JSONID
Description
Identification of JSON, YAML, and TOML document types.
Functionality
JSONID parses serialization/deserialization formats ("serde") such as JSON, YAML, and TOML to provide unambiguous identification. JSONID also introduces a declarative syntax for writing document type signatures to enable identification of specific serde document types. Key-value attributes can be shared across formats, and so signatures for JSON and YAML, for example, need only be written once.
Registry
As a temporary placeholder JSONID signatures are available in a registry. The long-term goal of this project is to enable other registries to delivery JSONID compatible signatures, e.g. PRONOM, Wikidata, and remove the need for a centralized resource like this.
Universal fingerprint
JSONID exports two universal fingerprints enabling the assertion of equivalence between different data objects. Universal Numerical Fingerprint (UNF) is also used in the Dataverse project. Content Identifiers (CIDs) come from the IPFS project and enable content-addressed storage within that ecosystem and others.
PRONOM signature development
JSONID provides a high-level language for output of PRONOM compatible signatures. The feature set is still in its BETA phase but JSONID provides two distinct capabilities:
Registry output
JSONID's registry can be output using the `--pronom` flag. A signature file will be created under `jsonid_pronom.xml` which can be imported into DROID for identification of document types registered with JSONID.
JSONID's registry is output alongisde a handful of baseline JSON signatures designed to capture "plain"-JSON that is not yet encoded in the registry.
Signature development
A standalone `json2pronom` utility is provided for creation of potentially robust DROID compatible signatures.
As a high-level language, signatures can be defined in easy to understand syntax and then output consistently via the `json2pronom` utility. Signatures include sensible defaults for whitespace and other aspects that are difficult for signature developers to consistently anticipate when writing JSON based signatures.
See the JSONID docs for more information.
User experiences
Development Activity
All development activity is visible on GitHub: https://github.com/ffdev-info/jsonid/commits
Release Feed
Below the last 3 release feeds:
- 2026-01-15 15:59:23
- [tag:github.com,2008:Repository/964720703/0.12.3 0.12.3]
- by github-actions[bot]
- 2026-01-04 23:05:32
- [tag:github.com,2008:Repository/964720703/0.12.2 0.12.2]
- by github-actions[bot]
- 2026-01-04 17:28:30
- [tag:github.com,2008:Repository/964720703/0.12.1 0.12.1]
- by github-actions[bot]
Activity Feed
Below the last 5 commits:
- 2026-01-15 20:02:58
- [tag:github.com,2008:Grit::Commit/2960de4943cbdbbf5243132985a46c0665c07856 Bump tox from 4.32.0 to 4.34.1]
- by dependabot https://github.com/dependabot
- 2026-01-15 17:23:48
- [tag:github.com,2008:Grit::Commit/39fecb99691cbdc7d8e018bc54fad106580270ce Add json2pronom instructions]
- by ross-spencer https://github.com/ross-spencer
- 2026-01-15 15:54:13
- [tag:github.com,2008:Grit::Commit/622eccc913f5868365f3fa0c2e20eec47304c3a8 Add more PRONOM helpers]
- by ross-spencer https://github.com/ross-spencer
- 2026-01-15 15:54:04
- [tag:github.com,2008:Grit::Commit/c210b72a3d6f528908aeccd2693c17e1ea3aabf5 Improve use of HasPriority in PRONOM export]
- by ross-spencer https://github.com/ross-spencer
- 2026-01-04 23:08:36
- [tag:github.com,2008:Grit::Commit/a689a1554e664f9ad66c6432814c58863c97083a Convert from Alpha status to Beta]
- by ross-spencer https://github.com/ross-spencer