How to convert JSON and CSV without broken rows

Use records, not arbitrary trees

CSV is a rectangular table. The cleanest JSON input is an array of objects with mostly consistent keys. Deeply nested data should be flattened intentionally or serialized inside a cell.

Respect CSV quoting

A production CSV parser must handle commas inside quoted fields, doubled quote escapes and line breaks inside cells. Splitting lines and commas manually fails on real exports.

• Treat the first row as headers when importing
• Preserve empty values
• Use UTF-8
• Review spreadsheet formula risks before sharing untrusted data

Validate the round trip

Convert a small representative sample in both directions and compare row counts, headers and special characters before processing a large dataset.