BaFi

Convert JSON, XML, CSV, YAML, BSON and MT940 into any text format with templates.

bafi reads structured data from a file or a pipe and renders it through a template into whatever text the next system needs: JSON, XML, CSV, HTML, SQL, a SOAP request. One small program without dependencies for Windows, macOS and Linux.

Install · Recipes · Function reference · Troubleshooting · GitHub

What do you want to do?

All recipes

In thirty seconds

{"users": [{"name": "Alice", "city": "Prague"}, {"name": "Bob", "city": "Brno"}]}

Convert the whole document with one function:

bafi -i users.json -t '?{{toYAML .}}'

users:
    - city: Prague
      name: Alice
    - city: Brno
      name: Bob

Or describe the output yourself. Text outside {{ }} is copied as it is; range repeats a block for every item:

bafi -i users.json -t '?{{range .users}}{{.name}} lives in {{upper .city}}{{"\n"}}{{end}}'

Alice lives in PRAGUE
Bob lives in BRNO

Works in pipes too: curl -fs https://example.com/api/users | bafi -f json -t report.tmpl -o report.html. Next: the template guide and the command line.

Try it online

Runs entirely in your browser; nothing is uploaded. The demo (a few megabytes) loads on the first click.

Why bafi

• Many inputs: JSON, BSON, YAML, CSV (any delimiter), XML and MT940 bank statements, from a file or standard input.
• Any output: the template decides. HTML, SQL, shell scripts, SOAP envelopes, fixed-width text.
• Pipes: read from curl, write to the next command. Bridges REST and SOAP services, databases and spreadsheets.
• Several inputs at once: merge files of different formats into one output.
• Helpful errors: problems are reported with the file, line and column, and a hint how to fix them.
• Extensible: 60+ template functions, plus your own in Lua.
• TOON and OpenAI: encode data compactly for LLM prompts, or ask OpenAI about your data (experimental).

If you like this app you can buy me a coffee ;)