Display curl output in readable JSON format in Unix shell script

A few solutions to choose from:

json_pp: command utility available in Linux systems for JSON decoding/encoding

echo '{"type":"Bar","id":"1","title":"Foo"}' | json_pp -json_opt pretty,canonical{   "id" : "1",   "title" : "Foo",   "type" : "Bar"}

You may want to keep the -json_opt pretty,canonical argument for predictable ordering.

jq: lightweight and flexible command-line JSON processor. It is written in portable C, and it has zero runtime dependencies.

echo '{"type":"Bar","id":"1","title":"Foo"}' | jq '.'{  "type": "Bar",  "id": "1",  "title": "Foo"}

The simplest jq program is the expression ., which takes the input and produces it unchanged as output.

For additinal jq options check the manual

with python:

echo '{"type":"Bar","id":"1","title":"Foo"}' | python -m json.tool{    "id": "1",    "title": "Foo",    "type": "Bar"}

with nodejs and bash:

echo '{"type":"Bar","id":"1","title":"Foo"}' | node -e "console.log( JSON.stringify( JSON.parse(require('fs').readFileSync(0) ), 0, 1 ))"{ "type": "Bar", "id": "1", "title": "Foo"}

I am guessing that you want to prettify the JSON output.That could be achieved using python:

curl http://localhost:8880/test.json | python -mjson.tool > out.json

This is to add to of Gilles' Answer. There are many ways to get this done but personally I prefer something lightweight, easy to remember and universally available (e.g. come with standard LTS installations of your preferred Linux flavor or easy to install) on common *nix systems.

Here are the options in their preferred order:

Python Json.tool module

echo '{"foo": "lorem", "bar": "ipsum"}' | python -mjson.tool

pros: almost available everywhere; cons: no color coding

jq (may require one time installation)

echo '{"foo": "lorem", "bar": "ipsum"}' | jq

cons: needs to install jq; pros: color coding and versatile

json_pp (available in Ubuntu 16.04 LTS)

echo '{"foo": "lorem", "bar": "ipsum"}' | json_pp

For Ruby users

gem install jsonprettyecho '{"foo": "lorem", "bar": "ipsum"}' | jsonpretty