# YAML support for the Go language
[](https://pkg.go.dev/github.com/goccy/go-yaml)
[](https://codecov.io/gh/goccy/go-yaml)
[](https://goreportcard.com/report/github.com/goccy/go-yaml)
# Why a new library?
As of this writing, there already exists a de facto standard library for YAML processing for Go: [https://github.com/go-yaml/yaml](https://github.com/go-yaml/yaml). However we feel that some features are lacking, namely:
- Pretty format for error notifications
- Direct manipulation of YAML abstract syntax tree
- Support for `Anchor` and `Alias` when marshaling
- Allow referencing elements declared in another file via anchors
# Features
- Pretty format for error notifications
- Supports `Scanner` or `Lexer` or `Parser` as public API
- Supports `Anchor` and `Alias` to Marshaler
- Allow referencing elements declared in another file via anchors
- Extract value or AST by YAMLPath ( YAMLPath is like a JSONPath )
# Installation
```sh
go get -u github.com/goccy/go-yaml
```
# Synopsis
## 1. Simple Encode/Decode
Has an interface like `go-yaml/yaml` using `reflect`
```go
var v struct {
A int
B string
}
v.A = 1
v.B = "hello"
bytes, err := yaml.Marshal(v)
if err != nil {
//...
}
fmt.Println(string(bytes)) // "a: 1\nb: hello\n"
```
```go
yml := `
%YAML 1.2
---
a: 1
b: c
`
var v struct {
A int
B string
}
if err := yaml.Unmarshal([]byte(yml), &v); err != nil {
//...
}
```
To control marshal/unmarshal behavior, you can use the `yaml` tag.
```go
yml := `---
foo: 1
bar: c
`
var v struct {
A int `yaml:"foo"`
B string `yaml:"bar"`
}
if err := yaml.Unmarshal([]byte(yml), &v); err != nil {
//...
}
```
For convenience, we also accept the `json` tag. Note that not all options from
the `json` tag will have significance when parsing YAML documents. If both
tags exist, `yaml` tag will take precedence.
```go
yml := `---
foo: 1
bar: c
`
var v struct {
A int `json:"foo"`
B string `json:"bar"`
}
if err := yaml.Unmarshal([]byte(yml), &v); err != nil {
//...
}
```
For custom marshal/unmarshaling, implement either `Bytes` or `Interface` variant of marshaler/unmarshaler. The difference is that while `BytesMarshaler`/`BytesUnmarshaler` behaves like [`encoding/json`](https://pkg.go.dev/encoding/json) and `InterfaceMarshaler`/`InterfaceUnmarshaler` behaves like [`gopkg.in/yaml.v2`](https://pkg.go.dev/gopkg.in/yaml.v2).
Semantically both are the same, but they differ in performance. Because indentation matters in YAML, you cannot simply accept a valid YAML fragment from a Marshaler, and expect it to work when it is attached to the parent container's serialized form. Therefore when we receive use the `BytesMarshaler`, which returns `[]byte`, we must decode it once to figure out how to make it work in the given context. If you use the `InterfaceMarshaler`, we can skip the decoding.
If you are repeatedly marshaling complex objects, the latter is always better
performance wise. But if you are, for example, just providing a choice between
a config file format that is read only once, the former is probably easier to
code.
## 2. Reference elements declared in another file
`testdata` directory contains `anchor.yml` file:
```shell
├── testdata
└── anchor.yml
```
And `anchor.yml` is defined as follows:
```yaml
a: &a
b: 1
c: hello
```
Then, if `yaml.ReferenceDirs("testdata")` option is passed to `yaml.Decoder`,
`Decoder` tries to find the anchor definition from YAML files the under `testdata` directory.
```go
buf := bytes.NewBufferString("a: *a\n")
dec := yaml.NewDecoder(buf, yaml.ReferenceDirs("testdata"))
var v struct {
A struct {
B int
C string
}
}
if err := dec.Decode(&v); err != nil {
//...
}
fmt.Printf("%+v\n", v) // {A:{B:1 C:hello}}
```
## 3. Encode with `Anchor` and `Alias`
### 3.1. Explicitly declared `Anchor` name and `Alias` name
If you want to use `anchor` or `alias`, you can define it as a struct tag.
