JSON Canvas
Shares rank 3 of 5 file formats by recommenders
People recommend its simple, open JSON file format, which is easy to read and implement, suits interactive content and can be built on. Some critics doubt its practical use beyond Obsidian.
People recommend its simple, open JSON file format, which is easy to read and implement, suits interactive content and can be built on. Some critics doubt its practical use beyond Obsidian.
10 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 7
- criticize it
- 3
- approval share
- 70%
Recommended in 2 of 13 months
- November 2025: not recommended
- December 2025: not recommended
- January 2026: not recommended
- February 2026: not recommended
- March 2026: not recommended
- April 2026: recommended
- May 2026: not recommended
- June 2026: recommended
- July 2026: not recommended
- August 2026: not recommended
- September 2026: not recommended
- October 2026: not recommended
- November 2026: not recommended (month in progress)
Why it doesn’t carry the badge
- 7 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, not met.
- 2.3 recommenders for every criticNeeds 2 to 1 or better, met.
- Recommended in 2 of 13 monthsNeeds 4 or more, not met.
The same three rules apply to every product, and the badge can’t be bought. How the badge works
What people say about it
The reasons people give, with the number of comments that give each one. Open a reason to read what they said.
Why people recommend it
Each mark is one comment
Simple, easy to read and implement
“It's good, not great, but the simplicity of the file type opens up a lot of opportunities to build on top of it.”
Comment from 2 Apr 2026 in “JSON Canvas Spec” “JSON Canvas nails the simplicity — it's easy to read and easy to implement.”
Comment from 2 Apr 2026 in “JSON Canvas Spec” Clear benefit for interactive content
“for interactive content the additional sematic layer of JSON Canvas has a clear benefit”
Comment from 3 Apr 2026 in “JSON Canvas Spec” “It's interactive, for starters.”
Comment from 2 Apr 2026 in “JSON Canvas Spec” Flexible, more specific tool
“JSON Canvas is a more specific tool.”
Comment from 3 Apr 2026 in “JSON Canvas Spec” “this seems a little more flexible”
Comment from 2 Apr 2026 in “JSON Canvas Spec”
Other file formats people recommend
The four most recommended other file formats, with the same counts for each, so you can compare like for like. The tick on each bar marks the 2 to 1 line the badge needs.
| Product | Recommend | Criticize | Approval | Months | Owned | Badge |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apache Parquet | 40 | 17 | 70% | 12 | — | Approved |
| Gwtar | 10 | 7 | 59% | 1 | — | — |
| JSON CanvasThis page | 7 | 3 | 70% | 2 | — | — |
| Safetensors | 7 | 2 | 78% | 4 | — | — |
| F3 file format | 6 | 5 | 55% | 2 | — | — |
What people said
All 12 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“I hope JSON Canvas catches on”
“JSON Canvas is a more specific tool.”
“for interactive content the additional sematic layer of JSON Canvas has a clear benefit”
“I couldn't really make any use of it even in Obsidian, let alone as a stand-alone spec for… for what?”
“It's a reinvention of SVG with all the same problems.”
“It's interactive, for starters.”
“I really value the open format and being able to keep the file.”
“JSON Canvas nails the simplicity — it's easy to read and easy to implement.”
“Perhaps the home page is more useful than the spec to explain the purpose of the file format”
“It's good, not great, but the simplicity of the file type opens up a lot of opportunities to build on top of it.”
“I sort of doubt this is the best data structure for representing this kind of thing.”
“this seems a little more flexible”
Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.