Try IO

Meet Internet Object - Efficient Data Exchange & Structured Storage

A schema-first serialization format designed for web data transport. Reduces payload size significantly, enforces validation at parse time, and separates metadata from data. Human-readable, production-ready, and perfectly timed for the AI era.

Text based and clutter-free structure - For Thin and Clear Data Exchange

Internet Object is a minimalistic and text-based format designed for data interchange. It is language-independent and crafted to be easily readable by humans while remaining efficient for network communication.

Internet Object aims to provide a straightforward approach to data exchange that is both clear and fast.

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Thin & Light
name, age, active, joiningDt, address*: {street, city, state}
---
~ John Doe, 25, F, d'2022-01-01', {Bond Street, New York, NY}
~ Peter Parker, 30, T, d'2018-10-01', N
~ Tony Stark, 40, T, d'2015-10-01', N
~ Bruce Wayne, 45, T, d'2010-10-01', {Wayne M, Gotham, NY}
~ Clark Kent, 35, T, d'2005-10-01', {X Street, Metropolis, NY}
~ Jane Doe, 25, T, d'2022-01-01', N

Schema First - For Enforced Data Validation & Accuracy

Internet Object enforces schema-first design with strong validation built in. Data verification happens automatically at both sender and receiver, catching errors before they propagate through your system.

This eliminates manual validation code in every service, saving development time and reducing runtime bugs.

Schema First
# Header can contain schema and/or meta-data, here
# it contains schema
name:string,  # Name of the person
age:{number, max:30},
address*: {street, city, state} # Address is nullable
---
~ John Doe, 25, {Bond Street, New York, NY}
~ Jane Doe, 20, N

Thoughtfully Designed - For Web Data Transport

Internet Object separates metadata from data, organizes content into distinct sections, and supports streaming architectures. This modular structure handles everything from REST responses to event streams to log pipelines.

The simplified design adapts to diverse use cases without added complexity.

Planned & Structure
# Response Status as Meta Data
~ success: T
~ recordCount: 23
~ currentPage: 2
---
# Data Section
~ John Doe, 25, {Bond Street, New York, NY}
~ Jane Doe, 20, N
# ....
~ Pete Johnson, 26, N

Efficiency Meets Opportunity - AI-Era Advantage, By Design

Internet Object was designed to solve web data problems: bloated payloads, missing validation, metadata blur. That schema-first, compact architecture turned out to be perfectly timed.

In production AI workflows, token count drives cost. IO's compact payloads cut inference spend substantially. Schema contracts give models clear structure, improving reliability. Both wins came free, a by-product of solving the original problem.

JSON Compatibility - Hassle-Free Migration from JSON

Internet Object parsers read JSON natively, allowing gradual migration without breaking existing clients. Schema definitions map directly to JSON Schema or TypeScript interfaces. Deploy IO and JSON side-by-side, migrating high-traffic endpoints first to capture bandwidth savings immediately.

Start with new endpoints or convert existing ones incrementally. No flag-day cutover required.

Advanced Primitive Types and Special Values - For Optimized Data Representation

Internet Object supports multiple numerical formats (Decimal, Binary, Hex, Octal), various string types (Open, Regular, Raw), multiline strings, and ISO-8601 compatible dates with automatic native object conversion.

Built-in support for special values (Inf, -Inf, NaN) handles edge cases that break other formats.

Inline Variables and Comments - For Dynamic Data and Essential Context

Variables reduce redundancy and enable dynamic data representation. Comments provide context and guidelines directly in the payload, making schemas and data self-documenting.

Both features make Internet Object more readable and maintainable in production systems.

Comparison with JSON Advantages of Internet Object Over JSON

While JSON is widely known for its simplicity and interoperability across different platforms, Internet Object offers enhanced features such as thin and compact, and clutter-free data, a schema-first approach, advanced data types, structure suitable for the web, and much more!

IO vs JSON

FAQ - Any Doubt?

Common questions from architects, engineers, and teams evaluating Internet Object for production use.

JSON was designed in 2001 for JavaScript object notation, not as a web transport protocol. It lacks native schema validation, repeats keys in every record (40-50% overhead), and mixes metadata with data. In production at scale, these limitations translate to higher bandwidth costs, brittle contracts, and validation logic scattered across every service. Internet Object addresses these architectural gaps while maintaining human readability and simplicity.

Internet Object is transport-agnostic. Use it as a drop-in Content-Type (application/vnd.internetobject) in REST APIs, as a more efficient alternative to JSON in GraphQL responses, or in message queues, event streams, and log pipelines. The schema-first design makes API contracts explicit and validated at parse time, reducing the need for runtime guards in every consumer.

Start with new endpoints or services. IO parsers can read JSON, so you can accept both formats during transition. Schema definitions map cleanly to existing JSON Schema or TypeScript interfaces. Most teams run IO and JSON side-by-side in production, migrating high-traffic endpoints first to capture bandwidth savings immediately.

Internet Object is a text-based format optimized for human readability and structured data. Binary data can be embedded using Base64 encoding. For large binary blobs (images, videos), use standard patterns: multipart uploads, presigned URLs, or separate blob storage with IO carrying metadata and references.

Uncompressed IO is 40-50% smaller than JSON. With gzip/brotli, results vary by payload structure: sometimes IO is smaller, sometimes comparable, occasionally JSON compresses slightly better due to key repetition. The real win is in AI/LLM workflows where token count matters pre-compression, and in reducing parse/serialize overhead regardless of wire format.

Performance depends on parser quality and use case. IO's simpler structure (no key lookup per field) enables faster parsers than JSON. For extreme throughput, binary formats like Protobuf are faster, but lose human readability and require code generation. IO targets the sweet spot: better than JSON efficiency, simpler than Protobuf tooling, readable in logs and debugging.

IO is in active development with parsers for TypeScript/JavaScript, Python, and other languages in progress. Early adopters are testing in production for API gateways, event streams, and AI agent communication. IDE support, linters, and schema validators are under development. Join the community to contribute tooling or share use cases.

We offer sponsored development for teams that need production-ready parsers, custom tooling, or integration support on accelerated timelines. This includes priority bug fixes, dedicated language implementations, IDE extensions, schema migration tools, and architectural consulting for high-scale deployments. Contact the core team through GitHub Discussions or email to discuss your requirements, timeline, and budget. Sponsored work also benefits the open-source community through faster feature delivery and broader platform support.

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Share your insights, learn from others, and contribute to the evolution of Internet Object. Your expertise can help shape the future of data serialization. Learn more and join us on our community page!

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