Work with JSON configuration

JSON is a text format

JSON describes objects, arrays, strings, numbers, Booleans, and null values. Use ConvertFrom-Json to turn JSON text into PowerShell data:

$config = Get-Content './config.json' -Raw | ConvertFrom-Json
$config.Name

-Raw reads the whole document as one string. That is useful for a structured document spread over multiple lines.

Make a targeted change

$config.RetryCount = 4
$config | ConvertTo-Json -Depth 10 | Set-Content './updated.json'

Convert back to JSON only after you have changed the object. The -Depth parameter controls how deeply nested objects are serialised. Choose a depth sufficient for your data and pay attention to truncation warnings.

The JSON in this lesson is a local fixture, not a live API response. The same conversion commands are useful when processing downloaded data on your own machine.

When editing configuration, preserve properties unrelated to your change. Reconstructing a whole document from only the field you care about can accidentally discard important settings.