Forge Json

API JSON Diff

Compare API JSON responses from staging, production, webhooks, or vendor SDKs and catch contract drift before consumers break.

Paste your JSON → Get results instantly (no signup)

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Try examples:

→ Compare these JSON inputs and return a report of changed, added, and removed fi...

{
"plan": "pro",
"features": {
"aiDraft": true,
"history": true,
"apiAccess": true
},
"limits": {
"documents": 100
}
}
Output✓
1{
2  "changed": [
3    {
4      "kind": "changed",
5      "path": "plan",
6      "before": "starter",
7      "after": "pro"
8    },
9    {
10      "kind": "changed",
11      "path": "features.aiDraft",
12      "before": false,
13      "after": true
14    },
15    {
16      "kind": "changed",
17      "path": "limits.documents",
18      "before": 10,
19      "after": 100
20    }
21  ],
22  "added": [
23    {
24      "kind": "added",
25      "path": "features.apiAccess",
26      "value": true
27    }
28  ],
29  "removed": [
30    {
31      "kind": "removed",
32      "path": "features.legacyExport",
33      "value": true
34    }
35  ]
36}

Love the result?

Use this exact pipeline in your app, backend, or LLM workflow.

No setup needed. Works with curl, Node, Python.

Uses example data. For edited input, copy from the playground.

Read integration guide

Works with:

  • REST API responses
  • Webhook event bodies
  • SDK output snapshots
  • Staging vs production checks

Example: input → output

API JSON diff

An API JSON diff compares two API responses and shows exactly what changed by path. Use it when a REST endpoint, GraphQL response, webhook body, or vendor SDK payload changes between releases, environments, customers, or repeated pulls.

This page is focused on API response diff intent. It uses the same comparison engine as the JSON diff tool, but the examples and workflow focus on contract drift and response debugging.

How to compare API JSON responses

Paste the known-good API response into the baseline side. Paste the new response from staging, production, a webhook replay, or a vendor SDK into the updated side. Run the comparison and review changed values, added fields, removed keys, and unexpected nested objects.

Before comparing, remove unstable values such as request IDs, timestamps, signatures, and trace IDs when they are not part of the contract you want to review.

API JSON diff example

If customer.plan changes from starter to pro, the diff should report that path. If features.apiAccess appears in the new response, it should be listed as an added field. If event.type disappears from a webhook body, the report should make that removal obvious before a handler breaks.

Common use cases

  • Debug API changes after deployments.
  • Compare staging and production responses.
  • Review webhook payload changes.
  • Check vendor SDK output between versions.
  • Validate response transformations before export.

Why API JSON diff matters

APIs can stay valid JSON while breaking consumers. A field can change type, an enum can change value, or a required nested object can disappear. A structured API JSON diff gives teams a reviewable checklist of those changes.

Related tools

Related comparisons

Read more on the blog

Advanced usage (optional)

JSON Diff / Change Report

v1.0.0
Compare
objectarray

Description

JSON Diff / Change Report

Compare two JSON inputs and output a structured report or focused diff subset. Accepts a primary input (the new JSON) and secondary input (the old JSON), then shows what changed, was added, or was removed between them.

How It Works

This utility requires two inputs — primary (the "new" version) and secondary (the "old" version). It performs a deep comparison and outputs results based on the selected mode.

Diff Modes

Report

Return a structured report with changed, added, and removed arrays. Entries include dot paths, kind, and either before/after values or the added/removed value.

Changed Only

Return the subset of the new JSON that differs from the old JSON. Modified and added fields are included; removed fields are excluded because they do not exist in the new JSON.

Added Only

Show only fields that exist in the primary input but not in the secondary. Useful for detecting new additions.

Removed Only

Show only fields that exist in the secondary input but not in the primary. Useful for detecting deletions.

Full Annotated

Show all fields with _diff_ markers indicating their status: "unchanged", "changed", "added", or "removed". Provides a complete picture of all differences.

Configuration

FieldTypeDefaultDescription
Diff Modeenumreportreport, changed-only, added-only, removed-only, or full-annotated

Use Cases

Version Comparison

  • Config changes: Compare two versions of a configuration file to see what changed
  • API responses: Diff API responses before and after a deployment
  • Schema evolution: Identify added or removed fields between schema versions

Data Validation

  • Migration verification: Compare source and target data after migration
  • Sync detection: Find out-of-sync records between two data sources
  • Audit trail: Track exactly which fields were modified in an update

Debugging

  • State inspection: Compare application state before and after an action
  • Response diffing: Compare expected vs. actual API responses
  • Regression detection: Identify unexpected changes in output data

Configuration

NameTypeDefaultDescription
Diff Modeenumreportreport: return changed, added, and removed entries with paths. changed-only: show the new JSON subset with modified and added values. added-only: show only new keys. removed-only: show only deleted keys. full-annotated: show all with _diff markers. report changed-only added-only removed-only full-annotated

Examples

AI Prompt
Compare these JSON inputs and return a report of changed, added, and removed fields.
{
"plan": "pro",
"features": {
"aiDraft": true,
"history": true,
"apiAccess": true
},
"limits": {
"documents": 100
}
}
Output✓
1{
2  "changed": [
3    {
4      "kind": "changed",
5      "path": "plan",
6      "before": "starter",
7      "after": "pro"
8    },
9    {
10      "kind": "changed",
11      "path": "features.aiDraft",
12      "before": false,
13      "after": true
14    },
15    {
16      "kind": "changed",
17      "path": "limits.documents",
18      "before": 10,
19      "after": 100
20    }
21  ],
22  "added": [
23    {
24      "kind": "added",
25      "path": "features.apiAccess",
26      "value": true
27    }
28  ],
29  "removed": [
30    {
31      "kind": "removed",
32      "path": "features.legacyExport",
33      "value": true
34    }
35  ]
36}
Config
Diff Mode
report

API Usage

POST /api/v1/utilities/compare.json-diff
Example:
curl -X POST https://your-domain.com/api/v1/utilities/compare.json-diff \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_API_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"inputs":{"primary":{"plan":"pro","features":{"aiDraft":true,"history":true,"apiAccess":true},"limits":{"documents":100}},"secondary":{"plan":"starter","features":{"aiDraft":false,"history":true,"legacyExport":true},"limits":{"documents":10}}},"config":{"mode":"report"}}'
Response
1{
2  "changed": [
3    {
4      "kind": "changed",
5      "path": "plan",
6      "before": "starter",
7      "after": "pro"
8    },
9    {
10      "kind": "changed",
11      "path": "features.aiDraft",
12      "before": false,
13      "after": true
14    },
15    {
16      "kind": "changed",
17      "path": "limits.documents",
18      "before": 10,
19      "after": 100
20    }
21  ],
22  "added": [
23    {
24      "kind": "added",
25      "path": "features.apiAccess",
26      "value": true
27    }
28  ],
29  "removed": [
30    {
31      "kind": "removed",
32      "path": "features.legacyExport",
33      "value": true
34    }
35  ]
36}