| Hi HN, In January, JSON Formatter (the 2M+ user Chrome extension) pushed an update that injected a "Give Freely" donation popup on checkout pages. Without warning.
Users thought they were being hacked. Hundreds of 1-star reviews followed overnight. I'd been wanting to build a better JSON viewer for a while. That was the signal.
3 months later: JSONVault Pro. What it does:
- Auto-detects and formats JSON, YAML and XML on any URL
- JWT auto-decode: eyJ... strings show the decoded payload inline — no more jwt.io
- Side-by-side diff with LCS engine (handles key-order, type coercion, null vs absent)
- JSONPath and JMESPath queries directly in the browser
- DevTools panel with network request capture
- Web Worker parsing for files up to 50MB
- 21 premium themes (Dracula, Catppuccin, Nord...)
- Zero tracking. Zero analytics. Data never leaves your machine. The free tier is genuinely useful — dark mode, collapsible tree, YAML/XML, search, sort, copy path, basic diff, DevTools panel. Not a crippled demo. Pro adds the power features: JWT decode, advanced diff, JSONPath, export (CSV/YAML/XML/TS), history, themes, virtual rendering for huge files. Chrome Web Store: https://chromewebstore.google.com/detail/ipghignebclihkckdpc...
Website: https://jsonvaultpro.com I'd love feedback on:
- The UX when switching between tree, code and raw views
- YAML/XML detection — does it catch your files reliably?
- Anything missing that would make you switch from your current tool |