JSON Flat Tool

A single-script tool (

jstool.py

) for viewing, inspecting, and editing JSON data.

Script path:

~/.claude/skills/json-flat-tool/jstool.py

Invocation

bash

python3 ~/.claude/skills/json-flat-tool/jstool.py <command> [args]

Commands

Command	Description
`view [file] [opts]`	Flat path/type/value display
`schema [file] [--title T]`	Infer JSON Schema Draft 7
`set <path> <value> [file] [-f]`	Set a field value
`<path> = <value> [file] [-f]`	Same, B-style syntax
`before <path> <value> [file] [-f]`	Insert before array element
`after <path> <value> [file] [-f]`	Insert after array element
`del <path> [file] [-f]`	Delete a key or element
`set-null <path> [file] [-f]`	Set a field to null
`copy <src> <dst> [file] [-f]`	Deep-clone a subtree to a new path
`merge <path> <patch.json> [file] [-f]`	Deep-merge a JSON file into a path
`find <pattern> [file] [opts]`	Search paths and values by regex or glob

Omit

[file]

to read from stdin.

view Options

Flag	Unit	Description
`-s`	—	Schema mode: collapse `[N]→[*]` , deduplicate, hide values
`-F <path>`	—	Filter: show only this path and its children
`-n <N>`	rows	Show at most N rows
`-O <N>`	rows	Skip first N rows
`-E <N>`	elements	Skip first N array elements (use with `-F` )
`-L <N>`	elements	Show at most N array elements (use with `-F` )

-E

and

-L

are element-aware and never cut an element in the middle.

Edit flags

```
-f
```
— Force: apply change to file. Default is preview-only.
Without
```
-f
```
: shows a color-annotated diff of the original JSON with
```
~~~~~
```
underline markers at the exact change position.

Path syntax

root              root node
count             root-level key
users[0]          array element
users[0].name     nested key
root[0].key       root-array element key

Value parsing

Values are parsed as JSON first, then fall back to plain string:

Alice          → string
42             → integer
3.14           → number
true / false   → boolean
null           → null
'{"k":"v"}'    → object
'[1,2,3]'      → array
@path/to.json  → read value from file

Output format (view)

root object
users array
users[0] object
users[0].name string Alice
users[0].age integer 30
users[1].age integer (null)    ← magenta: null with inferred type
orphan unknown (null)          ← red: null, type unknown
meta object (empty)            ← dim: empty container

Colors: cyan = path, yellow = type, green = value, magenta = inferred null, red = unknown/delete, dim = empty.

Workflow

Explore a JSON file

bash

# Quick structure overview
python3 ~/.claude/skills/json-flat-tool/jstool.py view data.json -s

# Filter to a nested array, element-aware pagination
python3 ~/.claude/skills/json-flat-tool/jstool.py view data.json -F "data[0].bids" -E 5 -L 3

# Infer JSON Schema Draft 7
python3 ~/.claude/skills/json-flat-tool/jstool.py schema data.json --title "My API"

Edit a JSON file

bash

# Preview change (default)
python3 ~/.claude/skills/json-flat-tool/jstool.py set users[0].name Bob data.json

# Apply change
python3 ~/.claude/skills/json-flat-tool/jstool.py set users[0].name Bob data.json -f

# B-style
python3 ~/.claude/skills/json-flat-tool/jstool.py "users[0].name" = Bob data.json -f

# Insert / delete
python3 ~/.claude/skills/json-flat-tool/jstool.py before users[1] '{"name":"Eve"}' data.json -f
python3 ~/.claude/skills/json-flat-tool/jstool.py del users[2] data.json -f
python3 ~/.claude/skills/json-flat-tool/jstool.py set-null users[0].age data.json -f

Set value from file (

@file

)

bash

# Write a complex object to a file, then set it at a path
python3 ~/.claude/skills/json-flat-tool/jstool.py set provider.openai @/tmp/openai.json config.json -f

Clone a subtree (

copy

)

bash

# Clone an existing model as the base for a new one (preview)
python3 ~/.claude/skills/json-flat-tool/jstool.py copy \
  provider.google.models.antigravity-gemini-3-pro \
  provider.google.models.my-new-model \
  config.json

# Apply
python3 ~/.claude/skills/json-flat-tool/jstool.py copy \
  provider.google.models.antigravity-gemini-3-pro \
  provider.google.models.my-new-model \
  config.json -f

Deep-merge a patch file (

merge

)

bash

# patch.json only needs to contain the fields to add/update
# preview: shows which keys are added (+) and updated (~)
python3 ~/.claude/skills/json-flat-tool/jstool.py merge provider.google.models /tmp/new-models.json config.json

# Apply
python3 ~/.claude/skills/json-flat-tool/jstool.py merge provider.google.models /tmp/new-models.json config.json -f

Find nodes by pattern (

find

)

bash

# Regex search in both paths and values (default)
python3 ~/.claude/skills/json-flat-tool/jstool.py find apiKey config.json

# Search path only (-k), value only (-v)
python3 ~/.claude/skills/json-flat-tool/jstool.py find apiKey config.json -k
python3 ~/.claude/skills/json-flat-tool/jstool.py find "sk-.*" config.json -v

# Case-insensitive
python3 ~/.claude/skills/json-flat-tool/jstool.py find "APIKEY" config.json -k -i

# Glob mode (full-string wildcard, use * to match anywhere)
python3 ~/.claude/skills/json-flat-tool/jstool.py find "*api*" config.json -k -g -i

find options:

Flag	Description
`-k`	Match path only
`-v`	Match value only
`-i`	Case-insensitive
`-g`	Glob mode (fnmatch full-string wildcard instead of regex)

-k

and

-v

are mutually exclusive. Without either flag, both path and value are searched.

Inline / piped JSON

bash

echo '{"name":"Alice"}' | python3 ~/.claude/skills/json-flat-tool/jstool.py view
curl https://api.example.com/data | python3 ~/.claude/skills/json-flat-tool/jstool.py schema

Notes

