The latest articles on DEV Community by clayexe (@clayexe). https://dev.to/clayexe https://media2.dev.to/dynamic/image/width=90,height=90,fit=cover,gravity=auto,format=auto/https:%2F%2Fdev-to-uploads.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com%2Fuploads%2Fuser%2Fprofile_image%2F4243487%2F4e17933b-41b5-46b6-91e0-0b40a568b99e.png https://dev.to/clayexe en clayexe Fri, 13 Nov 2026 19:01:58 +0000 https://dev.to/clayexe/fixing-broken-llm-json-outputs-hidden-unicode-characters-100-client-side-4com https://dev.to/clayexe/fixing-broken-llm-json-outputs-hidden-unicode-characters-100-client-side-4com <p>If you work with LLM APIs (OpenAI, Claude, Gemini) or legacy Python backends, you know the pain of broken JSON payloads: trailing commas, Python booleans (<code>True</code>/<code>False</code>/<code>None</code>), unescaped quotes, and invisible zero-width Unicode characters (<code>\u200B</code>) that silently break parsers in production.</p> <p>Most online JSON formatters require you to paste your payload into a web form that sends your data to their backend servers—which is a massive security risk when debugging production logs or customer data.</p> <p>To solve this, I built <strong><a href="https://data-sanitizer-pied.vercel.app" rel="noopener noreferrer">DataPurge</a></strong>, an instant data sanitizer and format converter that runs <strong>100% client-side</strong> in your browser with zero tracking or server uploads.</p> <h3> Key Features: </h3> <ul> <li> <strong><a href="https://data-sanitizer-pied.vercel.app/fix-llm-broken-json" rel="noopener noreferrer">LLM Broken JSON Repair</a>:</strong> Automatically strips markdown code blocks (<code></code>`<code>json</code>) and fixes malformed syntax from AI outputs.</li> <li> <strong><a href="https://data-sanitizer-pied.vercel.app/fix-python-dict-to-json" rel="noopener noreferrer">Python Dict to JSON Converter</a>:</strong> Converts single quotes and <code>True</code>/<code>False</code>/<code>None</code> values into valid JSON in one click.</li> <li> <strong><a href="https://data-sanitizer-pied.vercel.app/remove-zero-width-characters" rel="noopener noreferrer">Zero-Width Character Stripper</a>:</strong> Detects and removes hidden Unicode characters that cause silent syntax errors.</li> <li> <strong>Client-Side Format Conversion:</strong> Convert between YAML, CSV, XML, and JSON locally without data ever leaving your machine.</li> </ul> <p>Feel free to bookmark it for your daily debugging workflow or share feedback on what formats/repairs would be useful next!</p> webdev ai javascript privacy