Use JavaScript Object Notation (JSON) output for scripting and automation when building applications with nRF Util functionality.
nRF Util supports JSON output through the command line flag --json.
This structures the data in a way that can be parsed by JSON parsers, available in
many programming and scripting languages.
Data from nRF Util is communicated as a sequence of JSON messages. Each message is encoded as a single JSON object on a single line. All messages follow a common format:
{"type":[task_begin|task_end|task_progress|info|log]
"data": { ... }}
nrfutil
device, run nrfutil device --help-extended.task_begin: Indicates that a task with progress status updates
has started. task_end: Indicates that a task has ended.task_progress: Indicates a progress update to a task. info: Indicates a general info message containing arbitrary data. log: Indicates a log message, emitted when `--log-output=stdout` is
supplied.The task_* messages correspond to the progress bars and progress
spinners rendered when not using the --json flag and are used to
indicate that a long-running task is in progress.
The info message is used to convey general information. For
example, nrfutil search --json uses the info
message to convey the list of installable commands in JSON, and nrfutil
device list --json uses the info message to list
device information in JSON. To output the data payload only, add the flag
--skip-overhead.
The main data payload in the JSON messages is contained within the `data` field. The task messages share some common fields across different contexts. The fields for the `info` messages vary from context to context. Investigate the fields manually when building applications on top of the JSON messages.
Standard semantic versioning guarantees are given for the JSON output formats across the different commands. Releases of the commands within the same major version number have backwards-compatible JSON messages.