Dev Embers

Getting Started

Installation

Forja is a Chrome extension available on the Chrome Web Store:

  1. Visit the Forja listing on the Chrome Web Store
  2. Click Add to Chrome
  3. Confirm the installation when prompted

That’s it — no configuration needed. Forja activates automatically whenever you navigate to a JSON response.

How It Works

Forja detects JSON content in your browser through several methods:

  • Content-Type headers — Responses with application/json or any +json media type
  • File URLs — Any URL ending in .json
  • Content sniffing — Pages containing a single <pre> element that starts with { or [
  • JSONP — Automatically unwraps JSONP responses

When JSON is detected, Forja replaces the browser’s default plain-text view with an interactive viewer.

Your First JSON View

Navigate to any JSON API endpoint in your browser. You’ll see:

  1. A toolbar at the top showing the document summary (key count, depth)
  2. The tree view with collapsible nodes, syntax-colored values, and indent guides
  3. Action buttons for search, sort, copy, download, and theme switching

Expanding and Collapsing

  • Click the arrow next to any object or array to expand or collapse it
  • Use the collapse all / expand all button in the toolbar to toggle everything at once
  • Click a node to select it and see its full path in the breadcrumb bar

Copying Values

Right-click any node to access the context menu:

  • Copy Value — Copies the value of the selected node
  • Copy Subtree — Copies the entire subtree as formatted JSON
  • Copy JSON Path — Copies the path to the selected node (e.g., data.users[0].name)

What’s Next

  • Tree View & Querying — Learn about search, JSONata queries, and navigating large files
  • Settings — Customize theme, view mode, and sort preferences