Create file with content if doesn't exist

Introduce a test for file's existence:

[ -f test.json ] || echo "{}" > test.json

[ -f test.json ] will check if the file exists and is a regular file. If the file does not exists (||), echo "{}" > test.json will be run.

json bash shell unix

echo '{}' >> test.json

Double arrow will append instead of overwriting the file.

Or if you mean to check file non existence before creation

if [ ! -f test.json ]; then  echo "{}" > test.jsonfi

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