# JDF

A JSON-based document format that renders like a PDF, diffs cleanly in git and edits in any text editor, aimed at documents that software agents read and write as often as people do.

JDF is a JSON document format built as an alternative to PDF for an era when software, not only people, reads and writes documents. Opening a .jdf file in a plain text editor shows its JSON source directly; opening the same file in the project's own reader renders it as a page, and edits made on either side are reflected on the other. A document with embedded assets such as images or fonts ships as a zip bundle around the same JSON, so it still travels as one self-contained file.

Because the format is JSON, ordinary tools work on it without a plugin: text search and command-line utilities work directly on a document, a JSON Schema validates its structure and powers editor autocomplete, and generating a document is a matter of producing JSON. The project ships as three pieces: a native desktop reader for macOS and Windows that can import PDF and Markdown and export PDF, a JavaScript library for embedding a document on a web page, and a command-line tool that validates files, converts between PDF, JSON and Markdown, and chunks and embeds a document for retrieval-augmented generation.

Website: https://jdf.dev