```
before
```
/
```
after
```
only apply to array elements, not object keys.
To add a new key to an object, use
```
set
```
.
```
-f
```
without a file path prints modified JSON to stdout.
```
-E
```
/
```
-L
```
require
```
-F
```
pointing to an array path.
Array sampling for schema inference: up to 20 elements.
```
required
```
in schema = fields present and non-empty in all sampled elements.
```
@file
```
syntax works with
```
set
```
and B-style (
```
=
```
);
```
merge
```
always takes a file path directly.
```
copy
```
performs a deep clone — mutations to the copy do not affect the source.
```
merge
```
for non-dict targets replaces the value entirely (patch wins).
```
find -g
```
uses
```
fnmatch
```
(full-string wildcard): use
```
*api*
```
not
```
api*
```
for substring matching.
```
find
```
without
```
-g
```
uses Python
```
re.search
```
(substring regex by default).

json-flat-tool

NPX Install

Tags

SKILL.md Content

JSON Flat Tool

Invocation

Commands

view Options

Edit flags

Path syntax

Value parsing

Output format (view)

Workflow

Explore a JSON file

Edit a JSON file

Set value from file (
`@file`
)

Clone a subtree (
`copy`
)

Deep-merge a patch file (
`merge`
)

Find nodes by pattern (
`find`
)

Inline / piped JSON

Notes

json-flat-tool

NPX Install

Tags

SKILL.md Content

JSON Flat Tool

Invocation

Commands

view Options

Edit flags

Path syntax

Value parsing

Output format (view)

Workflow

Explore a JSON file

Edit a JSON file

Set value from file (@file)

Clone a subtree (copy)

Deep-merge a patch file (merge)

Find nodes by pattern (find)

Inline / piped JSON

Notes

Set value from file (
`@file`
)

Clone a subtree (
`copy`
)

Deep-merge a patch file (
`merge`
)

Find nodes by pattern (
`find`
)