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YINI
A clear and structured config format
By the YINI-lang project

Official Go YINI Parser

Parse YINI configuration files in Go applications and tools.

The official Go parser is available as an alpha Go module for early use and feedback. It supports Go 1.22 or newer.

Status: Alpha
The parser is released for early use, but its API and behavior may change before a stable release.

Install

From your Go module directory, run:

go get github.com/YINI-lang/yini-parser-go@latest

The import path is github.com/YINI-lang/yini-parser-go.

Quick example

Suppose config.yini contains:

^ App
name = "Demo App"

    ^^ Server
    port = 8080
/END

Parse the file in Go:

package main

import (
    "fmt"
    "log"

    yini "github.com/YINI-lang/yini-parser-go"
)

func main() {
    result, err := yini.ParseFile("config.yini", yini.Options{})
    if err != nil {
        log.Fatal(err)
    }

    app := result.Document.Values()["App"].(map[string]any)
    fmt.Println(app["name"])
}

Output:

Demo App

yini.Options{} selects the default lenient mode. Document.Values() returns ordinary Go maps, slices, and scalar values. The parser also provides ParseString and ParseReader for other input sources.

To select strict mode explicitly, pass yini.Options{Mode: yini.ModeStrict}. Strict mode requires one top-level section and a /END terminator; see the Go parser usage guide ↗ for details.

Demo apps

The basic Go demo ↗ reads a small configuration file. The medium Go demo ↗ shows nested sections, collections, and both parsing modes.

For command-line validation and conversion, see the YINI CLI. To compare language implementations, see YINI Parsers.

Next steps

  • ➡️ YINI CLI

    Validate and convert YINI files from the terminal.

  • ➡️ YINI Parsers

    Compare the official parser options.