This is a tool to convert from HCL to json, to make it easier for non-go applications and scripts to process HCL inputs (such as terraform config).
If passed the -pack option, it converts to the JSON pack format used by
hclpack, which contains the original structure of the document. However,
all it has for expressions is the source text, which isn't always very useful.
If no options are passed, it converts the native HCL file to an (almost) equivalent HCL JSON file. Note, however, that there are some corner cases where it may not be exactly equivalent, especially if the target application makes use of static analysis.
At the time this project created, there weren't really any other object. However, the HCL project itself now includes an
hcldec command that can convert hcl to json if you give it a
specification. One advantage of hcl2json is it doesn't require a specification, so for use cases where the heuristics are correct
it may be easier to use. However, if you have cases hit the limitations of conversion listed above, hcldec is probably a
better fit.
Install with Homebrew:
brew install hcl2jsonhcl2json can also be installed via MacPorts:
sudo port install hcl2jsonPrebuilt binaries are available on the releases page. There is also a docker image on dockerhub.
Alternatively you can build from source (see next section).
You can build and install hcl2json using go get. Since hcl2json uses Go modules, you will need to run this as
GO11MODULE=on go get github.com/tmccombs/hcl2json.
Alternatively, you can clone and build the repository:
$ git clone https://github.com/tmccombs/hcl2json
$ cd hcl2json
$ go build
This will build an hcl2json executable in the directory.