As developers, we work with JSON constantly—API responses, config files, auth tokens, and logs. Over time, I found myself switching between multiple tools just to format JSON, compare responses, or decode JWTs.
So I built a small side project to simplify that.
The idea
The goal was simple:
- Run everything client-side
- Avoid uploading sensitive data
- Stay fast even with large JSON
- Keep the UI clean and predictable I wanted something I’d actually bookmark and use.
What the project includes
The site focuses on common JSON and API workflows:
- JSON Formatter & Validator
- JSON Diff
- JSON → TypeScript
- JSON Schema Generator
- JSONPath Tester
- JWT Decoder Everything runs in the browser, so data never leaves your machine.
🔗 Project: https://dtoolkits.com
Technical choices that mattered
- Client-side processing for privacy
- Web Workers to handle large JSON without blocking the UI
- Minimal UX over feature overload These decisions made the tools feel faster and more reliable.
Challenges along the way
- Safely handling invalid JSON
- Diffing structured data instead of plain text
- Promoting a new domain without getting flagged as spam
- Setting up SEO correctly on a fresh site Each challenge was a good learning experience.
What’s next
I’m continuing to refine performance, UX, and edge cases as people use the tools. The focus is on making a small set of tools that developers actually trust.
If you’re building dev tools, one lesson stood out:
Privacy and performance matter more than feature count.
Thanks for reading, and happy building 🚀
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