TOML Beautifier

About the TOML Beautifier

TOML (Tom's Obvious, Minimal Language) is a configuration format built around key = value lines. It is easy to write, which also means it is easy to write inconsistently: port=8080 on one line, host = "0.0.0.0" on the next, headers like [ server ] with stray spaces. The TOML Beautifier tidies that layout line by line: one space on each side of the first equals sign, clean table headers, a blank line before each table, and indented multi-line arrays.

It does not parse your file into data and rebuild it. Every key, value, comment and table stays where you wrote it, so it is safe for real project files with tables, arrays of tables and inline tables. The trade-off is that it is a formatter, not a full validator; the sections below explain exactly what it checks.

What gets normalised

Here is a messy but valid TOML file:

# server
name="app"
[ server ]
host   =   "0.0.0.0"  # bind
  port=8080
[[ products ]]
tags=["a","b"]

After Process Code in Beautify mode:

# server
name = "app"
 
[server]
host = "0.0.0.0" # bind
port = 8080
 
[[products]]
tags = ["a","b"]

Keys, values, comments and order are unchanged. Spacing around the equals sign is normalised, leading indentation on top-level lines is removed, spaces inside the header brackets are trimmed, a blank line is placed before each table header, and an end-of-line comment is separated from the code by one space. Notice that ["a","b"] is left as written: values on a single line are not reformatted.

Where the tool works well, and where it does not

That makes it suitable for files such as Cargo.toml, pyproject.toml, netlify.toml or Hugo's config.toml. It is still good practice to compare the output with your input before replacing a file, especially the first time you use it.

How it runs

Formatting happens on the site's server. When you press Process Code, the page sends the editor contents, the chosen mode and the language to a PHP endpoint, which runs a line-based TOML formatter over the text and returns the result to the page; the code does not store it. The endpoint accepts up to 200,000 characters.

The URL Input tab also uses the server: it fetches the address you enter and loads the response text into the editor, cut off at 200,000 characters if the file is larger. Only use it with public, direct links to a raw TOML file.

Screen layout and controls

• Mode: Minify or Beautify. Beautify is selected on this page. Minify removes comments, blank lines and leading and trailing spaces, but keeps one statement per line and leaves multi-line strings untouched, because TOML needs its line breaks.
• Language: preset to TOML. The same formatter component also supports HTML, CSS, JavaScript, SQL, XML, JSON, PHP, YAML, INI, CSV and .env; changing it switches the formatter used on the server.
• Process Code runs the formatter; Clear empties the URL field, both editors and the counters.
• URL Input tab: Paste URL field with Paste and Submit buttons.
• Manual Code tab: the Input Code editor with its own Paste button.
• Output: the result, with Copy and Download. The download is named after the mode and language, for example beautify-output.toml.
• Badges under the output show the language, the mode, and the input and output character counts.

Step by step

1. Choose the Manual Code tab and paste your TOML into Input Code, or stay on URL Input, paste a direct link to a raw .toml file and press Submit. The file loads into the editor and the tab switches to Manual Code.
2. Check that Language shows TOML and Mode shows Beautify.
3. Press Process Code.
4. If an error appears, read it. It names the line for an unterminated string or a line without =, or reports an unterminated multi-line string or unbalanced brackets. Fix the input and run again.
5. Compare the output with your input before you replace the original file.
6. Press Copy or Download.

Sensible uses

• Tidying project manifests such as Cargo.toml and pyproject.toml before committing, without losing comments or key order.
• Cleaning up pasted snippets whose indentation and spacing came from different sources.
• Laying out long arrays: split an array over several lines and the formatter indents the items consistently.
• Stripping comments for a compact copy with Minify, for example before embedding a config in documentation or a test fixture.

What not to do

• Do not treat a successful run as proof that the file is valid TOML. Duplicate keys, wrong value types and malformed values are not checked.
• Do not use Minify on a file you want to keep documented; it removes every comment.
• Do not paste secrets. API keys and passwords in a config file are sent to the server for formatting.
• Do not expect single-line arrays or inline tables to be re-spaced; values on one line are left as written.

Limitations

• Formatting is line-based; it does not validate duplicate keys, value types or header names.
• Spacing inside single-line values, arrays and inline tables is not changed.
• Minify keeps line breaks and only removes comments, blank lines and surrounding spaces.
• Maximum input of 200,000 characters per request; URL loads are truncated at the same length.
• The URL loader needs a publicly reachable, direct file link and returns whatever text that address serves.

Frequently Asked Questions