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How to Format CBOR - Step by Step Guide

Step 1

Input Your CBOR Diagnostic Notation

Paste your unformatted or compressed CBOR diagnostic notation into the editor! CBOR diagnostic notation is a human-readable text format similar to JSON that represents CBOR data structures, perfect for debugging, documentation, and understanding complex binary protocols:

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Paste directly: Copy minified or poorly-formatted CBOR diagnostic notation from your debugger, protocol analyzer, documentation, or code comments and paste it into the input editor
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Upload a file: Click "Upload" to select a .txt or .cbor diagnostic notation file from your computer for batch formatting of multiple structures
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Try the sample: Click "Sample" to load example CBOR diagnostic notation (featuring "Maeve") and see the automatic formatting in action
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JSON-like syntax: CBOR diagnostic notation uses familiar JSON syntax, making it easy to read and understand even without CBOR expertise
Step 2

Automatic Beautification & Formatting

Watch the magic happen instantly! As soon as you input CBOR diagnostic notation, the formatter automatically beautifies and structures your data for maximum readability and comprehension:

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Adds proper indentation: Creates beautiful 2-space indentation that makes nested objects, arrays, and complex CBOR structures easy to understand at a glance
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Improves readability: Transforms compressed single-line notation into multi-line pretty-printed format that's perfect for code reviews, documentation, and debugging sessions
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Validates syntax: Checks for structural issues, mismatched brackets, invalid tokens, and other common errors while formatting
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Real-time processing: See your formatted output update instantly as you type or paste, with automatic re-formatting on every change
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Preserves data integrity: Formatting only changes whitespace and indentation - your actual CBOR data structure and values remain completely unchanged
Step 3

Review Formatted Output

Examine your beautifully formatted CBOR diagnostic notation! The output is optimized for human readability while maintaining perfect structural accuracy:

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Clear structure: Nested levels are visually distinct with consistent indentation, making complex hierarchies easy to navigate mentally
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Easy debugging: Spot data structure issues, missing fields, incorrect nesting, and type mismatches quickly with the improved formatting
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Documentation-ready: Perfect format for including in technical documentation, API specifications, protocol descriptions, and code comments
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Syntax highlighting: The editor provides color-coded display that makes different elements (keys, values, brackets) stand out visually
Step 4

Copy or Download Formatted Output

Export your perfectly formatted CBOR diagnostic notation for use in your projects, documentation, code reviews, or team collaboration:

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Copy to clipboard: One-click copying for quick pasting into your code editor, documentation tools, code comments, or team chat
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Download as file: Save as a .txt file for version control, sharing with colleagues, archiving, or including in project documentation
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Use in documentation: Perfect for README files, API docs, protocol specifications, and technical guides where human-readable CBOR examples are needed
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Further processing: Use with other CBOR tools like CBOR to JSON or CBOR Validator for additional analysis

Frequently Asked Questions

What is CBOR diagnostic notation?

CBOR diagnostic notation is a human-readable text representation of CBOR data structures, defined in RFC 8949 Appendix G. It uses JSON-like syntax to represent CBOR binary data in a way that humans can easily read, understand, and document. It's commonly used for debugging CBOR protocols, writing technical documentation, test cases, protocol specifications, and explaining CBOR data structures in educational materials. While it looks similar to JSON, diagnostic notation can represent CBOR-specific features like tags, indefinite-length arrays, and binary strings that JSON doesn't support.

Does formatting change my CBOR data?

Absolutely not! Formatting only changes whitespace (spaces, tabs, newlines) and indentation for better human readability. The actual data structure, field names, values, nesting hierarchy, data types, and semantic meaning remain 100% unchanged. Think of it like reformatting a Word document - the content stays identical, just the presentation improves. Your CBOR diagnostic notation maintains perfect structural and semantic equivalence before and after formatting. You can format and re-format unlimited times without any data loss or corruption.

Can I format large CBOR structures?

Yes! The formatter handles large, deeply-nested CBOR diagnostic notation efficiently, even structures with hundreds of nested levels or thousands of fields. The tool uses optimized formatting algorithms that maintain smooth browser performance regardless of data size. There's no artificial size limit - only your device's available memory. Larger structures may take a moment to format, but the process is still very fast. Use this for complex protocol messages, large configuration files, complete API responses, or extensive data structures from IoT systems.

Is this different from a JSON formatter?

Yes and no! CBOR diagnostic notation syntax is very similar to JSON (both use curly braces, square brackets, and similar notation), so basic JSON formatting techniques work. However, CBOR diagnostic notation supports additional syntax for CBOR-specific features like tagged values, indefinite-length collections, binary strings (represented as h'...' or b64'...'), and undefined values. This formatter understands standard JSON-like CBOR notation. For pure JSON formatting, use our dedicated JSON Formatter tool instead.

Why is formatting CBOR diagnostic notation useful?

Formatting makes CBOR structures dramatically easier to understand, debug, and document. When working with complex IoT protocols, embedded system configurations, or binary message formats, well-formatted diagnostic notation helps you quickly identify structure issues, spot missing fields, understand data hierarchies, explain protocols to colleagues, write technical documentation, create test cases, and debug communication problems. It's especially valuable in code reviews, protocol design discussions, debugging sessions, and when onboarding new team members to CBOR-based systems. Clean formatting can turn incomprehensible compressed notation into crystal-clear, self-documenting data structures.

Is the CBOR formatter free?

Yes, completely free with unlimited formatting forever! No registration, accounts, usage limits, file size restrictions (beyond device memory), or premium features locked behind paywalls. Just visit and start formatting immediately. All formatting happens locally in your browser using JavaScript - your CBOR diagnostic notation never leaves your device, gets uploaded to servers, or stored anywhere. This ensures maximum privacy, security, and GDPR compliance. Perfect for confidential protocols, proprietary data formats, and sensitive configurations. Works offline once loaded.

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