```go
type T struct {
A int
B string
}
var v struct {
C *T `yaml:"c,anchor=x"`
D *T `yaml:"d,alias=x"`
}
v.C = &T{A: 1, B: "hello"}
v.D = v.C
bytes, err := yaml.Marshal(v)
if err != nil {
panic(err)
}
fmt.Println(string(bytes))
/*
c: &x
a: 1
b: hello
d: *x
*/
```
### 3.2. Implicitly declared `Anchor` and `Alias` names
If you do not explicitly declare the anchor name, the default behavior is to
use the equivalent of `strings.ToLower($FieldName)` as the name of the anchor.
If you do not explicitly declare the alias name AND the value is a pointer
to another element, we look up the anchor name by finding out which anchor
field the value is assigned to by looking up its pointer address.
```go
type T struct {
I int
S string
}
var v struct {
A *T `yaml:"a,anchor"`
B *T `yaml:"b,anchor"`
C *T `yaml:"c,alias"`
D *T `yaml:"d,alias"`
}
v.A = &T{I: 1, S: "hello"}
v.B = &T{I: 2, S: "world"}
v.C = v.A // C has same pointer address to A
v.D = v.B // D has same pointer address to B
bytes, err := yaml.Marshal(v)
if err != nil {
//...
}
fmt.Println(string(bytes))
/*
a: &a
i: 1
s: hello
b: &b
i: 2
s: world
c: *a
d: *b
*/
```
### 3.3 MergeKey and Alias
Merge key and alias ( `<<: *alias` ) can be used by embedding a structure with the `inline,alias` tag.
```go
type Person struct {
*Person `yaml:",omitempty,inline,alias"` // embed Person type for default value
Name string `yaml:",omitempty"`
Age int `yaml:",omitempty"`
}
defaultPerson := &Person{
Name: "John Smith",
Age: 20,
}
people := []*Person{
{
Person: defaultPerson, // assign default value
Name: "Ken", // override Name property
Age: 10, // override Age property
},
{
Person: defaultPerson, // assign default value only
},
}
var doc struct {
Default *Person `yaml:"default,anchor"`
People []*Person `yaml:"people"`
}
doc.Default = defaultPerson
doc.People = people
bytes, err := yaml.Marshal(doc)
if err != nil {
//...
}
fmt.Println(string(bytes))
/*
default: &default
name: John Smith
age: 20
people:
- <<: *default
name: Ken
age: 10
- <<: *default
*/
```
## 4. Pretty Formatted Errors
Error values produced during parsing have two extra features over regular
error values.
First, by default, they contain extra information on the location of the error
from the source YAML document, to make it easier to find the error location.
Second, the error messages can optionally be colorized.
If you would like to control exactly how the output looks like, consider
using `yaml.FormatError`, which accepts two boolean values to
control turning these features on or off.
## 5. Use YAMLPath
```go
yml := `
store:
book:
- author: john
price: 10
- author: ken
price: 12
bicycle:
color: red
price: 19.95
`
path, err := yaml.PathString("$.store.book[*].author")
if err != nil {
//...
}
var authors []string
if err := path.Read(strings.NewReader(yml), &authors); err != nil {
//...
}
fmt.Println(authors)
// [john ken]
```
### 5.1 Print customized error with YAML source code
```go
package main
import (
"fmt"
"github.com/goccy/go-yaml"
)
func main() {
yml := `
a: 1
b: "hello"
`
var v struct {
A int
B string
}
if err := yaml.Unmarshal([]byte(yml), &v); err != nil {
panic(err)
}
if v.A != 2 {
// output error with YAML source
path, err := yaml.PathString("$.a")
if err != nil {
panic(err)
}
source, err := path.AnnotateSource([]byte(yml), true)
if err != nil {
panic(err)
}
fmt.Printf("a value expected 2 but actual %d:\n%s\n", v.A, string(source))
}
}
```
output result is the following:
# Tools
## ycat
print yaml file with color
### Installation
```sh
go install github.com/goccy/go-yaml/cmd/ycat@latest
```
# Looking for Sponsors
I'm looking for sponsors this library. This library is being developed as a personal project in my spare time. If you want a quick response or problem resolution when using this library in your project, please register as a [sponsor](https://github.com/sponsors/goccy). I will cooperate as much as possible. Of course, this library is developed as an MIT license, so you can use it freely for free.
# License
MIT