XML to JSON Converter

About this tool

XML to JSON Converter turns XML into JSON in your browser using a consistent, attribute-aware mapping: element attributes go under an @attributes key, text content becomes a #text key, and repeated sibling elements become arrays. XML still powers SOAP APIs, RSS feeds, SVG files, Android resources, Maven POM files, and many legacy enterprise systems, and when you need that data in a JavaScript or Python application you need it as JSON. Converting by hand means dealing with attributes versus text nodes, self-closing tags, mixed content, namespaces, and CDATA sections, none of which map cleanly to JSON without a deliberate strategy. The result is a predictable, queryable structure you can work with immediately in JavaScript or jq.

Why use it

• Attribute-Aware Mapping: XML attributes are kept in an @attributes object on their element rather than being silently dropped. This gives you access to IDs, types, and namespace declarations that live in attributes.

• Repeated Element Arrays: Sibling elements with the same tag name are automatically grouped into a JSON array. This prevents the common mistake of losing data when multiple child elements share a tag and only the last one survives the conversion.

• CDATA Handling: CDATA sections that contain escaped HTML or other character data are extracted and placed as string values in the JSON. The CDATA wrapper is removed cleanly without exposing its syntax in the output.

• Namespace Aware: Prefixed element names such as soap:Body are kept as JSON keys, and xmlns declarations appear inside @attributes, so namespace-qualified elements from different vocabularies do not collide.

• Plain Strings for Simple Elements: An element that contains only text and has no attributes or children is written as a plain string rather than a {#text: '...'} wrapper object, producing cleaner JSON for simple XML documents.

• Browser-Local: Conversion runs entirely in your browser. SOAP request logs, Android resources, and legacy data exports never leave your machine or touch a server.

How to use

1. Paste your XML document or fragment into the XML input box
2. Leave 'Include attributes' checked to keep attributes under an @attributes key, or uncheck it to drop them
3. Leave 'Trim text nodes' checked to strip surrounding whitespace from text, or uncheck it to keep it
4. Click Convert to generate the JSON equivalent
5. Review the output to confirm attribute handling and text nodes match your needs
6. Click Copy and use the JSON with your JavaScript code, jq queries, or data pipeline

When it helps

• You are consuming a SOAP API and need to parse the XML envelope response in JavaScript
• You are processing an RSS or Atom feed and want a JSON structure you can iterate over
• You are migrating data from a legacy XML-based export to a modern JSON-based system
• You need to inspect an Android resource file or Maven POM as JSON in a query tool
• You received an XML response from a legacy enterprise API and need to feed it into a REST pipeline
• You want to use jq or JSONPath to query data that is currently locked in XML format

Examples

<user id="1"><name>Alice</name><role>admin</role></user>

{
  "user": {
    "@attributes": {
      "id": "1"
    },
    "name": "Alice",
    "role": "admin"
  }
}

<items><item>A</item><item>B</item><item>C</item></items>

{
  "items": {
    "item": [
      "A",
      "B",
      "C"
    ]
  }
}

<message><body><![CDATA[<b>Hello</b>]]></body></message>

{
  "message": {
    "body": "<b>Hello</b>"
  }
}

Tips

• After conversion, pipe the JSON through UtilityKit's JSON Formatter to validate structure and explore with folding.
• If repeated elements are not becoming arrays, check whether the input truly has sibling elements or whether they are wrapped in a parent container.
• Strip XML namespaces with a find-and-replace before converting if namespace prefixes create noisy key names in the output.
• For SOAP envelopes, navigate directly to the Body element after conversion rather than parsing the full envelope structure.
• Test the converter with a small representative sample before processing a large XML export to verify attribute and array handling.

Frequently Asked Questions

Glossary

XML element

The fundamental building block of XML, consisting of an opening tag, optional content and child elements, and a closing tag. Elements form the hierarchical structure of an XML document.

XML attribute

A name-value pair placed inside an element's opening tag that provides metadata about the element. Attributes are distinct from child elements and are preserved as @attr keys in the JSON output.

CDATA section

A special XML syntax (<![CDATA[...]]>) that tells parsers to treat the enclosed content as raw character data, not markup. Commonly used to embed HTML or other XML-like content without escaping.

Namespace

An XML mechanism for qualifying element and attribute names with a URI prefix to avoid naming collisions, typically written as prefix:localname. Used extensively in SOAP, XHTML, and SVG.

Mixed content

An XML element that contains both text and child elements. Mixed content requires special handling during conversion since JSON objects cannot natively represent an ordered mix of text and element nodes.

SOAP

Simple Object Access Protocol — an XML-based messaging protocol used in enterprise web services. SOAP responses are XML documents with a defined Envelope/Body structure.