json-diff
Generates diff between two JSON files
Decision gist · record as of 2026-08-14
No. The package is abandoned with no maintenance since 2019, incomplete Python 3 porting (one test skipped), and high install friction. For JSON comparison, consider actively maintained alternatives or use Python's built-in difflib with json.load() for simple cases. Install only if you have a specific legacy requirement and can accept the lack of support.AI-flagged interpretation of the facts on this page — verify before relying
Before you install
- The package is abandoned; Python 3 support was added in 1.5.0 but one test remains skipped, indicating incomplete porting.
- Installation friction is high due to the source distribution format.
- The package is abandoned as of 2019-08-25 with no maintenance activity since; the last release ported to Python 3 but left one test skipped.
License · maintenance · safety
permissive license (permissive) — Released under MIT/X11 license (permissive), so you can use, modify, and distribute it freely with minimal restrictions.
last release 2019-08-25 (2546 days)
0 known vulnerabilities (OSV.dev, 2026-08-14) · 357,204 downloads/mo, #7,272 on PyPI
Alternatives
Verify before relying
pip install json-diff
import json_diff
result = json_diff.compare(json1, json2)- Whether the skipped test in the Python 3 port indicates a functional limitation or just incomplete test coverage.
- Current compatibility with modern Python versions beyond the initial 3.x port in 2019.
- Whether the command-line tool works reliably given the abandoned maintenance status.
What it is and what it does
json-diff is a command-line tool and Python library that compares two JSON files and outputs the structural differences in JSON format. It supports filtering the comparison by including or excluding specific keys, making it useful for detecting changes between JSON documents. The tool can be used both as a standalone script (with exit status indicating whether differences were found) and as an importable Python module.
The package has no runtime dependencies, making installation straightforward. However, it has been abandoned since August 2019; while it was ported to Python 3 in version 1.5.0, one test was left skipped, suggesting the port may not be complete. The codebase originated with Python 2.4 compatibility as a design constraint, which may affect its behavior on modern Python versions.
Use it for
- Detect structural changes between two JSON configuration files in a deployment pipeline.
- Compare JSON API responses across different versions to identify breaking changes.
- Generate a diff report when JSON data is updated, for audit or version-control purposes.
- Exclude specific keys (like timestamps or IDs) when comparing JSON documents for meaningful content differences.
- Automate testing by comparing expected and actual JSON output from a program.
Worth the install?
AI-flagged interpretation of the facts on this page. Verify before relying on it.
No.
The package is abandoned with no maintenance since 2019, incomplete Python 3 porting (one test skipped), and high install friction. For JSON comparison, consider actively maintained alternatives or use Python's built-in difflib with json.load() for simple cases. Install only if you have a specific legacy requirement and can accept the lack of support.
Install
json-diff on PyPI
Before you install
Installation friction is high due to the source distribution format. The package is abandoned as of 2019-08-25 with no maintenance activity since; the last release ported to Python 3 but left one test skipped. Use only if you need this specific tool and can tolerate lack of ongoing support.
The package is abandoned; Python 3 support was added in 1.5.0 but one test remains skipped, indicating incomplete porting.
License in practice
Released under MIT/X11 license (permissive), so you can use, modify, and distribute it freely with minimal restrictions.
Quickstart
pip install json-diff
import json_diff
result = json_diff.compare(json1, json2)Verify before relying
- Whether the skipped test in the Python 3 port indicates a functional limitation or just incomplete test coverage.
- Current compatibility with modern Python versions beyond the initial 3.x port in 2019.
- Whether the command-line tool works reliably given the abandoned maintenance status.
Package facts
| License | permissive license permissive |
| Python support | Not specified |
| Install friction | High. Source build required |
| Runtime dependencies | None |
| Maintenance | Abandoned 2,546 days since the last release |
| First released | |
| Downloads | 357,204 / month, #7,272 on PyPI 30-day window, as of 2026-08-14 |
| Known vulnerabilities | None known OSV.dev, checked 2026-08-14 |
| Classifiers | Development Status :: 4 - BetaEnvironment :: ConsoleIntended Audience :: Information TechnologyLicense :: OSI Approved :: MIT LicenseOperating System :: OS IndependentProgramming Language :: Python :: 3Topic :: Software Development :: Libraries :: Python ModulesTopic :: Text Processing :: General |
Evidence: json_diff-1.5.0.tar.gz
Tags
Let your AI agent find packages like this
Example. Real query, live index.
You found this page by searching. An agent finds it by wishing: SkillFed indexes 14,416 PyPI packages by what they can do, searchable in plain language.
wish › “json file comparison”
- json-diffCompares two JSON files and generates a JSON output showing the…
- csv-diffCompares two CSV, TSV, or JSON files and reports what rows were…
- cloudmersive-convert-api-clientA Python client library for the Cloudmersive Document Conversion API,…
Give your agent the search over MCP, or paste the wish link into any chat.
More Python Modules packages
Converts domain names between Unicode and ASCII-compatible encoding (Punycode) according to IDNA 2008 and Unicode Technical Standard 46, with security validation and broader script coverage than the standard library.
Install it if you work with internationalized domain names, need to validate domains, or use HTTP clients that depend on it transitively.
Setuptools is a Python build backend and package management tool that handles building, distributing, and installing Python packages, including support for C/C++ extension modules.
PyYAML parses and emits YAML 1.1 data format, enabling serialization and deserialization of configuration files and Python objects to and from human-readable YAML text.
Pydantic validates Python data structures against type hints, coercing and checking input at runtime to ensure it matches a declared schema.
Provides reusable metadata objects for use with PEP-593 `typing.Annotated` to express common constraints like bounds, collection sizes, and predicates on types.
Install it if you use or build libraries that need to express type constraints in a standardized, inspectable way—or if you want to annotate your own types with…
Provides runtime tools to inspect and introspect Python type annotations, enabling programmatic examination of type hints at execution time.
See also pyjson · redlines · json-delta · jsoncomparison · recursive-diff · datadiff · sqlalchemy-diff · dictdiffer · azure-cli-diff-tool · xmldiff