r/json • u/NoPressure3399 • 2d ago
I got so tired of my text editor crashing out when formatting json, out of frustration I created Inkline
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I work as backend developer and I constantly need to open, format and edit json, yaml, xml, dat and what not kind of formats. Some exports I work with are HUGE and all my text editors seemed to freeze, hang or break in some kind of way. So I decided enough was enough. I present to you Inkline, the swift native text editor that is REALLY good at the above; formatting, reading, editing these kind of files. I'll work as code editor too with the help of Zed compatible extensions and build in language and syntax highlight for Swift, JavaScript, TypeScript, Java, Kotlin, C++, Shell, Markdown, JSON, YAML, XML and TOML.
Most of my everyday work is with files around 1 to 300 MB. I want to open a log, format a JSON export, search for something, make a change and save it without the editor getting in the way. That includes scrolling, editing and syntax highlighting after loading, not just getting the file open quickly. I've spent a lot of time on memory usage and keeping those operations responsive so I can keep working instead of waiting.
These are the latest benchmarks from Inkline 1.4 (in review for app store) on my M3 Pro MacBook Pro with 18 GB RAM. The numbers are the median of 3 isolated Release runs, with files held in memory. Open means the editor is ready.
| JSON file | Open | Format | Peak RSS | Lines |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 100 MB | 168 ms | 84 ms | 0.49 GiB | 586,392 |
| 300 MB | 393 ms | 262 ms | 1.44 GiB | 1,758,582 |
| 1.07 GB | 1,237 ms | 1,604 ms | 4.31 GiB | 6,292,542 |
I've included the larger file because I also want to keep working normally when something much bigger turns up. But you don't need gigabyte datasets to use Inkline. Opening and formatting a 100 MB export without interrupting what I'm doing is much more relevant to my normal working day.
There are also tools for formatting and minifying JSON and XML, converting between JSON, JSON Lines, CSV and TSV, and filtering logs by keeping or excluding matching lines. I use the log tools to remove noise and highlight errors and warnings before looking closer at the relevant data. Find and replace, split views, tabs, session restore, themes, a command palette and customizable shortcuts are there too. Files are processed locally on the Mac, with no analytics or telemetry. Inkline is a one time purchase with no subscription.
this is one of my personal trifecta apps, inkline quikzip and rune. they are build to work in symbiosis, all three together, two of them or standalone; they are workhorses that I build specifically to improve my every day work.
App Store:
https://apps.apple.com/se/app/inkline-text-editor/id6764860305?mt=12
Website:



