, and distribution with minimal restrictions.

Quickstart:

pip install hjson

import hjson

text = '{foo: a, bar: 1}'
result = hjson.loads(text)
print(result)  # OrderedDict([('foo', 'a'), ('bar', 1)])

Verify before relying:

- Whether the package is actively maintained or if aging status indicates it may not receive security updates or bug fixes going forward.
- Current compatibility with modern Python versions beyond those listed in classifiers (3.5 was the latest listed; current support is unspecified).

## Package facts

- License: MIT License (permissive)
- Python support: unspecified
- Install friction: low
- Maintenance: aging
- Downloads: 5.5M/month (top 5,000 on PyPI)
- Known vulnerabilities: none known

## Tags

hjson parser python, json with comments, human-friendly json, relaxed json syntax, json configuration format, unquoted json keys, hjson to json converter, config-format, json-variant, cli-tool

[View on SkillFed](https://skillfed.io/packages/hjson) · [View on PyPI](https://pypi.org/project/hjson/)