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json/docs/mkdocs/docs/index.md
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Niels Lohmann cc917d7123 docs: cross-reference json_view and json_document for 3.13.0 (#5892)
* docs: cross-reference json_view and json_document for 3.13.0

Document the new zero-copy document/view API across the docs: add a
"Documents and views" section to the basic_json API hub linking to all
specializations, point parsing/conversion/modifying pages to the view-based
alternatives, add document/view sections to feature pages, update the
landing page to mention json_view.hpp/json_literals.hpp, and cross-link
debugging/exceptions.

Also document wide-string inputs (and ill-formed UTF-16/32 rejection),
add parse/accept examples for wide strings, fix related doc gaps, and
align features/parsing and FAQ with the added support.

Signed-off-by: Niels Lohmann <mail@nlohmann.me>

* docs: fix article before std::istream in FAQ

Signed-off-by: Niels Lohmann <mail@nlohmann.me>

* docs: clarify document inputs, decoding, get<T>() and editing

Address review comments: say which inputs are borrowed and that a wide
string pointer is an extra input, which values are decoded during parsing,
that get<T>() reads only built-in types directly, all forms of set() and
that the document's insert() is array-only, and how to store wide strings.

Signed-off-by: Niels Lohmann <mail@nlohmann.me>

* docs: integers are converted while parsing a document

Also say "They accept every input" in basic_json_document::parse.

Signed-off-by: Niels Lohmann <mail@nlohmann.me>

---------

Signed-off-by: Niels Lohmann <mail@nlohmann.me>
2026-10-25 06:18:07 +01:00

3.8 KiB

JSON for Modern C++

JSON for Modern C++

JSON for Modern C++ is a header-only C++11 library that turns JSON into a first-class C++ data type, using the operator magic of modern C++ so that creating, reading, and modifying JSON values feels as natural as it does in languages like Python. The whole library is available as a single header, json.hpp, with no dependencies, no subproject, and no complex build system to set up; a companion header, json_fwd.hpp, provides forward declarations to keep compile times down, <nlohmann/json_literals.hpp> holds the user-defined string literals on their own, and <nlohmann/json_view.hpp> adds zero-copy views and editable documents. See header-only integration for details. It is heavily unit-tested with 100% code coverage, checked with Valgrind and the Clang Sanitizers for memory leaks, and continuously fuzz-tested by Google OSS-Fuzz.

Quick start

Add the single header to your project and use the library like this:

#include <iostream>
#include <nlohmann/json.hpp>

using json = nlohmann::json;

int main()
{
    // parse a JSON string
    json j = json::parse(R"({"happy": true, "pi": 3.141})");

    // access and modify values
    j["name"] = "Niels";
    j["list"] = {1, 0, 2};

    // serialize with an indent of 4 spaces
    std::cout << j.dump(4) << '\n';
}

Get the library by copying the single header json.hpp from the releases page into a directory nlohmann on your include path, or by installing it with a package manager:

brew install nlohmann-json    # Homebrew
vcpkg install nlohmann-json   # vcpkg
find_package(nlohmann_json 3.12.0 REQUIRED)
target_link_libraries(myproject PRIVATE nlohmann_json::nlohmann_json)

See Integration for CMake in detail, all supported package managers (Conan, Meson, Bazel, Conda, and more), and pkg-config.

Explore the documentation

  • :octicons-rocket-24:{ .lg .middle } Features


    Creating, parsing, accessing, and serializing JSON values, JSON Pointer/Patch, binary formats, zero-copy views, and more.

    :octicons-arrow-right-24: Features

  • :octicons-package-24:{ .lg .middle } Integration


    Add the library to your project via a single header, CMake, a package manager, or pkg-config.

    :octicons-arrow-right-24: Integration

  • :octicons-book-24:{ .lg .middle } API documentation


    The complete reference for basic_json and its member functions, types, and related classes, as well as for json_document and json_view.

    :octicons-arrow-right-24: API documentation

  • :octicons-question-24:{ .lg .middle } FAQ


    Answers to common questions and known surprises when using the library.

    :octicons-arrow-right-24: FAQ

  • :octicons-tag-24:{ .lg .middle } Releases


    What changed in each release, with links to the relevant documentation.

    :octicons-arrow-right-24: Releases

  • :octicons-people-24:{ .lg .middle } Community


    The ecosystem, contribution guidelines, governance, and quality assurance around the project.

    :octicons-arrow-right-24: Community

!!! info "Unreleased changes"

This documentation is built from the `develop` branch and may describe changes that are not part of a release
yet. Their version numbers are followed by an <span class="unreleased-version">unreleased</span> badge; see
[Releases](home/releases/index.md) for what shipped in each version.

The library is licensed under the MIT License. The source code, issue tracker, and discussions are on GitHub.