.ndjson

What is a .ndjson file?

NDJSON stores one JSON object per line — designed for streaming, logging, and processing large datasets incrementally.

Safe format
Type Data
By Open standard (community convention)
MIME application/x-ndjson

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What is it

NDJSON solves the problem of processing large JSON datasets without loading everything into memory. Instead of wrapping a million objects in a JSON array (which requires parsing the entire file), NDJSON puts one complete JSON object on each line. A processor reads one line, parses one object, processes it, and moves on. Memory usage stays constant regardless of file size.

The format is everywhere in backend systems: application logs, database exports, event streams, ETL pipelines, and data processing workflows. Docker logs are NDJSON. Many API bulk endpoints return NDJSON streams. Elasticsearch's bulk API expects NDJSON input.

The format has multiple names — NDJSON, JSON Lines (.jsonl), and line-delimited JSON are all the same thing: one valid JSON value per line, separated by newlines. The simplicity is the feature. Any language that can read a file line by line and parse JSON can process NDJSON, no special library needed.

Technical details
Full Name
Newline-Delimited JSON
MIME Type
application/x-ndjson
Developer
Open standard (community convention)
Magic Bytes
N/A
Safety
.ndjson is a known, safe format. Text data file. No executable content.
What opens it
Any text editor
FREE Windows / Mac / Linux
jq (command-line)
FREE Windows / Mac / Linux
VS Code
FREE Windows / Mac / Linux
FAQ
What's the difference between NDJSON and JSON?
Regular JSON wraps multiple items in an array: [{...}, {...}]. NDJSON puts one JSON object per line with no wrapping. NDJSON can be processed line-by-line without loading the entire file into memory.
Is NDJSON the same as JSON Lines?
Yes. NDJSON, JSON Lines (.jsonl), and line-delimited JSON are different names for the same format: one JSON value per line, separated by newlines.
Related formats