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pybind11_json

pybind11_json is an nlohmann::json to pybind11 bridge, it allows you to automatically convert nlohmann::json to py::object and the other way around. Simply include the header, and the automatic conversion will be enabled.

[!TIP] Looking for an equivalent with nanobind? Check this out https://github.com/ianhbell/nanobind_json !

C++ API: Automatic conversion between nlohmann::json and pybind11 Python objects

#include "pybind11_json/pybind11_json.hpp"

#include "nlohmann/json.hpp"

#include "pybind11/pybind11.h"

namespace py = pybind11;
namespace nl = nlohmann;
using namespace pybind11::literals;

py::dict obj = py::dict("number"_a=1234, "hello"_a="world");

// Automatic py::dict->nl::json conversion
nl::json j = obj;

// Automatic nl::json->py::object conversion
py::object result1 = j;
// Automatic nl::json->py::dict conversion
py::dict result2 = j;

Making bindings

You can easily make bindings for C++ classes/functions that make use of nlohmann::json.

For example, making a binding for the following two functions is automatic, thanks to pybind11_json

void take_json(const nlohmann::json& json) {
    std::cout << "This function took an nlohmann::json instance as argument: " << s << std::endl;
}

nlohmann::json return_json() {
    nlohmann::json j = {{"value", 1}};

    std::cout << "This function returns an nlohmann::json instance: "  << j << std::endl;

    return j;
}

Bindings:

PYBIND11_MODULE(my_module, m) {
    m.doc() = "My awesome module";

    m.def("take_json", &take_json, "pass py::object to a C++ function that takes an nlohmann::json");
    m.def("return_json", &return_json, "return py::object from a C++ function that returns an nlohmann::json");
}

You can then use your functions Python side:

import my_module

my_module.take_json({"value": 2})
j = my_module.return_json()

print(j)

Example

You can find an example of simple Python bindings using pybind11_json here: https://github.com/martinRenou/xjson

Installation

Using conda

You can install pybind11_json using conda

conda install -c conda-forge pybind11 nlohmann_json pybind11_json

From sources

We encourage you to use conda for installing dependencies, but it is not a requirement for pybind11_json to work

conda install cmake nlohmann_json pybind11 -c conda-forge

Then you can install the sources

cmake -D CMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX=your_conda_path
make install

Header only usage

Download the "pybind11_json.hpp" single file into your project, and install/download pybind11 and nlohmann_json or use as git submodule.

Run tests

You can compile and run tests locally doing

cmake -D CMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX=$CONDA_PREFIX -D DOWNLOAD_GTEST=ON ..
make
./test/test_pybind11_json

Dependencies

pybind11_json depends on

• pybind11
• nlohmann_json

License

We use a shared copyright model that enables all contributors to maintain the copyright on their contributions.

This software is licensed under the BSD-3-Clause license. See the LICENSE file for details.