.env ⇄ JSON Converter
About .env ⇄ JSON
.env ⇄ JSON bridges process variables and structured application configuration with the same reversible double-underscore nesting convention as the YAML converter.
How it works
Environment to JSON
Variables such as DATABASE__HOST become nested object properties. Values stay strings by default, while optional inference recognizes strict booleans, null, JSON-style numbers, arrays and objects.
JSON to environment
Root objects are flattened recursively, names are normalized and collision-checked, and arrays become escaped JSON text in a single value.
Shared strict parsing
Invalid names, malformed quotes, duplicate definitions and conflicting scalar-versus-object paths produce errors instead of silent data loss.
Frequently asked questions
Why are values strings by default?
Operating-system environment variables are strings. Type inference is opt-in because values like 00123 often represent identifiers, not numbers.
Can a top-level JSON array become .env?
No. A .env file is a named variable mapping, so JSON input must be an object at the root.
How are arrays represented?
They are serialized as JSON text and safely quoted inside one environment variable.
Sources & last verified
The behaviour of this tool and the claims on this page were checked against the specifications below on . Everything runs in your browser, so the output you see is exactly what the engine produced.
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