What INI syntax does this parser handle?

[section] headers, key=value and key: value assignment lines, and full-line comments starting with ; or #. Keys before the first section header are parsed into the top-level JSON object directly, matching how most INI parsers treat an implicit global section.

How deep does the section nesting go in the output?

One level: each [section] becomes a nested object at that key in the output, matching the flat structure INI itself uses. INI has no native syntax for a section within a section, so there's no deeper nesting to parse.

Are values type-converted, or does everything stay a string?

The parser recognizes true/false as booleans and numeric-looking values as numbers, converting them to their JSON equivalents; everything else is kept as a string, which is how most INI-consuming applications interpret values in practice.

What happens with a key that appears before any [section] header?

It's treated as belonging to an implicit global section and placed directly at the top level of the output JSON object, rather than being dropped or causing an error.

INI to JSON Converter - Convert INI Online

Overview

Introduction

Plenty of legacy tools, PHP's php.ini, Windows application settings, older game servers, still ship configuration as INI text, but modern tooling almost always wants JSON.

This tool parses that INI syntax directly into a JSON object so it can be consumed, diffed, or transformed with the rest of a JSON-based toolchain.

What Is INI to JSON Converter?

An INI parser that reads [section] headers, key=value (or key: value) assignment lines, and ;/# comments, and builds a JSON object where each section becomes a nested object and each key becomes a property inside it.

Keys that appear before any [section] header are treated as an implicit top-level section and placed directly on the root JSON object.

How INI to JSON Converter Works

The parser reads the INI text line by line, skipping blank lines and comment lines, and switches the "current object" pointer to a fresh nested object whenever it encounters a [section] header.

Every key=value or key: value line is assigned into whichever object is currently active, with true/false and numeric-looking values converted to their JSON types and everything else kept as a string.

When To Use INI to JSON Converter

Use it when you need to read a legacy application's INI config file from JavaScript/TypeScript code or any JSON-based pipeline.

It's also useful for quickly diffing two INI files by converting both to JSON first.

Often used alongside JSON to INI Converter, TOML to JSON Converter and Properties to JSON Converter.

Features

Advantages

Correctly separates an implicit global section from named [section] blocks.
Converts obvious booleans and numbers to their JSON types instead of leaving everything as strings.
Handles both ; and # comment styles, the two conventions different INI dialects use.

Limitations

Only one level of section nesting is supported, matching classic INI itself; there's no deeper nested-section syntax to parse.
INI has no native array syntax, so repeated keys or list-like values aren't automatically collected into a JSON array.

Examples

Section with typed values

Input

[db]
host = localhost
port = 5432

Output

{
  "db": {
    "host": "localhost",
    "port": 5432
  }
}

The [db] header opens a nested object, and the numeric-looking port value is converted to a JSON number.

Best Practices & Notes

Best Practices

Confirm whether your source INI uses = or : for assignment, this parser accepts both.
Check the output types for values that look numeric but are meant to stay strings (like a zero-padded ID) before relying on them downstream.
Use this before diffing two INI config files, JSON diff tools are far more readable than a raw INI text diff.

Developer Notes

Type coercion happens per-value with two lightweight checks, an exact match against "true"/"false" and a Number()-based numeric test, rather than a full INI type grammar, since real-world INI files rely on convention rather than a formal type system for their values.

INI to JSON Converter Use Cases

Reading a legacy php.ini or application settings file into a JSON-based build script
Diffing two versions of an INI config file by comparing their JSON representations
Migrating a legacy INI-based config to a JSON or YAML-based configuration system

Common Mistakes

Expecting a doubly-nested [section.subsection] style header to produce nested JSON objects; INI itself doesn't support that syntax.
Assuming a zero-padded numeric string (like "0042") stays a string; the type coercion may convert obviously numeric values.
Forgetting that repeated keys within a section aren't collected into an array, later occurrences simply overwrite earlier ones.

Tips

Use JSON to INI afterward to confirm the round trip preserves your data as expected.
For config files with deeper nesting than INI supports, consider whether the source is really TOML or YAML and use the matching converter instead.

INI to JSON Converter