YAML Formatter & Beautifier

What is YAML Formatter & Beautifier?

Paste YAML and get it reformatted with clean, consistent indentation instantly. Useful for cleaning up a hand-edited config file or normalizing YAML from different sources. YAML is whitespace-sensitive, so inconsistent indentation from copy-pasting between files (like a Docker Compose file or a CI pipeline config) is a common source of confusing parse errors. Formatting runs entirely in your browser as you type, and the tool surfaces the parser's real error message if the YAML isn't valid to begin with.

How to Use the YAML Formatter

1. 1

   Paste the YAML: Enter YAML with inconsistent indentation, such as a Docker Compose or CI config file.

2. 2

   Choose Indent Width: Pick 2 or 4 spaces.

3. 3

   Read the Formatted Result Instantly: The re-indented, validated output appears automatically as you type.

4. 4

   Copy the Result: Use the copy button to copy the formatted YAML.

How It Works

Your YAML is parsed into its underlying structure of mappings, sequences, and scalar values, then re-serialized with a consistent indentation width (2 or 4 spaces) at every nesting level. Since YAML uses indentation itself to express structure, this normalizes files that have picked up mismatched indent widths from being edited in different tools or pasted together from different sources. If parsing fails, the parser's own error message is shown instead of silently producing bad output.

Example

app:
   name: myapp
   settings:
       debug: true
       port: 8080

app:
  name: myapp
  settings:
    debug: true
    port: 8080

The mismatched 3- and 7-space indentation is normalized to a consistent 2 spaces per nesting level.

Common Use Cases

Cleaning up a hand-edited CI/CD pipeline file or Docker Compose config that's accumulated inconsistent indentation over time, a common source of confusing YAML parse errors since indentation isn't just cosmetic here.