OpenFn / OpenFn/lightning

Relax JSON strictness in the Dataclip editor

Open
#3,794 0 comments 0 reactions 0 assignees View on GitHub

Nobody has claimed this yet.

Dominant language
Elixir
Stars
296
Forks
86
Avg merge
1d 13h
Merged PRs (30d)
50

Description

Problem

The Dataclip editor currently requires strict JSON formatting, which slows down
quick edits and prototyping. Small syntax variations that are valid in JavaScript
(like unquoted keys or trailing commas) cause unnecessary friction.

Proposed Solution

Allow JavaScript object syntax in the editor:

  • Unquoted keys
  • Trailing commas
  • Single quotes
  • Comments

Example of what should be supported:

{
  name: 'John',
  age: 30,
  tags: ['dev', 'qa'],  // trailing comma OK
}

Instead of requiring:

{
  "name": "John",
  "age": 30,
  "tags": ["dev", "qa"]
}

Impact

Streamlines developer experience during rapid testing and iteration.

User Feedback

"I'd LOVE IT if it would let you write JavaScript objects, not pure JSON."
"There's no reason for us to be strict."

Contributor guide

No contributing guide indexed for this repository

First steps

  1. Read the whole issue, then the project's contributing guide.
  2. Comment on the issue to say you are picking it up — it saves two people doing the same work.
  3. Fork the repository and make your change on a branch.
  4. Open a pull request that references the issue number.

Research direction

Start by locating the Dataclip editor and the code that parses or validates its input. Check how editor values are converted before saving or execution, then identify existing tests for invalid JSON or Dataclip editing. Done means the editor accepts the listed JavaScript object syntax while preserving the expected Dataclip behavior.

Written by the indexing model from the issue text.

Assessment

Tech stack
javascript
Domain
developer-experience, frontend
Issue type
Feature
Difficulty
4/5
Estimated time
3-5 days
Activity status
Stale
Clarity
Mostly clear
Newbie friendliness
45/100

Get new issues in your inbox

A short digest of beginner-friendly GitHub issues.