Convert INI Sections to Nested JSON Objects

Sections as Nested Objects

INI sections, delimited by [section_name], map naturally to nested JSON objects. The section name becomes a key in the root object, and all key-value pairs within that section become properties of the nested object.

Example INI

[database]
host=127.0.0.1
port=5432
name=myapp_production

[redis]
host=127.0.0.1
port=6379
db=0

[logging]
level=info
file=/var/log/myapp.log

Generated JSON

{
  "database": {
    "host": "127.0.0.1",
    "port": 5432,
    "name": "myapp_production"
  },
  "redis": {
    "host": "127.0.0.1",
    "port": 6379,
    "db": 0
  },
  "logging": {
    "level": "info",
    "file": "/var/log/myapp.log"
  }
}

How Section Mapping Works

1. Each [section] header creates a new nested object in JSON
2. Key-value pairs following the header are placed inside that object
3. Keys before any section header go into the root object
4. Section names can contain letters, numbers, hyphens, underscores, and dots
5. Whitespace around section names is trimmed

Mixed Global and Section Keys

When an INI file has both global keys (before any section) and sections, the global keys remain at the root level alongside the section objects:

app_name=MyApp

[database]
host=localhost

Produces:

{
  "app_name": "MyApp",
  "database": {
    "host": "localhost"
  }
}