jout

Jout reimplements classic Unix utilities with JSON output by design. Use jout ls, jout ps, etc., and receive stable, well-defined JSON that’s safe for scripts, logs, and APIs.

• Familiar subcommands (ls, ps, …)
• Stable, documented schemas
• ISO 8601 times, byte-accurate sizes
• Works great with fx and jq

# Files as JSON
jout ls /var/log

# Processes as JSON
jout ps --user "$USER"

Tools

• ls
  • Linux
  • Mac
  • Windows
• ps
  • Linux
  • Mac
  • Windows
• top
• pstree
• ping
• traceroute
• nslookup
• dig
• host
• whois
• ifconfig
• iwconfig
• route
• arp
• ss
• hostname
• mtr
• df
• du

Versioning policy

• We do not ship breaking changes; public behavior and JSON schemas remain backward-compatible.
• From v1.0 onward, JSON schemas are stable: no breaking changes within 1.x (additive changes only).

Timeline

v0.x (pre-1.0)

Focus: Build out features and stabilize schemas.
Key work:

• Expand command set.
• Iterate on and validate JSON schemas.
• Improve docs, and tooling.

v1.0 (2026)

Milestone: JSON schema freeze and stability commitment.
Outcome: Applications built against 1.0 schemas continue to work across all 1.x releases.

v1.x (2026+)

Guarantees:

• No breaking changes to JSON schemas.
• Backward-compatible, additive enhancements (new optional fields/commands, non-breaking defaults).

License

MIT